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Bing Crosby plays a young priest with progressive methods who is assigned to a dwindling parish. He finds himself faced with many wonderful characters, especially the grumpy old Irish master of the church (Barry Fitzgerald) who doesn't see "eye to eye" with the new guy. The interplay between Crosby and Fitzgerald is delightfully funny.

This best picture winner of 1944 at the Oscars is one of the all-time greatest movies. Crosby was as warm and benevolent an actor as he was a singer as his performance in "Going My Way" proves.

The film shows eventually that it is necessary in life to learn to accept everyone around you, regardless of faults and flaws of character, and to help your fellow people find their strengths and develop them in order to serve humanity. But, believe me, this film is anything but pedantic; issues such as these do not drive the film but arise from situations (often light-hearted) that arise naturally in the story.

An example of this is that there were some "juvenille delinquents" that the Crosby character rounded up, not to pass judgement or scorn but to organise them into doing something constructive that made them enjoy life and give up theft as a means of dealing with boredom - he turned them into a choir. Sounds a bit like "Sister Act"? I'm sure "Going My Way" had some influence on this more recent effort, but it is much superior in many ways. It reminded me also of Michael Landon's "Highway to Heaven" series (without the supernatural components).

If you are looking for an old classic with lots of spirit and warmth (such as around Christmas time) for your whole family to gather around and watch by the fire, I recommend "Going My Way". It is a must-see. (10 out of 10).

This kind of picture would normally just be a pleasant, upbeat movie worthwhile for casual viewing, but "Going My Way" is made more memorable by Barry Fitzgerald, who co-stars with Bing Crosby. There's nothing wrong with Crosby, since he is his usual self, low-key and amiable, and he has a few chances to sing as well. But Fitzgerald and his character are what adds the depth to an otherwise fairly simple story.

Crosby is rather well-cast as a young priest, since his benevolent persona seems to fit rather well in the role. As his older, more inflexible colleague, Fitzgerald delivers one of his many fine supporting performances, and in this case he has much more room than usual to develop his character as the movie proceeds. He makes the rather crabby old priest both interesting and endearing, and the character provides a valuable balance to Crosby's straightforward, well-meaning character.

The story is worthwhile, and though it is simple, the interplay between the two priests makes the rest of it work much better than it would have on its own. The somewhat episodic plot generally works well, and it provides many good moments, in addition to having some worthwhile thoughts to communicate.

A very enjoyable film starring Bing Crosby as a progressive Irish Catholic priest who comes to St. Dominick's, a church that is struggling. Initially, he's not very welcome by most, including old Father Fitzgibbon...but with his charm and the song in his heart, he manages to slowly grow on the folks as he finds subtle ways to solve everyone's problems. This is a heartwarming movie without being over-sappy.

*** (Out of 4)

It's an easily underrated movie, particularly because it flatly refuses to do most of the things that people expect movies to do today; there's a defiant unwillingness to slip into easy melodrama (though I often like melodrama), or to spend too much time on comedy, etc. The movie won't pigeonhole itself, and I think this leads to its secret - at heart, it really intends to be about what it's like to be a priest. You CAN'T pigeonhole yourself in that role, because you can't possibly know what's coming up, or really keep perfect track of all the different threads of a community at the same time. You have to take things as they come, and this movie really does that all the way through.

And there's also a sense of the wistfulness that comes from giving up that "plot-driven" style of living - in the scenes where Crosby visits his old girlfriend, there's a tangible awareness on both sides that they don't really know what happened to the "plot" of their relationship - they just took things as they came, and it really turned out OK for both of them. Most of the movie's separate narrative threads are left off, and returned to, almost at random - and the main focus on the relationships between the characters is what ends up shining through as intended.

A lot of the film is spent on scenes that seem kind of inconsequential at the time (like most of everyday life), but they invariably lead to a payoff later in the film. There's a shot of Gene Lockhart watching his son leave - a silent shot that just holds on a medium shot of the father, watching his expression for about 10 seconds - that I found absolutely sublime in its effectiveness. To me, that single shot justifies the half dozen scenes that led to it. Ultimately, the movie is almost happy to laugh at the audience for being so eager to expect more of a story. As one character aptly says,"Schmaltz is in this year"; the people behind this movie KNOW that a lot of people will want to dismiss it, but won't let them off the hook so easily. It's looks deceptively simple to make a film this easygoing and yet moving. (Capra tried it later in his career, sometimes with Crosby, and yet he couldn't pull it off.)

The Oscar win is OK, though I think Double Indemnity should have won, and I also like The Miracle of Morgan's Creek a lot more as well (THE SPOTS!!!); but Going My Way belonged in the top 5 that year, along with Laura and I'm-not-sure-what-else. (Gaslight, maybe?) And I'll note that I do like the "sequel," The Bells of St. Mary's (actually written first), a little better, too.

But as I wrote in the summary, this one really sneaks up on you; the last scenes prove much more moving than you expect, and the ending of the film - while initially seeming abrupt - leaves you suddenly saying, "Of course - it's perfect." Just moving on.......

9 of 10

P.S. Is it really set in New York? That's never said, and there's so much talk of St. Louis that I think that more accurate a guess. The "Metropolitan Opera House" is mentioned, but that's a generic-sounding name. Honestly, I think they went to great effort to make it as unrooted in a single locale as possible.

Leo McCarey's sentimental 1944 film, "Going My Way" is a positive film that dealt with the problems of the inner city back when the term hadn't been coined. St. Dominic's Church is an oasis in the middle of the area that has seen better days. We realize how deeply in trouble the parish is from the start as Mr. Haines is trying to give Father Fitzgibbon an idea of how much he owes the bank and the fact the church will disappear soon.

When Father Chuck O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic to try to save it from its uncertain future, Father Fitzgibbon doesn't have a clue the younger man is going to be over him in all matters of importance. Yet, Father O'Malley never steps over the older priest's shoes to make his rank felt.

This film was shot after the more successful, and better made "The Bells of St. Mary's", but it was released earlier than the other film, probably to capitalize on Bing Crosby's popularity. The film, in fact, is a showcase for Mr. Crosby, who was a likable actor and singer. He has good opportunities in the movie.

As good as Mr. Crosby was in the film, Barry Fitzgerald steals the movie with his Father Fitzgibbon. Mr. Fitzgerald's crusty priest was one of the best creations of his long career. Frank McHugh, another excellent character actor of the era is seen as Father O'Dowd. Gene Lockhart also has a small role as the money man, Mr. Haines. Rise Stevens, the soprano is seen and heard in the film singing in her inimitable style.

The film is a classic that should be seen during the holidays, as it brings cheer and hope to everyone lucky enough to catch a screening of it during Christmas.