Friday, March 2, 2018

Going My Way (1944), 6

Father Charles O'Mailey, a young priest at a financially failing Church in a tough neighborhood, gains support and inspires his superior.
2h 6min | Comedy, Drama, Music, Musical | 3 May 1944
Director: Leo McCarey
Stars: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh.
Daniel Dare ... dance director (uncredited)
Josephine Earl ... dance director (uncredited)
Al Mann ... assistant dance director (uncredited)


It's been several hours since I watched this, and I'm not going to load it again. I have no idea why they needed any dance directors, much less 2 and an assistant. Something at the opera (Carmen), perhaps?

BC (b. 1903) is youngER than BF (b. 1888), but 41 doesn't qualify as "young", especially not mid-20th century. In some scenes, the bags under BC's eyes are quite visible. PLUS, BF is not BC's superior; BC has been sent in as the top man, but he didn't let BF know it.

I never would have bought this outright; it's a 2-picture disc, with Holiday Inn ('42) as the top draw for me. I'd seen this on TV years ago, and knew it was schmaltz. My memory was correct. And for this to be tagged as both Music and Musical is beyond the pale... and the pail. Yes, BC sings; he uses music in his ministry, starting a boy's choir to give the troubled youth something positive to like. But the performances are not so frequent nor so long that it's a musical. We get 3 new songs, the nicest is Swinging on a Star. Rise Stevens sings some Carmen and the title song too, but that's not very catchy.

Unbelievable the Oscar gold this collected: 7 wins and 3 more noms. Here's the link to see what it was up against.
Wins:
  1. Best Picture
  2. Best Actor in a Leading Role: Bing Crosby 
  3. Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Barry Fitzgerald 
  4. Best Director: Leo McCarey 
  5. Best Writing, Original Story: Leo McCarey 
  6. Best Writing, Screenplay: Frank Butler, Frank Cavett 
  7. Best Music, Original Song: Jimmy Van Heusen (music) & Johnny Burke (lyrics) For the song "Swinging on a Star".
Nominees: 
  1. Best Actor in a Leading Role: Barry Fitzgerald, the only actor to have received Leading and Supporting Actor nominations for the same performance. Voting rules were altered shortly after this occurred to prevent future such instances.
  2. Best Cinematography, Black-and-White: Lionel Lindon 
  3. Best Film Editing: LeRoy Stone 
So, I said it at the beginning: schmaltz. Nothing here for me to get involved with or excited about.

Paramount, dir. Leo McCarey; 6



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