Say One for Me

I am not a Crosby fan by any means but as usual, Debbie Reynolds brights up this film. Fun debut for Stella Stevens as a wisecracking chorus girl.

When I first saw "Say One For Me" years ago, I was a big Bing Crosby fan even though I had grown up in the Elvis era. I liked Bing's crooning style of singing because it was easier for me to imitate than Frankie Avalon or some teenage girl's heartthrob. I particularly liked the Secret of Christmas song with the line "The little things you do on Christmas Day will not bring back the friend you turned away." That line has meant more to me now in my senior years than it did then. I also liked the title song and even though it has been years since I heard it, I can still sing it acapella like old Bing. The other reason I got a kick out of seeing the movie again was that it featured an actress friend of mine, Nina Shipman, whose grandmother was an early pioneer in independent movie-making and her father wrote the famous Republic serials of the Thirties and Forties. Although she played a tough chorus line gal, she had a cute figure and great legs. Unfortunately, this was the only film to fully show off her figure.

Say One For Me features a great cast including Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds, Ray Walston, Frank McHugh, and Connie Gilchrist. The tunes are engaging, especially the title number and The Spirit of Christmas. Debbie Reynolds sings and dances with engaging verve and Bing Crosby croons with all his customary flair and charm.

Unfortunately, this misbegotten cross between White Christmas and Going My Way suffers from a leaden, self-righteous script which not even its talented director, Frank Tashlin, can rescue. Great comic character actor supports like Walston, McHugh, and Gilchrist are utterly wasted in this nauseating, pointless story of a hip priest in New York's theater district who puts on a show. In fact, there aren't many laughs in this pious piece of sentimental claptrap, which seems incredible given Tashlin's involvement (he was an alumnus of Looney Tunes).

Debbie Reynolds' love interest is portrayed by Robert Wagner, cast against type (in a role originally intended for Frank Sinatra) as an undiscovered musical talent with underworld leanings running a low class dive who first tries to seduce Reynolds' virginal good girl, then engages in a badly written relationship with her which forms the core of this tedious story. Although Wagner can carry a tune reasonably well, he is hopelessly outclassed by Crosby and Reynolds; in addition, Wagner's dancing is unfortunate but happily kept to a minimum (including an inexplicable solo turn performed with athletic mediocrity), leaving Reynolds to carry most of the production numbers by herself. Wagner's acting performance is acceptable if distasteful... but that's the script's fault.

At one time, this film was considered to be one of the 50 worst movies ever made, but recent abominations of much greater magnitude have ousted it from the Hall of Shame. I personally feel that the film is worth a viewing simply for the pleasant songs and musical performances, but you've been warned. The storyline itself is contrived, confused and stomach-turning. In an amusing side note, the opening credits have the same appearance as those in The Sound of Music, over a similar religious opening... One could only wish that this film were half as entertaining!

It's a shame this movie is not available in VHS or DVD. Very good acting by Ray Walston and Debbie Reynolds. Same solid acting and singing from Bing Crosby as he always gives. Why the critics panned this one is beyond me. Robert Wagner displayed very good singing and acting skills in this one and with all due respect to Debbie Reynolds in this one she was "hot". It's also a treat to see a very young Stella Stevens. All in all a good feel good movie. I highly recommend it.

At the time this film was made, there was actually a Catholic parish in the New York theater district (maybe there still is). Since films rarely depict the religious life of theater people, this was a potentially interesting background for a musical comedy-drama. Unfortunately it goes off in many wrong directions. Even Bing Crosby, in his third screen outing as a priest, seems to have lost a lot of his charm and humor. This cleric is much sterner and more sanctimonious than Father O'Malley.

Frank Tashlin directed some good comedies that took irreverent pokes at various 1950's institutions, but I don't think he was the type for the kind of sincere, schmaltzy Christmas fare this movie was apparently supposed to be.

There are some nice moments, some good tunes and performances. If you can lower your expectations, it's not altogether bad entertainment, but it's a shame it wasn't better, given the interesting premise.

The cast that tries to breathe life into the hackneyed show is a pretty good one, with Debbie Reynolds coming off best. Robert Wagner isn't altogether believable as a song and dance man. He's actually surprisingly good in the song numbers. It's just that he's playing someone who should be terrific. (I think the part was intended for Frank Sinatra, early on.) He handles the heel-like tendencies of the role pretty well.

The movie is watchable, relatively entertaining, professionally produced...not a total bomb. The songs are good. So you could do worse.