Bing Crosby/Jane Wyman Double Feature (Paramount)

 

    Picture: C+     Sound: C     Extras: D     Films:

 

Just For You (1952)                                C+

Here Comes The Groom (1951)                C

 

 

Bing Crosby is still one of the most successful recoding artists of all time, but he had a substantial film career as well, though all the films had him singing in some way.  Just as the final years of the pre-Rock era were in swing, Bing was still one of the top names in all of show business and He was on a role at Paramount.  One of his most interesting co-stars was Jane Wyman and they did two very different films back to back, now together on DVD.

 

Here Comes The Groom (1951) was one of Frank Capra’s last films and one of his poorest, whether you are a fan or not (count me in the latter category), which is a comedy about adoption and his willingness to get married just to be able to adopt.  He’s not in love “of course”, but will still tolerate Jane Wyman, and who cares if she is beautiful.  He’s gonna do it for the kids.  Yea, right!  The film is very predictable and muddled, but one early musical sequence with Louis Armstrong and Crazy Guggenheim (later on The Jackie Gleason Show) about Christopher Columbus is a gem, no matter how politically incorrect.  Francois Tone is the “other man” and Anna Maria Alberghetti was introduced by the film.  It is A product, it just does not click.

 

Just For You (1952) fares better, has Bing as a hit performer and bad father (disturbingly echoing his real life, sadly) and Wyman makes this wackier as Jordan Blake’s (Bing) son has fallen for her as much as dad.  Calling Dr. Freud?  Bob Arthur and a growing Natalie Wood are the children and Ethel Barrymore adds to the silliness.  Though not always as kinetic as some of the music moments of Groom, this works better because Elliott Nugent keeps things interesting and moving, plus never lets the sometimes campy situation interfere with telling the story.  The film has problems, but is A product that clicks enough.

 

The full screen image on both is good, with decent monochrome from the first film and decent three-strip Technicolor from the second.  Though it is not as sharp and clear as Fancy Pants (reviewed elsewhere on this site), it is more accurate and offers better color range than most color films today.  Only some softness gets on the way.  Both were shot by cinematographer George Barnes, A.S.C. and very well.  The latter is still up there in referential quality in the DVD format for such advanced color.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is a bit weak on both, and with the music, stereo is sorely missed.  Just For You fares better sonically.  It is still a double feature, which helps when you realize there are no extras here, no even trailers.  Though not the peak works of anyone involved, both films make for an interesting sit-down and comparison.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo