Friday, October 14, 2005
BLARNEY
But good blarney in the Leo McCarey
It won a lot of Oscars and is a NYTimes Best 1176 Film.
I saw it as a kid and remembered it almost scene by scene.
There is a lot of sentimental irish-catholic fantasy in this. You have to remember this was a different time. Innocence.
Bing Crosby goes to Barry Fitzgerald's church to take over from the old man only Barry doesn't know that he is and so on. Crosby turns the bankrupt church into a money maker with a pop-boys choir. They sing, among other things, the great "Swingin' on a Star".
There is a romantic side story. Risé Stevens, a popular soprano at the time, appears. A lot of stuff happens.
Blarney. And I guarantee that you will laugh and get worried and even cry at the end.
The real star of this film is Barry Fitzgerald, a great Irish actor. He was an Abbey Theater principal and went to Hollywood. He steals every scene. He is wonderful. He IS the picture, actually.
Crosby seems insipid now. At the time he was one of the most popular entertainers in the world. A little hard to see now. But he was. Times change. Tastes change too.
I liked it. It fills my quota for sentimental claptrap for this quarter.
I will give it a 3out of Netflix5.
Did I mention that this came out toward the end of WWII? The country desperately needed this kind of happy distraction. It filled the bill.
At the time, my dad was in the Pacific dodging (and not dodging) kamikazes on a small destroyer escort. We had done without him for a long time. It was a sad and depressed period. No wonder this happy optimistic picture filled with 'fathers' made a dent.
