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HERE IS MY HEART (Paramount, 1934), directed by Frank Tuttle, stars Bing Crosby in a fairy-tale type romance not so much in the Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald flavor of LOVE ME TONIGHT (Paramount, 1932), but something re-platted from Alfred Sevoir's stage production, "The Grand Duchess and the Waiter," and the 1926 silent Paramount comedy featuring Adolphe Menjou and Florence Vidor. As with many silent movies, most were remade or recycled with sound. For this sound edition, the grand duchess is now a princess and the waiter not only sings but offers a flare for comedy as well.

The story revolves around a 28-year-old John Paul Jones (Bing Crosby), songwriter and former radio singer who, after inheriting a million dollar fortune, makes a list of things to do, fulfilling his lifelong fantasies. Checked off is one where he rescues a damsel in distress, a damsel who happens to be Claire Hastings (Marian Mansfield), one of the guests upon his yacht, the S. S. Bon Homme Richard. His next check off on his "bucket list" is fishing right in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. Later that evening, J. Paul receives a telegram from his friend, James Smith (William Frawley), a reporter from the Paris Chronicle, notifying him that he's located the owner of the second pistol once owned by the American Revolutionary hero, John Paul Jones (whose name is, according to J. Paul, "a coincidence, not descendant"), the pistol he hopes to buy and add with the one he currently owns to present to the U. S. Naval Academy. Heading for Monte Carlo to make arrangements with the gun owner, J. Paul, after registering at the luxurious Hotel D'Athene, encounters an attractive but snobbish woman (Kitty Carlisle) in the elevator. He is later told by Smith that the woman in the elevator happens to be the Princess Alexandra, owner of the second pistol who refuses to sell the item to anyone who's not royalty. Because of J. Paul's background, he is told the princess refuses to sell it to him at any price. After a drunken waiter (Arthur Housman) loses consciousness while delivering a tray of food to the Princess's room, J. Paul, mistaken for the waiter, assumes the role so to be closer to the princess and her upperty family consisting of the Countess Ristova (Alison Skipworth), Prince Nicholas (Roland Young) Prince Vova Vladimir (Reginald Owen) and their talking parrot. J. Paul even goes to the extreme measures with every breath he takes by buying the hotel for himself. Learning the princess to be extremely bored with life, J. Paul also finds the royal family not what they seem to be Others featured in the cast are: Cecilia Parker (Suzette); Akim Tamiroff (The Hotel Manager); Charles Wilson (The Yacht Captain); and Charles Arnt (Higgins).

The musical soundtrack composed by Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin and Lewis Gensler include: "June in January" (sung by Bing Crosby); "Love is Just Around the Corner" (sung by Crosby and Marian Mansfield); "June in January" (reprise by Crosby while listening to his own recording); "Italian Opera Song" (sung by Kitty Carlisle); "With Every Breath I Take" (sung by Crosby); "With Every Breath I Take" (Crosby and Carlisle); "Love is Just Around the Corner," "With Every Breath I Take" and "June in January." Of the few songs written for the screen, "June in January" gets the most and best treatment here. As much as the title, HERE IS MY HEART might have some indication of this being a medical story involving heart transplants, or a romantic comedy set on Valentine's Day, it's a wonder whether or not such a song bearing its movie title might have been considered as another song interlude that was scrapped. Considering the movie title sounding more like a song tune than having any connection with the plot is somewhat typical for its time as movie titles go.

Unseen and unavailable for decades, HERE IS MY HEART has become the least known of all the Bing Crosby/Paramount musicals from the 1930s. Sometime in the 1980s during a pledge drive from WNET, Channel 13's New York City based public television station, it was Kitty Carlisle, Crosby's co-star from this and SHE LOVES ME NOT (Paramount, 1934), who mentioned in an interview that her second film with Crosby, HERE IS MY HEART "isn't around anymore." Though it wasn't fully expressed whether the movie was officially lost with no surviving prints available or not, HERE IS MY HEART has fortunately survived and available in full glory on DVD in 2000 as part of the "Bing Crosby Collection", with MISSISSIPPI (1935) on its flip side of the disc. Though Crosby seemed to have better on-screen chemistry with Mary Carlisle than he did with the sophisticated Kitty, HERE IS MY HEART, at 76 minutes, is a worthy rediscovery and one to check off your list of Bing Crosby movie titles to see. (***1/2)

