Here Comes the Groom

It's a lightweight comedy, but this film has unforgettable moments. Plotwise, it's postwar Capra claptrap complete with French orphans-- but also some dazzling camera work and a few did-I-just-see-that? Surrealistic touches.

The first is a hologram of sorts: Bing's in France listening to an audio letter from fiancée, Jane Wyman-- a Dear John recordio-gram. As it's playing, Wyman materializes on the spinning record, Princess Leia-like. So I should have been prepared for anything, but when Der Bingle is on the plane back to America, he (of course) starts singing to the orphans. The tune is "Misto Cristofo Columbo"-- and suddenly Louis Armstrong walks into the airline cabin, complete with trumpet and hankie-- then up pops the bottom of the Hollywood barrel: Dorothy Lamour, Frank Fontaine and Phil Harris, all singing.

When the plane, and the plot, land in Boston, Bing has to win Jane back from Franchot Tone, which he does via a Pygmalion subplot involving Alexis Smith and men's pajamas. Hubba hubba. Best of all though is one of film's great tracking shots (nothing compared to "I Am Cuba," but still), a song-and-dance number through an office building to "In the cool cool cool of the evening." If only they'd brought Satchmo back for the big double-wedding ending.

"Here Comes the Groom" was a surprise when it was shown by TCM recently. This film brings together two talented men, Frank Capra and Bing Crosby. This light comedy, with some music, is seldom seen these days, and it's a shame. Although not one of the best films of the director, the film is entertaining and fun to watch.

The great achievement of Mr. Capra was the way he brought together a fabulous cast that work well together. Bing Crosby shows why he was one of the best performers of his time. He is always charming and generous to his fellow players. The other surprise in the film is Jane Wyman. Playing a light role she is delightfully playful as the woman who has found a rich man who wants to make her his wife, but she is still in love with the absent Pete Garvey, who just happens to reappear with two cute war orphans that immediately "adopt" her as their mother.

The other principals, Franchot Tone and Alexis Smith, are in terrific form. Ms. Smith, especially, is a delight to watch. It's a shame Hollywood didn't give her better vehicles in which to shine. Mr. Tone is suave as Wilbur Stanley, the millionaire who finds out in the worst way, his bride-to-be is in love with another man.

Another coup of Mr. Capra is the way he brings a lot of those excellent character actors that had worked with him in other films. Such is the case with Charles Lane, H.B. Warner, Charlest Halton, among others. There is a nice sequence that takes place in the plane that is bringing Pete back to America in which he sings a number with Phil Harris, Frank Fontaine, and Dorothy Lamour. Also in the early part of the film we saw a young and beautiful Anna Maria Alberghetti singing.

"Here Comes the Groom" shows why Frank Capra was one of the best directors, and it also helped that he had Bing Crosby on board.

Frank Capra in his autobiography called Bing Crosby, "the master of the cultured ad-lib." A lot of time Crosby would drop several ad-libs into a script and Capra kept them in. According to Capra they were better

than what the screenwriter had written. Of course partnering with Bob Hope in several films and thousands of radio, television, and live shows Bing had to be quick on the uptake.

Capra wanted to do another of his populist films like Mr. Deeds etc., in the three picture deal he signed with Paramount. But after doing Riding High and doing it well with Bing Crosby, he wanted to do one of his type film. The Paramount brass said no, but since he was unhappy at Paramount they agreed to drop their last picture commitment on his contract for one more Crosby film. Just make a good one.

Capra was as good as his word. This film is entertainment plus and a lot of that has to do with the chemistry between Bing and Jane Wyman. Most of Crosby's leading ladies were nice women who just melted with the Crosby charm. Not so here. Ms. Wyman gives as good with the wisecracks as Crosby does and is no pushover. What she is here is a fiancé who's grown tired of waiting for her man who's out gallivanting all over the world as per his job as correspondent. When he finally does come back he has two French orphans in tow. But Jane's decided to marry millionaire Franchot Tone. Bing has to get her back or those kids will be deported. That's where the fun starts.

