Bing Crosby Movies
American actor/singer Bing Crosby acquired his nickname as a child in Washington state. As the legend goes, little Harry Lillis Crosby's favorite comic strip was "The Bingville Bugle," in which the leading character was called Bingo. Hence, the boy was "Bingo" Crosby, with the "O" dropping off as he got older. A restless youth, Crosby tried studying law at Gonzaga University, but spent more time as a drummer and singer in a Spokane band. He and his pal Al Rinker worked up a musical act, and were later joined by Harry Barris. As the Rhythm Boys, the three young entertainers were hired by bandleader Paul Whiteman, who featured them in his nightclub appearances and his film debut, The King of Jazz (1930). Crosby managed to score on radio in 1931, and a series of two-reel comedies made for Mack Sennett helped him launch a screen career; his starring feature debut was in 1932's The Big Broadcast. During this period, he married singer Dixie Lee, with whom he had sons Gary, Dennis, Philip and Lindsay. As one of Paramount's most popular stars of the '30s, and with his carefully cultivated image of an easygoing, golf-happy, regular guy, generous contributor to charities, devoted husband, father, and friend, Crosby became an icon of American values.In 1940, he made the first of several appearances with his golfing buddy Bob Hope, ultimately resulting in seven "Road" pictures which, thanks to the stars' laid-back improvisational style, seem as fresh today as they did at the time. Another milestone occurred in 1944, when director Leo McCarey asked Crosby to play a priest in an upcoming film. Crosby, a devout Catholic, at first refused on the grounds that it would be in bad taste. But McCarey persisted, and Crosby ended up winning an Oscar for his performance in Going My Way (1944). He ushered in a new technological era a few years later when he signed a contract to appear on a weekly ABC variety show provided that it not be live, but tape recorded -- a first for network radio -- so that Crosby could spend more time on the golf course. With the death of his wife Dixie in 1952, the devastated entertainer dropped out of the movie business for a full year; but his life took an upswing when he married young actress Kathryn Grant in 1957. His film roles were few in the '60s, but Crosby was a television fixture during those years, and could be counted on each Yuletide to appear on just about everyone's program singing his signature holiday tune, "White Christmas." Burdened by life-threatening illnesses in the mid-'70s, the singer nonetheless embarked on concert tours throughout the world, surviving even a dangerous fall into an orchestra pit. Crosby died from a heart attack in 1977, shortly after he had finished the 18th hole on a Spanish golf course. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
This short-lived 1964 series ran on ABC, and marked crooner Bing Crosby's second foray into network television after a 1954 variety show. Unlike its predecessor, this one was a conventional sitcom; it starred Crosby as Bing Collins, a onetime singer who had years ago left show business to live a quiet life as an electrical engineer, supporting his wife Ellie (Beverly Garland) and children. Bing could never quite escape from the limelight, however, as Ellie herself nurtured showbiz aspirations and thus brought about continual reminders of the life her husband had left behind. The couple had two very different daughters: 10-year-old Janice (Carol Faylen), a brainiac little girl with an intellect which suggested that she might be better suited for university life; and Joyce (Diane Sherry), a 15-year-old adolescent very much into boys. Willie Walters (Frank McHugh) was the handyman who, oddly enough, lived full time with the Collins family. Bing typically sang at least one number on each episode. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Beverly Garland, (more)
The Rat Pack packed it in after this sprightly musical comedy that owes more than it should to Damon Runyon's stories and Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows's classic musical Guys and Dolls. Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen's bright and snappy score features such songs as "Style", "Bang-Bang" and the Sinatra standard "My Kind of Town". Set in 1920s Chicago, the tale begins during a birthday party for head mobster Big Jim (Edward G. Robinson) who is shot to death during the celebration. Rival gangster Guy Gisbourne (Peter Falk) immediately declares himself the chief gangster. The northside gang, headed by Robbo (Frank Sinatra) is willing to grant Guy his self-declared title as long as he leaves the northside territory alone. Guy refuses and when small time hood Little John (Dean Martin) joins Robbo's crew, turf warfare breaks out between the two gangs, resulting in the destruction of both Robbo and Guy's nightclubs. Meanwhile, Big Jim's daughter Marian (Barbara Rush) offers Robbo $50,000 to find the man who killed her father. Robbo demurs and gives the money to his henchman Will (Sammy Davis Jr.) to get rid of. Will, hoping to do a good deed, hands the money over to Allen A. Dale (Bing Crosby), who runs an orphanage. Allen, finding out that the money came from Robbo, informs the newspapers of Robbo's philanthropic enterprise and Robbo immediately becomes a local celebrity, referred to as Chicago's Robin Hood. For his part, Robbo is willing to go along with the publicity. On the romantic front, although Robbo is attracted to Marian, he gives her the brush-off when he finds she is using a charitable foundation as a front for a counterfeiting ring being run by herself and Little John. Robbo tells Marian to leave town. Instead, she hooks up with Guy, proposing that he kill both Robbo and Little John. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, (more)
- 1962
Ed Wynn hosts this compilation of comedic material from the likes of Imogene Coca and Buster Keaton. ~ All Movie Guide
This was the last trip in the "road" comedies that Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and a bevy of female stars that featured Dorothy Lamour once made famous. In this road to Hong Kong and parts far beyond, Chester and Harry (Hope and Crosby) are a couple of failed vaudeville stars looking for a way to riches in the confidence game. Chester's memory goes kaputz, and the two end up involved with Diane (Joan Collins), a spy looking for a secret formula, and a bunch of hoodlums who plan on sending up a rocket to the moon with special equipment allowing them to rule the planet earth. The pair of heroes gets caught in the rocket instead of the originally intended monkeys, and the monkey business continues in outer space -- where it seems to be all along. In this mixed collage of events, several stars pop up in cameo roles: Peter Sellers, Dean Martin, David Niven, Frank Sinatra among them. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, (more)
- 1960
Popular Mexican comedian Cantinflas (Mario Moreno) plays the title character in this star-studded, amusing comedy drama by George Sidney. Pepe is the same sort of impoverished stereotype Cantinflas made famous in several of his comedies; in this case he is a hired hand on a ranch who chases down a horse for his employer. A boozing Hollywood director buys a white stallion belonging to Pepe's boss and the determined ranch hand decides to take off for Hollywood to get the horse back. Once in this new and strange environment -- where a lot of cameos by the likes of Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Bing Crosby, Maurice Chevalier, and many others enliven the action -- Pepe becomes a friend to the alcoholic director. Unfortunately, what is missing here is "Cantinfletico." That is the nickname for the rambling non-sequitur characteristic of Cantinflas that no one else could master. The film was originally released at 195 minutes, then edited down to 157. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cantinflas, Dan Dailey, (more)
- 1960
Bing Crosby plays a widowed millionaire who decides that it's "high time" he got himself a college education. Enrolling as a freshman, Crosby is forced to endure the anachronistic initiation stunts dreamed up by his fraternity buddies, and at one point is required to dress up as Scarlett O'Hara (that's the level of humor here). Unlike the other students, Bing displays no interest in romantically pursuing the lovely coeds. Instead, he woos a teacher (Nicole Maurey) who is -- relatively speaking -- closer to his own age. Bing rounds out his first year in college as the most popular man on campus (he's certainly the best singer, since his only competition is the redoubtable Fabian). Though about 15 years out of date, High Time is brightly directed by Blake Edwards and includes at least one memorable song, ""The Second Time Around."" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Fabian, (more)
- 1960
The famous Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour "Road" movies are spoofed in this star-studded musical comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Let's Make Love is a breezy comedy about an off Broadway musical production. Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand) is the richest man in the world and looking for someone who loves him instead of his money. He reads in Variety he is to be satirized in the new production and tries out for the part. The producers hire him, unaware of his real identity. He hires Bing Crosby, Milton Berle and Gene Kelly to coach him for the role. Amanda (Marilyn Monroe) is the poor aspiring actress who lands a part in the play. Her opening number is the classic "My Heart Belongs To Daddy". Unaware of his fabulous wealth, she falls for the playboy billionaire during the rehearsals for the show. Tony Randall plays Montand's fussy public relations agent and tries to keep his boss from embarassment. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, (more)
