by Chris Marshall:
Musicals ain’t what they used to be. Or maybe more
accurately, when I see a movie described as a musical, I expect something much
different from what’s on display in Going
My Way. There’s music, sure, and songs, but it’s nothing like West Side Story or Chicago or anything like that. It’s basically a straight drama with
three or four songs mixed in just so we get to hear the sound of Bing Crosby’s
voice.
Which isn’t to say it’s a bad movie, because it’s not. At
the risk of sounding like a broken record, it falls into the same quality
category as How Green Was My Valley and
Mrs. Miniver. They’re all okay. Not
great, but pretty good. Then again, I guess everything seems pretty good after
you’ve seen The Great Ziegfeld.[1]
The premise is simple. Bing Crosby is a priest, and he is
brought in to save a church from going under. The only problem is that the old
priest (literally, he’s like 900 years old) doesn’t know that Bing is in
charge. They get along poorly at first, as one might imagine, but the old man
soon realizes that Bing is pretty close to a saint, and he eventually changes
his tune.
Hey, speaking of tunes, this is supposed to be some kind of
musical. How do we shoehorn that in? Well, there’s a gang of teenage (younger?
It’s unclear) juvenile delinquents wreaking all kinds of havoc around town, so
Father Crosby decides to have some words with them. Instead of yelling at them
like all the other mean ol’ adults, he befriends them, offering to take them to
a Yankees game to see them play against his beloved St. Louis Browns.[2]
The cynic in you might think that letting a group of young
boys go to a baseball game with a Catholic priest is a very bad idea indeed,
but times were different then. They soon realize, like the old priest, that
he’s a pretty swell guy. He does have ulterior motives, however. Instead of
causing bedlam in the streets, wouldn’t it be more fun to channel that energy
into becoming the greatest choir the world has ever seen?
Ok, so they’re not so good. But at least they’re not
stealing turkeys[3] and
smashing windows anymore. It also gives us the opportunity to hear Bing Crosby
sing “Silent Night,” and we all know he has a special aptitude for singing
Christmas songs. It’s pretty cool, and it’s nice to see somebody so famous in
his natural habitat.
 |
| They're not that bad, Bing! |
Would I have liked more songs? I’m not sure. The musical as
a genre isn’t my favorite thing in the world, but if you’ve got Bing Crosby,
why not use him more? He’s a fine actor and all, but that will never be the
first thing anybody thinks about when they hear his name.
I will say this much, though. It outdid my expectations. Obviously
there’s going to be a letdown immediately after Casablanca, but it could have been way worse. Next year brings The Best Years of Our Lives, which made
it onto the AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies list. I remember that because it’s one of
the movies I always forgot when I tried to memorize that list. I won’t be
forgetting it anymore, though!
I am now 20% through with this project. Even though I’m only
three weeks in, it feels like it’s been an eternity. But I’m still going
strong, and I’m still a decent number of films ahead of schedule. I’m beginning
to think I’m going to pull it off.
[1] I
promise not to reference The Great
Ziegfeld’s horribleness after 1956. I think 20 years is the statute of
limitations for these things.
[2]
The Browns are now known as the Baltimore Orioles, for all you non-baseball
historians.
[3]
Yes, these dastardly children were not above stealing live turkeys.
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