By now Paramount was giving Crosby vehicles some respectable budgets and that included letting Frank Capra hire a lot of his favorite supporting players. Those folks make a Capra film an enjoyable experience.

Franchot Tone does nicely as millionaire rival and critics were astounded at Alexis Smith who turned out to have a real flair for comedy. Funny parts she wasn't getting at Warner Brothers. She plays a "kissing" cousin of Franchot Tone and figures prominently in Bing's machinations.

They were also astounded at Jane Wyman who nobody realized could sing. Why they were is beyond me since she did start in musical choruses. The song In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer won an Oscar for best song and became one of Bing's million selling records, dueted with Jane Wyman on screen and on vinyl.

The rest of the score is by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans who were under contract to Paramount and for some reason or other never wrote another Crosby film score. Probably because Paramount didn't assign them because many years later they scored and arranged a whole album of duets with Bing and Rosemary Clooney called That Traveling Two Beat Time. And Bing did pretty good with a song written for his friend Bob Hope by them called Silver Bells.

One of the Livingston-Evans songs was a patented philosophical number called Your Own Little House. A nice song on record, on screen it's a great impromptu style number that so many of Crosby's seemed to be. Sung with a group of kids who are French war orphans, Bing does some gentle kidding of fellow entertainers Jimmy Durante and Maurice Chevalier.

This is one of Bing's best and great entertainment.

If Frank Capra had a message in this film, it might have been that the in America, the wealthy, though as personable as anyone, do not always "get the girl." But they, as everyone, get something, and there is happiness to be had.

Bing Crosby was Bing Crosby, an incredible talent who could light up a motion picture with his facial expressions; when he sings, wow.

This is not a movie for those uptight with notions of a "Patriarchy"; it was 1951, and the general relationship between men and women had changed somewhat between then and now. You do the film a disservice by trying to do that, so put yourself in their shoes for an hour, thirteen, and let yourself feel good.

Hollywood doesn't make reporters like Pete Garvey anymore.

For the last several days, I had been watching a series of films made in the '40s that coincidentally had a player from my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life in it. Well, now I'm commenting on one from that picture's director, Frank Capra, which happened to have several players from his movie. Among them were H.B. Warner, J. Farrell MacDonald, Charles Lane, and Charles Halton. IMDb also lists Ellen Corby, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, and Jimmy Hawkins but I didn't recognize them. The site also mentioned frequent Laurel & Hardy player James Finlayson in here but, once again, I didn't find him. Anyway, this was an uneven romantic musical comedy starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman that didn't become funny to me until Bing's character starting living in Jane's potential future husband's mansion. That possible husband was played by Franchot Tone whose straight presence brings a steady tone that makes some of the more silly or over-the-top moments more tolerable. Alexis Smith plays a cousin, fourth removed, of Tone's whose transformation to something closer to Ms. Wyman's actual demeanor is one of the more genuinely charming moments. I also liked a sequence in which Ms. Wyman appears in hologram form when Bing plays a record from her in which she basically declares her through with him especially the way the scene ended. A couple of people I didn't find funny were Jane's parents especially the drunk father. As for the songs, Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer's "In the Cool, Cool, Cool, of the Evening" with Crosby and Wyman is a great number that seems played with no cuts whatever and possibly in one take. I also loved that one-of several they wrote here-Ray Evans and Jay Livingston song "Misto Christofo Columbo" that features Bing with Dorothy Lamour, Phil Harris, Cass Daley, Frank Fontaine (in his Crazy Gugenheim character), and the one and only Satchmo-Louis Armstrong. What a gas that was! There's also a nice operatic number from a young girl named Anna Maria Alberghetti in the beginning. By the way, I first saw her several months ago when I watched her grown-up in Ten Thousand Bedrooms, Dean Martin's first solo picture. In summation, Frank Capra's Here Comes the Groom is no great shakes but it's still quite enjoyable fluff overall.