- 1959
This musical comedy takes an off-beat religious turn as it tells the tale of a show-biz priest (Bing Crosby) who runs a Broadway theater for spiritually kindred show-folk. His problems begins when a vivacious but troubled chorine (Debbie Reynolds) shows up with a sad story about her ailing father, a friend of the priest, needing an operation. Touched and eager to help her find work and earn the money to help her daddy. Unfortunately, she ends up performing in a sleazy dive owned by an oily wolf (Robert Wagner) who decides to prey upon the innocent gal. The protective priest tries to dissuade him, but its to no avail, the club owner wants to marry her. Meanwhile, the priest busily prepares to produce a charity television show in conjunction with other priests. It is upon this show that the real romantic and comical chaos occurs. Songs include: "The Girl Most Likely to Succeed", "The Secret of Christmas", and "The Night Rock 'n' Roll Died". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
- 1959
Bob Hope plays a 19th-century insurance agent whose miserable sales record prompts his boss to send him out West, where he can (supposedly) do little harm. Hope manages to sell a $100,000 life insurance policy--to outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey), one of the worst "risks" in history! In his efforts to get the policy back, Hope finds himself being mistaken for Jesse, which is all part of the outlaw's plan to get Hope killed and thereby collect the policy money himself. But with the help of beauteous Rhonda Fleming (the essentially honest beneficiary to Jesse's policy), Hope gains a reputation as a lightning-fast gunslinger. In the inevitable shoot-out with the James gang, Hope is helped out by several famous Westerners, including Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, James "Maverick" Garner, and even Tonto (Jay Silverheels). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, (more)
- 1957
A star-studded television special that introduced the Edsel to the American people. The Edsel was a new Ford model of the late '50s that later became an industry joke. Historically important as the first live entertainment TV broadcast to be recorded on video tape for later rebroadcast. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, (more)
- 1957
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Originally aired in black-and-white on ABC, this filmed color version of Happy Holidays with Bing & Frank is a 1957 Christmas special directed by Frank Sinatra himself. He and Bing Crosby team up for several musical numbers celebrating the holiday season. Songs include "Jingle Bells," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and "White Christmas." ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Bing Crosby scores in a rare unsympathetic role in the MGM domestic drama Man on Fire. Crosby plays well-to-do businessman Earl Carleton, recently divorced from his wife Gwen (Mary Fickett). Bitter over the breakeup, Carleton doggedly maintains custody of his son Ted (Malcolm Broderick), refusing his ex-wife visitation rights and even kidnapping the boy when the courts rule against him. As Gwen's new husband Bryan Seward (Richard Eastham) sagely observes, however, Carleton is basically a nice guy who is trying in vain to convince himself that he's an unforgiving louse. It takes the combined efforts of young Ted, Carleton's new lady friend Nina (Inger Stevens, in her film debut) and sensitive Judge Randolph (Anne Seymour) to bring out Carleton's best side. Though Bing Crosby does no singing in Man on Fire, the title tune is perfomed over the main credits by the Ames Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Inger Stevens, (more)
- 1956
Originally telecast in 1956 as a presentation of the CBS anthology Ford Star Jubilee, "High Tor" was a musical adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's 1937 stage play, with lyrics by Anderson and music by veteran Broadway and Hollywood tunesmith Arthur Schwartz. Bing Crosby stars as Van Van Dorn, the owner of a mountain overlooking the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee. Though uncertain as to whether or not he should wed his sweethart Judith (Nancy Olson), Van is firm in his resolve not to sell his mountain to a pair of shady realtors. Angry that Van is turning down a huge amount of money, Judith walks out on him. Shortly afterward, a rock slide traps Van and the realtors high on the mountain. While searching for help, Van comes across the ghost of a Dutch girl named Lisa (Julie Andrews), who along with the spirits of several