A musical comedy from Paramount featuring one classically trained voice and one popular singer, set in Europe, built around a romance between an impoverished princess and a rich man posing as a waiter to be near her... this sounds to me exactly like the kind of movie that Paramount would have assigned to Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald and director Ernst Lubitsch during the early thirties. I would bet my bottom dollar that this is exactly what Paramount planned to do with this musical remake of the 1926 silent comedy "The Grand Duchess and the Waiter." Unfortunately, none of them were available in 1934, so they gave it to Bing Crosby, Kitty Carlisle and director Frank Tuttle instead. In this case second best isn't good enough. Crosby holds his own reasonably well, making a surprisingly good substitute for Chevalier (or Adolphe Menjou, who played the part in the silent film); like Maurice, he has a breezy, easygoing charm, which fits his character, a common man who made good. But Carlisle is fatally miscast as the Russian princess. Jeanette MacDonald could play these snobbish aristocrats with an undertone of sympathy and humor; Carlisle can't, and she is so haughty that she becomes dislikable. She isn't a bad actress; this part just isn't meant for her. It would be hard for any movie to overcome that handicap. Maybe Lubitsch could have made something out of it, but Tuttle lacks his subtlety and his instinct for a clever gag.

The movie has virtues; the music is good, and the scene in which Bing sings "June in January" is imaginative. The supporting cast is solid, especially Roland Young and Reginald Owen as members of the royal family. The sets and the photography are attractive. I'm glad to see this movie emerge from the closet it had been hiding in for half a century, but it just isn't one of Crosby's best films.

This film is a good look at a young Bing Crosby. He was then 30 and was in his 20th film since his start in 1930. His J. Paul Jones is an established crooner of radio and records, and he's cruising in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where he soon lands a small fish. He checks off one more item on his list that he had made when 11 years old. The list is "Things I'll do after I've made a million bucks." Well, one of those was, "Fish in middle of Atlantic." So after the captain and others of his crew determine they are smack dab in the middle, they let Jones know and he drops a line into the water and retrieves the small fish. This was all to the delight of his passengers.

Onboard are some guests whom Jones "rescued" from the gambling tables of Monte Carlo. One of his attractive guests, Claire, is drawn to him and he to her. She fulfilled one other item on his list - to rescue a damsel in distress. Another item on his list regards the pistols that Catherine the Great of Russia gave to the famous John Paul Jones. By now, the audience realizes that Jones is a real relative of the legendary American naval hero - who was a great uncle or something, because the real Jones never married or had any children. The opening scene shows the name of the Jones yacht, the "Bon Homme Richard" out of Yorktown, Virginia. So, Jones already owns one of the pistols and is in pursuit of the other, after which he plans, on his list, to present them to the U. S. Naval Academy. Now he gets a radio message from a news hound he knows, James "Jimmy" Smith. The other pistol is reputed to be in Monte Carlo, in the possession of a former Russian princess.

Yep - this is one of the many films made in the 1930s in which characters played displaced and refugee royalty of the former Russian Empire. I don't know if Americans or the movie public in general were that enamored with the thought of the Imperial ranks that had to flee for their lives after the Bolshevik Revolution. But they did provide fodder for interesting stories; and for more that two decades after that event, Hollywood kept the interest alive with films.

So, back they go to Monte Carlo, but just to drop Jones off. His boat and guests are to cruise over to Italy where he will meet them later. The comedy now takes off with the entourage of the Princess Alexandra. Kitty Carlisle is in just her third role of a very short career in films. She became prominent on radio and TV, and sang on Broadway; and was later a popular game show panelist. I remember watching "To Tell the Truth" frequently from the mid-1950s on, and Carlisle was one of the featured panelists for some 20 years.

