East Side of Heaven

"East Side of Heaven" is a fable of New York City with a breezy Bing Crosby as a singer (first a singing telegrapher then a taxi troubadour) whose life is complicated by a friend's marital woes and a baby.

Joan Blondell has a grand showcase for her loveliness and her comedy chops as Bing's fiancée. Mischa Auer steals every scene he is in as the helpful, loafer pal.

The most adorable tot in movies, Baby Sandy, is the plot hinge upon which swings a tyrannical grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith), a worried mother (Irene Hervey) and a grandly unlikable radio host (Jerome Cowan).

You'll wish there really was such a place as the Frying Pan Cafe where waiters and cooks join guests in song. "Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb" is just one of the infectious numbers that add the sparkle to this movie.

A truly entertaining comedy-musical the whole family will enjoy.

East Side of Heaven is one of two pictures Bing Crosby did for Universal. In exchange. I believe Paramount got the services of Allan Jones for The Great Victor Herbert and Honeymoon in Bali. Crosby's second film for Universal was If I Had My Way.

This one for Universal was done on the same skimpy budget that Paramount normally gave 1930s Crosby vehicles. But loan outs are good to see because you get a chance to watch a leading star with players that are not from his home base. Crosby gets a spirited leading lady in Joan Blondell in their one and only film together. Similarly he has supporting players like Mischa Auer, Irene Hervey, C. Aubrey Smith and Jerome Cowan who are all very good and also never worked with Crosby again.

Crosby is first a singing telegraph messenger and later a singing taxi driver who's going out with Joan Blondell and she's a switchboard operator at a radio station. Jerome Cowan who plays a Walter Winchell like columnist has eyes for her. An old friend of Bing's, Irene Hervey who married a wealthy heir, deposits her baby with Bing while she sorts out her marital problems caused by her meddling father-in-law, C. Aubrey Smith. The baby is believed kidnapped and the fun begins.

Bing has four good songs to sing, written by Jimmy Monaco and Johnny Burke. Two of his patented philosophical numbers, Sing a Song of Sunbeams and Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb, a ballad East Side of Heaven and the hit of the movie That Sly Old Gentlemen sung to put Baby Sandy to sleep.

The plot involving a potentially kidnapped baby was very relevant with the news of the Lindbergh baby fresh in everyone's mind. Fortunately all is righted at the end.

IF you love Bing as I do, see this movie.

Easy-going Bing (Denny) has a job as a singing telegram and is engaged to receptionist Joan Blondell (Mary). However, things go wrong for Bing when he is tricked into singing Happy Birthday to the influential and controlling character that is C Aubrey Smith (Barrett Snr). He loses his job but gets another as a singing cab driver! They had some weird ideas in those days. The plot takes a crazy turn about halfway through when Bing is charged with looking after a baby and all kinds of confusion and misunderstandings ensue before the film resolves itself into a happy ending.

It's an easy-to-watch film that passes the time enjoyably with 2 points to note. The first is that the baby isn't annoying. In fact, the baby is a scene stealer as you watch her interactions with the characters - it is quite fascinating as she reaches to grab Blondell's hair or casts loving looks at Bing hoping he will croon and cradle her again. I usually can't stand children in films but this one is ok. The second is that Mischa Auer (Nicky) isn't annoying. He plays Bing's roommate and he is actually quite funny. I didn't expect that as he is usually very odd, playing for comedy and never hitting the mark. Well, in this film he is funny! Alongside some humorous dialogue is a very funny bell-boy - check him out!

It's another good film with a misunderstanding about a baby from 1939, the other being "Bachelor Mother" starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven.

"East Side of Heaven" isn't a particularly deep or fancy film, but it is fun and is a nice little family film. It's so nice, it's almost worth giving this one an 8.

Bing Crosby plays a struggling singer. He can't find a good job, so he first takes one as a singing telegram man and then as, oddly, a singing taxi driver. During the course of his job, he meets a desperate young lady and her obnoxious and very rich father-in-law (C. Aubry Smith). The old man is determined to take the child away--even though the mother is very competent. So, in desperation, she hides the cute kid with a friend--Bing and his roommate (Mischa Auer). The plot doesn't get a whole lot deeper than that, but it helped that Joan Blondell was on hand to play Bing's fiancée and that the baby was so freakin' adorable. All in all, fluff--but incredibly enjoyable, well written and well made fluff.

By the way, this film is included on the same disc as Bing's "If I Had My Way"--a film that is even better! A wonderful DVD and one worth having in your collection.

If you are a fan of Bing Crosby fan you won't be disappointed by East Side of Heaven. The story is a touch protracted and I did wish Joan Blondell had more to do other than being a reactionary character, she seemed underused in the second half. East Side of Heaven is a nice film to look at, it isn't lavish but it is photographed with style and love and the costumes and sets are equally attractive. The music score is lush and catchy, and the songs don't disappoint either. Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb is colourfully staged and snappy and That Sly Old Gentleman and the beautiful ballad East Side of Heaven are classic Bing Crosby. The choreography is neither too simple or too complicated and it's elaborate without being overblown and when the film calls for a more understated touch it doesn't become laboured either. The dialogue is clever and snappy, the funniest moments coming from Mischa Auer and while East Side of Heaven drips with sentimentality it is also in an endearing and touching way, never forgetting to be entertaining either. Bing Crosby is charming and has no trouble being comfortable, he also sings a dream as he always did. Joan Blondell has allure and sassiness but she has had much better written roles. C Aubrey Smith ability to be gruff and classy as well as amusing comes naturally to him, but the most memorable performances come from Mischa Auer who's very funny and in some parts of the film hilarious and the absolutely adorable Baby Sandy. In conclusion, very entertaining and well done, won't disappoint Bing Crosby fans. 8/10 Bethany Cox