sailors has been "living" on the mountain for the past 300 years. Falling in love with Van, Lisa ultimately solves all his problems--but not all her own. High Tor is historically significant on at least two levels. Because Bing Crosby was averse to appearing on live television, he insisted that the 90-minute, color production be filmed--and thus Crosby was responsible for what many media historians regard as the first made-for-TV movie. Also, the play represented Julie Andrews first starring appearance on American television, her first filmed appearance, and one of the few existing records of Andrews' acting and singing styles before she became a Broadway superstar via My Fair Lady. Musical highlights include the Crosby and Andrews duet "Once Upon a Long Ago", Andrews' solo number "Sad is the Life of a Sailor's Wife", and "When You're in Love", performed by--of all people--Everett Sloane. After years of obscurity, High Tor was made available on home video in the early years of the 21st century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
For its first broadcast of the 1956-57 season, the monthly CBS variety anthology Ford-Star Jubilee offered a full-color salute to composer Cole Porter. Opening with (what else?) "Another Opening, Another Show (from Porter's Kiss Me Kate), the 90-minute special featured an all-star cast performing a veritable cornucopia of the songwriter's hits. Highlights included Dorothy Dandridge's renditions of "You Do Something to Me" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"; Oklahoma costars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, dueting on a medley of Porter love songs; dancers Sally Forrest and George Chakiris (still five years away from his Oscar win for West Side Story performing to the tune of "Night and Day"; trumpeter Louis Armstrong, belting out "Blow Gabriel Blow"; and a few Porter comedy numbers, sung by Peter Lynd Hayes and Mary Healy. Also appearing in this live telecast were singer Dolores Gray, actor George Sanders and Cole Porter himself, with a filmed segment featuring Bing Crosby, who was then starring in a movie version of Porter's 1934 Broadway musical Anything Goes. David Rose conducted the orchestra for You're the Top, which currently exists in black-and-white kinescope form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
High Society is a glossy Technicolor-and-VistaVision musical remake of Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story (1940), decked out with million-watt star power and a Cole Porter score. Set amongst the rich and famous in Newport, RI, the story revolves around the wedding plans of socialite Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly). Tracy is all set to marry stuffy George Kittridge (John Lund), while magazine writer Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) intend to cover the ceremony. Meanwhile, Tracy's ex-husband C.K. Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby) also comes calling, ostensibly to the attend the annual Newport Jazz Festival, but actually for the purpose of winning Tracy back. In the course of events, Mike falls in love with Tracy, and she with him. The Jazz Festival subplot allows scriptwriter John Patrick to bring Louis Armstrong into the proceedings, much to the delight of anyone who cares anything about music. The Cole Porter tunes include the Crosby-Sinatra duet "Well, Did You Evah?," the Crosby-Armstrong teaming "Now You Has Jazz," the Kelly-Crosby romantic ballad "True Love," and the Sinatra solo "You're Sensational." Though it lacks the satiric edge of the Philip Barry original (Barry, incidentally, is not given any screen credit), High Society succeeds on its own lighthearted terms. The film represents Grace Kelly's final acting assignment before her real-life wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, (more)
Anything Goes is a Technicolor-and-Vistavision remake of the 1936 film of the same name, which in turn was based on Cole Porter's hit 1934 Broadway musical. The 1956 bears little relationship plotwise to its predecessors, except for the fact that most of the story takes place aboard a luxury liner. Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor star as Bill Benson and Ted Adams, a pair of top Broadway tunesmiths who agree to collaborate on their next musical just as soon as they complete their respective vacations. Complications arise when, unbeknownst to one another, Bill and Ted each sign up a potential leading lady; Bill's choice is ballerina Gaby Duval (Zizi Jeanmaire), while Ted's selection is brassy chanteuse Patsy Blair (Mitzi Gaynor). Retained from the original Cole Porter score are such standards as "You're the Top", "I Get a Kick Out of You" (with appropriately laundered lyrics), "Blow, Gabriel Blow", and the title tune. New songs, penned by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, include "You Gotta Give the People Hoke" and "A Second-Hand Turban and a Crystal Ball". To avoid confusion with the 1956 adaptation of Anything Goes, the 1936 version was for many years retitled Tops is the Limit for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, (more)
