Sing, You Sinners

I thought I was the luckiest kid alive. I sat in complete attendence of what was the best movie I can remember. It was very exciting to me and I think of it whenever I am depressed, because of It's upbeat outlook on life. I can stoll remember the words to the song "pocket Full Of Dreams" I've heard it played a few times,- once at the race track. I wish I could see it once more, or own a tape copy of it.

This movie has three of the most unlikely actors playing brothers--Bing Crosby (Joe), Fred MacMurray (David) and a very young Donald O'Connor (Mike). The three occasionally make money singing together as an odd little trio. Why the studio put MacMurray in the film is odd. He looks nothing like Crosby and his singing is only fair. As for O'Conner he's 20 years younger than the other two...but at least he sings nicely for a kid.

The film is about a family where the oldest brother, Joe, is an irresponsible dreamer. He always has a scheme and does things like drives drunk and makes promises he never can keep. When he announces he's bought a business and he's going to take care of the family, they're all shocked to see that instead he's bought a race horse...and no longer has a dime to his name. So, on occasion, the three brothers need to sing to make ends meet and life if tough for their Ma (Elizabeth Patterson)...as well as David who wants to be able to marry and settle down.

The film is extremely slight--with singing and dancing and a lot of clichés. Also, Crosby plays such an unlikable guy that after a while, I found my attention waning and I was looking forward to it all ending. Not a terrible film but certainly not all that good considering the stars.

One of the great early Bing Crosby films, and probably the one that first displayed Bing's real acting ability that would lead to more dramatic roles in the future. But first and foremost it has Bing singing at his best, before Sinatra, before Presley, Bing had already done it all. It also featured a very young Donald O'Connor in a breakthrough role and the always delightful Fred MacMurray, and the 'Pocket Full of Dreams' number they all perform is one of the best musical numbers every put on film in my opinion. There's a lot more to the film as others have mentioned, but do yourself a favour, check it out if you haven't seen it, and see what real Hollywood entertainment was all about!

More musical numbers with the three male leads in this film would have been nice, and raised it a star or two. "Sing, You Sinners" is a nice pairing of three good musical talents. Bing Crosby was well-established as a singling star by this time, and Fred MacMurray was more known as a comedy and dramatic actor. But he too had a considerable musical background, and was able to use it in some of his earliest films. Along with those two established actors comes the young Donald O'Connor. This was just his second credited film, and his first major role. As a child actor, O'Connor showed fine talent for dancing and acting, that would be his forte in his adult career. Together in this film, the three make up the reluctant Beebe brothers trio.

The comedy in this film is on the light side, with a screenplay and story that was more dramatic because of the usually tense situation that the family found itself in. That was mostly because of finances since the dad died a few years before. Elizabeth Patterson does a good job as the mother, Mrs. Daisy Beebe, caring about her sons and trying to steer them in the right direction. Ellen Drew played Martha Randall, MacMurray's long-waiting fiancé.

It's a nice look at the talent of the three, and I think it would have been more entertaining with less of the wanderings and uncertainly of Crosby's Joe, and the guys making a go of it singing, dancing and playing instruments.

Did you know Donald O'Connor was a child actor? If you didn't, go out and rent Sing You Sinners as soon as possible. He's so adorable! He sings, dances, gives typical pre-teen attitude, and rides a horse, all at the tender age of thirteen and in his third film. I wonder if he hated Mickey Rooney, whom he replaced in this movie; not only could he have played many of the parts Mickey did, but Donald played Huckleberry Finn in 1938 in a forgettable film, and the following year Mickey was recruited and immortalized in the role.

Did you know Fred MacMurray could sing? If you didn't, go out and rent Sing You Sinners. He plays the middle child in the house, the only one responsible enough to support the family even though all he wants to do is marry his girl, Ellen Drew. Fred, Donald, and Bing Crosby are Elizabeth Patterson's sons, but because Bing is a deadbeat and flighty, he doesn't contribute to the family income. In a completely atypical role for Bing, he's a scoundrel who parties, tries to steal his brother's girl, and hops from new idea to new idea. Did you know Bing Crosby could play a bad guy? If you didn't, well, you know what you should do.

Sing You Sinners, while not featuring the title song, is a very cute family flick. There are cute moments that lighten the darker situations, and plenty of exciting scenes that make you devoted to the family. Check it out; you'll want to adopt little Donald!