Sing, Bing, Sing

Mack Sennett's famous studio, a victim of the Depression and changing tastes in comedy, was forced to close its doors in the late summer of 1933. Most of the studio's best known silent clowns had already departed long before talkies came in, and for those who remained the new technology seemed more of a hindrance than a help to their fun-making. Mack didn't give up easily, however. In the year or so before his studio folded Sennett signed two performers of strikingly different styles to make short films: W.C. Fields and Bing Crosby. Fields' four Sennett shorts are highly regarded by comedy connoisseurs and still receive occasional screenings today, but it seems that Crosby's shorts for this studio have been largely forgotten. If you haven't seen them it's hard to imagine how Bing's wry humor and mellow musicality would fit the broad Sennett house style, but in the best of these films, such as Sing, Bing, Sing, it appears that the Sennett crew was willing to adapt to the cooler Crosby manner rather than compel Bing to adopt the studio's slapstick approach. (Something like this happened with Fields, too.) The series has its ups and downs, but in Sing, Bing, Sing the young leading man looks relaxed and chipper, and easily holds his own with the other players.

Perhaps it goes without saying that Bing sings a lot in this short. In the opening scene he's at a radio station crooning "My Hideaway" into one of those massive, boxy microphones of the day. When he concludes, we learn that he and his girlfriend Helen are planning to elope. We learn this, along with all of Bing's listeners, because he simply addresses her at home, where she's listening to his broadcast, and unfolds the plan. Unfortunately for the lovers Helen's crabby father is also listening. He wants to marry his daughter off to a callow young man named Herbert, played by the one and only Franklin Pangborn, so it's no wonder Helen is keen to run off with somebody else. Bing shows up that night at Helen's home to whisk her away but Dad and Herbert are waiting, along with two detectives in standard issue derby hats. But Bing is unflappable, and when the elopement is thwarted he simply tries again in the morning. The runaways are pursued over a mountain highway in a zany car chase, but Bing and Helen win out in the end—and Bing, naturally, has time for one more song.

That's really all the plot this breezy little short has to offer, which is fine. Story-wise this could have been a Sennett production of 1912. There are traditional slapstick bits involving a baseball bat, a bucket of water, etc., and for some crazy reason Helen's father owns a pet gorilla (?!?!?) named Charlie who plays a prominent role in the final chase, but the funniest moments in this short tend to be the verbal gags that are low-key and a bit saucy. It's worth mentioning that sound is used with more assurance than in the earlier Sennett talkies. Bing smoothly rattles off pun after pun and somehow they're amusing; he must have used this apprenticeship to prepare for the 'Road' series later on. And one of his songs is presented in a funny and imaginative way: when Bing sings "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" to Helen, he sings it to her on the phone while a cleaning lady stoically sweeps his room, forcing him to maneuver around her. He finally winds up on the table. (Trivia note for Beatles fans: George Harrison covered this song in 1991, and nicely, too.) It looks like the people responsible for Sing, Bing, Sing had themselves a good old time making it, and that sense of fun is still conveyed to viewers today.

Sing Bing Sing finds America's newest heartthrob Bing Crosby doing his level best trying to elope with his true love Florine McKinney. But her father Irving Bacon has resolved to stop this disgrace to his family at any cost.

Of course having Bacon approve of Franklin Pangborn as a fiancé is enough to make any girl throw themselves at Bing Crosby. The film is madcap comedy chase, typical of Mack Sennett's silent era work with the Keystone Kops.

Bing gets to sing a three songs. In My Hideaway and Lovable are a couple of items he never commercially recorded. Snuggled On Your Shoulder is an item he did do for Brunswick at the time of this film's release. However Crosby would have to wait nearly 25 years before he did Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea. He did that for a Decca label album New Tricks which he did with Buddy Cole and a jazz trio.

Part of the film involves McKinney's pet gorilla who aids the runaway lovers in a variety of ways, all of them rather funny. It's very reminiscent of Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard's pet bear Droopy in We're Not Dressing the following year.

Crosby's Mack Sennett shorts were a great stepping stone in his career and this is no false step.

This is typical of the films Crosby made with Mack Sennett. However, it has one interesting event that makes it more memorable. First, though uncredited, Toby Wing has a small role. You can see her wearing a white bathing suit next to the swimming pool that Franklin Pangborn gets pushed into. Also, more interesting is that when Bing is singing to his girl friend next to the pool you can see Toby in the background running past a parked car. Apparently she was late back to the set because in the next scene you see her sitting by the pool. Wing who was very striking looking with a nice figure and peroxide blond hair is always a pleasure to see. Bing's singing also is a delight. Though the Sennett films seem corny by today's standards they do provide a nice outlet for hearing Bing's voice when he was early into his career as vocalist.