- 1956
A music performance video, an old TV special of performances of Porter's music. ~ All Movie Guide
White Christmas, Paramount's belated follow-up to the 1942 hit Holiday Inn, was the studio's first VistaVision production. A veritable warehouse full of oldie-but-goodie Irving Berlin tunes are woven into the film's simplistic plotline, along with a handful of new songs, of which "What Can You Do With a General?" is the least memorable. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (replacing an ailing Donald O'Connor) play nightclub entertainers Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, while Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen are cast as singing-sister act Betty and Judy. The foursome travel to Vermont to visit Bob and Phil's WII commanding officer, General Waverly (Dean Jagger, who looks and sounds like Dwight D. Eisenhower!), who now runs a rustic old inn. Discovering that the general is in dire financial straits, the four entertainers secretly make plans to bail the old guy out with a big musical show, enlisting the aid of Bob and Phil's army buddies. Corny in the extreme, White Christmas evidently struck a responsive note with film fans; it was the high-grossing picture of 1954, and a decade later proved to be a ratings bonanza when it was given its network-TV premiere. Of the four stars, Crosby comes off best, especially when singing the title song at the beginning and end of the film; Kaye is a bit overshadowed this time out, though he's quite funny camping it up in a "drag" version of Irving Berlin's "Sisters." Still a big favorite on the home-video circuit, White Christmas may not be the best Bing Crosby musical on the market, but it's certainly one of the most heartwarming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, (more)
Bing Crosby does the Academy Award-bid bit in the atypical role of a self-pitying alcoholic, but it was his co-star, a deglamorized Grace Kelly, who won the Oscar for her performance in The Country Girl. This adaptation of Clifford Odets' play stars Crosby as Frank Elgin, a once-famous Broadway star who's hit the skids. Hotshot young director Bernie Dodd (William Holden), a longtime admirer of Elgin, tries to get the old-timer back on his feet with a starring role in a new play. But Dodd must contend with Elgin's hard, suspicious wife Georgie, who seemingly runs roughshod over her husband. Dodd holds Georgie responsible for Elgin's lack of self-confidence and his reliance upon the bottle--a suspicion fueled by Elgin himself, who insists that Georgie has been suicidal ever since the death of their son. When Elgin goes on a monumental bender during the play's out-of-town tryouts, the truth comes out: it is Elgin who is suicidal, and Georgie has been the glue that has held him together. Adopting a now-or-never stance, Dodd forces Elgin to stay off the sauce long enough for the play to open--and, in spite of himself, falls in love with Georgie. A few Hollywood liberties were taken with the Odets original, including a slightly altered ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, (more)
- 1953
Bing Crosby heads this heart-tugging post war drama of a grieving widower who is duped into forming an unbreakable bond with the French orphan he believes is his long-lost son. Crosby lost his beloved when the Nazis killed her for participating in the French resistance. Much later, Crosby is told that his son, who bears striking resemblance to his wife, is in a Paris orphanage. Despite the head nun's insistence that 8-year-old Fourcade is his boy, Crosby is skeptical and so tries to test the lad. When the boy fails the test, Crosby confronts the duplicitous sister who 'fesses up to her scheme and determination to see that her charges get good homes and happy lives. Though Crosby has come to love little Fourcade, he cannot get over his grief until he receives wise counsel from a very good friend. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Claude Dauphin, (more)
- 1953