But, I have to say, in this film she not only isn't anything special - she sings one short song and just voices a couple of stanzas almost as a duet with Crosby. It's not very good, and other than portraying a snobbish upper crust princess, she's not even attractive. Claire, back on the boat, was much more alluring. So, I suspect that audiences at that time also had a hard time swallowing any romantic attraction of Crosby's Jones to the princess. Even though Crosby plays his part as an almost lovesick puppy in pursuit of a princess, it's hard to buy that. But then, that in itself may be part of the comedy.

I rate this film six stars for two reasons. One is the comical situation that develops as Jones becomes a hotel waiter in his effort to get close to the pistol to acquire it. And, with that comes the other -- the comedy that is provided by the stellar supporting cast of actors. Reginald Owen as Prince Vladimir, Roland Young as Prince Nicholas, William Frawley as Jimmy Smith, and Akim Tamiroff as the hotel manager provided many of the occasions for laughter in "Here is My Heart."

Modern audiences probably wouldn't care much for this film, and its portrayal with the displaced Russian royalty doesn't really give a feel for the history or the times of the film. But, film buffs - those who enjoy all aspects of the cinema, including its early history and prolific production of movies over the decades, may be interested and enjoy it some. And, how many of us remember our history - that John Paul Jones actually got permission from the U. S. to serve in the Russian navy? Catherine the Great asked him to help the Russian fleet in the Black Sea against the Ottoman Empire.

Here are a few of the better lines from this film.

J. Paul Jones, "You're right, Jimmy. They're a couple of snobs. I think I'll stay over and tell her so." James Smith, "That's right. Stand outside her door and yodel, 'Snob!'"

Countess Rostova, mistaking Jones for the drunken waiter who passed out, "Waiter? What are you doing there? Why don't you bring in the dinner?" After an indignant look, Jones sees the princess behind the countess. The countess continues, "Well, are you stupid, or impertinent?" Jones, bowing "Stupid, madame." Countess, "And, impertinent. Hurry, please."

Jones, after he buys the hotel and audits the books, "Don't people ever pay their bills?" Hotel manager, "Oh, well, uh, the lower classes, uh sometimes. The middle class, always. But the upper classes, monsieur, never!"

James Smith, seeing Jones acting as waiter, "Boy, oh, boy, is this good. What a story. I can see it now. 'Warbling Waiter Outwits Royalty.'" Later, "Ah, 'Poisons Princess, Purloins Pistol."

Here Is My Heart is another escapism romantic flick during the Great Depression intended to show poor audiences that rich people are frivolous and silly. So is the rest of this film.

Bing Crosby is a bored millionaire who falls in love with a princess, Kitty Carlisle, but due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, she thinks he's a waiter. To have a little fun, Bing plays along and pretends he's a penniless servant; Kitty wants nothing to do with him. My question is, why does he want anything to do with her? Can't he recognize she's snobby and make a play for someone else? Apparently not, and if you don't like Kitty, you're not going to like this movie.

In a hilarious scene, Bing listens to a record of his own recording of "It's June in January", sings harmony with himself, and after listening to a high note, comments to the recording, "Ah, you made it!" When Bing is by himself or coming up with funny schemes with his buddy, Roland Young, the movie isn't that bad, but Kitty is just too much of a one-dimensional villainess and tends to ruin the scenes she's in. If you do end up liking this one, though, check out We're Not Dressing, which is very similar.

Successful singer Bing Crosby is in Monte Carlo on his yacht. He's trying to purchase one of the pistols given by Catherine the Great to John Paul Jones so he can donate it to the US Naval Academy. Russian princess Kitty Carlisle isn't interested in selling. Crosby winds up serving her and her entourage -- Roland Young, Reginald Owen, and Alison Skipworth -- dinner, so they insist on his being their regular waiter. Crosby falls in love with her immediately, and they're broke. The usual complications ensue. Crosby is is very comfortable in his playing, Young is fine, Owen is adequate, Miss Skipworth is wasted, and Miss Carlisle.... well, she's pretty.

There's a pretty good bunch of songs, including the premiere of "Love Is Just Around The Corner" for Crosby to perform. Miss Carlisle sings a Russian song. Supporting performers include William Frawley, Cecilia Parker, Akim Tamiroff and Arthur Housman. It's a pleasant vehicle for Crosby.