Si l'on mariait papa

Another Bing Crosby vehicle and another job for Frank Capra at Paramount, his last, Here Comes the Groom is a light and frilly affair that takes too long to do too little but is intermittently charming along the way. It's a largely unremarkable film that doesn't try to make a whole lot of sense, especially in its ending, but at least Crosby and Jane Wyman work well together.

Pete Garvey (Crosby) is a war correspondent still in Paris several years after the end of WWII, latching onto an orphanage of war orphans about whom he is writing a series of stories about in order to get them adopted and sending them back to his editor George (Robert Keith) who is getting tired of them since the world has moved on. He also has a girl back home, Emmadel (Wyman), who has grown sick of waiting for her beau to return and sends him a record of her voice telling him that she's leaving him. It's really the only fun bit of filmmaking in the whole thing since Capra has her superimposed on top of the record to speak the lines and even ends with a fun bit of nonsense around the mechanics of the player itself.

Well, Pete gets the bug to go back home, but not before he disappears for two months to find the birth certificates of his two favorite orphans Bobby (Jacques Gencel) and Suzi (Beverly Washburn). I think this is supposed to establish Pete as forgetful but dedicated, and yet the rest of the film is him laser focused on getting what he needs without wavering. It's almost like the script by Virginia Van Upp, Liem O'Brien, and Myles Connolly was kind of just slap-dashed together, or something.

Anyway, the only real reason to see this film is Crosby himself. He's a charming lead and much more in line with the tenor of the overall picture here than he had been in Riding High. Here, he's a lovable heel who needs to find a way to get back home, convince the woman he loves that she still loves him, and undermine her quickly scheduled marriage to Wilbur Stanley (Franchot Tone), the latest in the line of a wealthy and powerful Bostonian family. The competition that develops between Pete and Wilbur is friendly and leads to no real hard feelings on any front, even when Wilbur conspires to have the orphans adopted if and when Pete doesn't get married on time (a condition of the adoption since he's a bachelor). It's almost like none of the characters consider there to be anything like stakes around the place.

Well, the bulk of the film is Crosby charming his way back into Emmadel's heart (the first rendition of the Oscar winning song "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" is a delightful narrative treat since it shows the two still having a connection that develops over the song), spruce up Wilbur's cousin (fourth-cousin once removed) Winifred (Alexis Smith) so that she can become attractive to Wilbur instead, all while George hangs around for little reason other than to give some funny quips now and then. The finale is the big, to do wedding with many important guests and some bit of farce to get Pete on the altar instead of Wilbur that everyone just accepts because the feelings of the orphans are important and this very real ceremony isn't real, or something. It makes just this side of no sense, made all the weirder by Wilbur's reaction to it all which is like he didn't care.

So, it's very slight. It has some real charm to it. It's loosely told and kind of nonsensical. It has a nice song that it overplays (I didn't need to hear "Evening" three times, but whatever, it's not like there's a whole lot else). It's primarily a vehicle to showcase Bing Crosby's charm, and it does that reasonably well.

I think it would have worked better at 90 minutes instead of 110, though.

"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.

"Here Comes the Groom" is the sort of schmaltzy fluff that Bing Crosby did best. While I am quick to admit that this is a very slight film, it is also a very, very enjoyable film. Deep? Nah--but fun.

The film begins with Bing hanging out with a bunch of cute orphans in post-war France. He's supposed to be coming back to the USA to marry his fiancée (Jane Wyman) but he cannot leave the kids in a lurch--particularly two cute kids who he plans to adopt. The only trouble is that after he's done all the paperwork to bring them to America, he's returned so late that his girlfriend has called off the wedding and is now planning to marry her boss (Franchot Tone). You really can't blame her too much--Bing never told her he'd be late or why he'd be late. In other words, she wasn't feeling very appreciated.

There is a problem with Bing not getting married, however. In order to adopt the kids and keep them he MUST get married...and quick. Bing isn't about to try to find another girl and he really does care about Jane, so he's determined to break up the engagement and marry her himself. Here is where it gets interesting--Bing tells Franchot and Franchot actually allows him a chance to win her back. After all, if she isn't 100% ready to marry him, why not let her marry Bing? Where all this ends is very predictable--but a film like this always is. Along the way, you have some nice comedy (particularly the portions with Alexis Smith) and really nice songs--and it's quite enjoyable and cute. Perhaps it's too cute and saccharine for some--I could understand that. But, if you don't mind and are looking for an old fashioned family film, it's well worth your time.

When the best thing about a BING CROSBY/JANE WYMAN film is a song called "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening", you know you're in trouble. What is supposed to be harmless fluff is pretty empty fluff at that. And why anyone is surprised that Jane Wyman can carry a tune with the best of them, mystifies me. Miss Wyman made her debut playing dizzy chorus girls who usually tossed off a song and dance number before the first reel was over, in a number of films, mainly at Warner Bros. And later on, after she became a big star, she still contributed nicely to the Cole Porter bio, NIGHT AND DAY.

Anyway, here she has one of her brisk, no nonsense roles as a gal who's tired of waiting around for her globe trotting boyfriend (Crosby) to take her down the aisle, so she's engaged to FRANCHOT TONE. But Crosby manages to use all of his wiles to coax her back, even if it includes some shenanigans involving ALEXIS SMITH (of all people), who gives one of her best comedic roles all the spirit it deserves.

But when all is said and done, HERE COMES THE GROOM seems sub-standard and a bit foolish, unworthy of talents like Crosby and Wyman. Their best moment comes when they croon the title tune while choreographed waltzing around a huge office, but it's not enough to keep the rest of the story from floundering amid too many missed opportunities.

Summing up: Capra running on empty can be tiresome.

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.