Scared Stiff is the 1953 remake of the 1940 Bob Hope-Paulette Goddard vehicle The Ghost Breakers, reupholstered for the talents of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. While Martin handles the straight plot scenes, just as Hope did in the earlier film, the Hope-like wisecracks are fairly evenly divided between Martin and Lewis. Lewis is for the most part relegated to the secondary role played by black comedian Willie Best in Ghost Breakers, with a few opportunities for his manic specialties: his personal highlight is an imitation of Carmen Miranda (who also appears in the flesh). The plot is the same as before: an American heiress (Lizabeth Scott) is warned to stay away from the forbidding Cuban mansion that she's inherited. Disregarding these threats, the girl heads to Cuba, along with Martin and Lewis, who are on the lam from various antagonists (Dean has been falsely accused of murder, while Lewis has run afoul of gangsters). Once they've reached Scott's mansion, Martin and Lewis are confronted by all manner of terrors: a ghost, a zombie, a mysterious assailant (who turns out to be the least likely suspect). It turns out that the mansion is built over a huge cache of hidden gold, which is why the bad guy is so anxious to make Scott and the boys skedaddle. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby make gag appearances toward the end of Scared Stiff; returning the favor, Martin and Lewis would show up unbilled in the Hope-Crosby opus Road to Bali (1953). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, (more)
This sixth entry in the Crosby-Hope-Lamour "Road" series was the first (and last) in Technicolor. This time, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope play George Cochran and Harold Gridley, American vaudevillians stranded in Australia. To avoid a dual shotgun wedding, George and Harold sign on as deep-sea divers for sinister South-Sea-island prince Ken Arok (Murvyn Vye). After a contretemps with an octopus (courtesy of stock footage from Reap the Wild Wind), our heroes sail to the prince's Balinese homeland, where they meet and fall in love with gorgeous Princess Lalah (Dorothy Lamour). Though Lalah favors George, she feels obligated to Harold, because he resembles her childhood best friend -- a chimpanzee (this must be seen to be believed). When Ken Arok attempts to usurp Lalah's throne, she and the boys escape to a tropical island, where they meet the inevitable slapstick-comedy gorilla. More adventures await the intrepid trio on another island, this one dominated by an active volcano. Who gets the girl in this one? A hint: the loser tries to physically prevent the "The End" title from flashing on the screen during the final fadeout. Though not as fresh and spontaneous as earlier "Road" endeavors, Road to Bali has its fair share of non sequitur gags, inside jokes and unbilled guest appearances (including Martin and Lewis, Bing's brother Bob Crosby, Humphrey Bogart and Jane Russell). Best bit: when Crosby feels a song coming on, Hope turns to the camera and hisses "He's gonna sing, folks. Now's the time to go and get your popcorn." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, (more)
- 1952
Just for You is based very loosely on Stephen Vincent Benet's Famous. Widowed Broadway producer Jordan Blake (Bing Crosby) is too busy with work to pay much attention to his teenaged kids Jerry (Robert Arthur) and Barbara (Natalie Wood). One thing he hasn't noticed is that Jerry isn't really a kid any more. This point is driven home when Jerry develops a crush on Blake's latest leading lady--and erstwhile sweetheart--Carolina Hill (Jane Wyman). Only Allida de Bronkhart (Ethel Barrymore), owner of the girl's school attended by Barbara, is wise enough to figure out a satisfactory solution to everyone's dilemmas. Capitalizing on their previous successful musical teaming in Here Comes the Groom, Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman perform several sprightly tunes, both solo and in tandem. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, (more)
- 1951
Here Comes the Groom was the second collaboration between director Frank Capra and star Bing Crosby. Though not as "socially relevant" as previous Capra productions, the film is a thoroughly likeable yarn about a happy-go-lucky newspaperman named Pete (Bing Crosby). In order to legally adopt a brace of war orphans, Pete must marry within a week. His plans to wed his longtime sweetheart Emmadel (Jane Wyman) come acropper when she, tired of waiting for him to pop the question, becomes engaged to wealthy Wilbur Stanley (Franchot Tone). Conspiring with Wilbur's cousin Winifred (Alexis Smith), Pete spends the balance of the film trying to win Emmadel back. From all accounts, the set of Here Comes the Groom was a happy one, the conviviality extending to Alexis Smith's willingness to be on the receiving end of several jokes concerning her height (she seems nearly a head taller than Crosby!). The film's best scene is the Bing Crosby-Jane Wyman duet "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," reportedly filmed in one take without post-dubbing. As a bonus, Here Comes the Groom introduces a bright new singing talent, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and is festooned with uncredited guest stars, ranging from Dorothy Lamour to Louis Armstrong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, (more)
