27/12/2010 4:44 pm  #1


Bing's recordings in films

Watchng the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can [Leonardo di Caprio as a real-life conman] recently I heard Bing and the Andrews Sisters singing Mele Kalikimaka and wondered if this has been previously noted? Also, is there an available list of instances of Bing songs in non-Bing films?  I know of some but maybe not all.  As a film buff outside of Mr. C I'd like to collect them all!
Bert

 

27/12/2010 6:12 pm  #2


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Keith Parkinson has prepared the following list and he doesn't seem to have picked up "Catch Me If You can".  I'll tell him. There may be others too.

CROSBY VOICE  Bing's recordings were often used to quickly tune in audiences to an era or time of year.  A sample of those used towards the end of Bing's life follows:
RICHARD HAMILTON (1969) This is an Arts Council of Great Britain sponsored twentyfive minute short.  It is devoted to the works of artist Richard Hamilton.  The only song heard in the short is "White Christmas".  Bing's Decca recording is used to illustrate Hamilton's painting "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."  The painting is of Bing in negative and the effects of colour reversal create a snow scene effect to the Crosby features.
PAPER MOON (1973)  Peter Bogdanovitch's film relies solely on commercial recordings and radio programmes to provide background music for this film which is set in the U.S.A. in the 1930s.  Bing's recording of "Just One More Chance" is featured.
BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME (1975)  David Puttnam was involved in this 109 minute compilation of 1930s film footage.  As well as singing the title song we hear Bing's recording of "Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day."  The film's closing credits wrongly title the latter song "When the Blue...".
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976)  In this Bing can be heard singing "True Love".  At the film's end Candy Clark, playing David Bowie's girlfriend, goes to an apartment in a Father Christmas outfit.  For about forty seconds Bing's Capitol recording is played on the soundtrack as Bowie and Clark move around the room exchanging a little dialogue.
THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS (1997) This little seen American movie from the mid-nineties is a family drama set over the Thanksgiving weekend. The plot brings surprises and revelations every five minutes or so. A snatch of Bing’s recording of “Don’t Be That Way�  and a lengthy excerpt from “Adeste Fideles�  are heard on the soundtrack. The latter song is used to good effect two-thirds through the story when actors Roy Scheider and Blythe Danner are preparing a turkey for the oven. Bing’s song lulls viewers into thinking all is well with the world but this is only a temporary respite before more skeletons emerge from the cupboard.
TRACKS (1976)  Made in the U.S.A. and starring Dennis Hopper, director Henry Jaglom makes use of two of Bing's American Decca recordings: "These Foolish Things" and "(There'll Be a) Hot Time in the Town of Berlin", the latter performed with the Andrews Sisters.  Set in 1973, the story concerns Hopper journeying by train across country with a coffin containing the body of an army friend killed in Vietnam.  Hopper reminisces about his childhood and the flashback sequences are highlight by music of the period.  Astaire, Sinatra, Dinah Shore and others are also heard.
Bing's voice could still be heard in cinemas around the world following his death.  The following is a selection of films which used his vocals on cinema releases after 1977.
F.I.S.T. (1978) In this film which starred Sylvester Stallone and Rod Steiger the story concerns the forty year growth of an American labour union.  In the early part of the film the U.S. Decca recording of "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" by Bing and the Andrews Sisters is heard on the soundtrack.  The song is playing on the radio in a scene where a Chicago business man is visited during the Christmas holiday by union representatives.
THE BRINK'S JOB (1978)  This film, based on fact and about a bank robbery, begins in 1944 and in an early scene set in Boston the American Decca recording of "Accentuate the Positive", by Bing and the Andrews Sisters is heard.  This serves to indicate the era without resorting to a caption or explanatory dialogue.  At the end of the film the same recording is heard as the gang of robbers depicted in the film ascend the courthouse steps for a trial prior to imprisonment.
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (1982)  The 36 years separating this version from the original Crosby movie will prevent any confusion as to what you are paying to see.  This 1982 version uses recordings from the 1930s to advance the storyline.  The film's setting is the thirties with the actors miming to 78s from that decade.  Bing's contribution is "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking".  A soundtrack album to tie in with the film's release featured Steve Martin singing the title song.
FRANCES (1982)  Bing and the Andrews Sisters are heard singing "Love is so Terrific" as background music in this screen biography of Bing's one time leading lady Frances Farmer.  This song is taken from the Philco Radio Time broadcast of 31st March, 1948.
SOME KIND OF HERO (1982)  This one missed a U.K. theatrical release.  Michael Pressman directed a comedy-drama in which the first half hour concerns the film's hero, played by Richard Pryor.  He is taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.  He registers the passing of time on his cell wall by writing the year each Christmas.  Towards the end of his imprisonment the public address system broadcasts Bing and Carol Richard's Decca recording of "Silver Bells".
A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)  This warm family film is set in an Indiana suburb in the 1940s.  It takes a nostalgic look at middle-America and concentrates on a young boy's view of Christmas.  It shows how the child reacts to the gift of an air rifle, which he wants as a present.  Bing's Decca 78s are used to give a seasonal early 1940's atmosphere to the film by the playing of "Jingle Bells", "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas" and "Santa Claus is Coming To Town".  Bob Clark directed this Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release. 
RACING WITH THE MOON (1984)  This Paramount picture is also set in the U.S.A. at Christmastime.  The year is 1942 and two teenage boys are awaiting induction into the U.S. Marines.  During their wait they have affairs with two local girls.  Clever use is made of Paramount News (remember "The eyes and ears of the world"?) when a wartime clip swiftly sets the scene.  Popular songs of the era are played on the soundtrack including Bing's Decca recording of "Moonlight Becomes You". 
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2; FREDDY'S REVENGE (1985)  Bing's recording of "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking" is heard on the soundtrack of this American horror film about a teenager suffering from nightmares.
ONE MAGIC CHRISTMAS  (1985)  Denied a theatrical release in the U.K., this Canadian tear jerker has the warm glow of the season of goodwill we've come to expect of a Walt Disney production. Mary Steenbergen and husband Gary Basaraba are finding it hard to cope following job redundancy.  Halfway through the film they have a heart to heart talk in their kitchen.  The radio plays softly in the background and Bing's Decca recording of "I'll be Home for Christmas" adds poignancy to a situation where it looks as though the family will be homeless before too long.  But the spirit of Uncle Walt makes sure that all ends happily. 
TOUGH GUYS (1986)  This film was a major disappointment.  Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas failed to live up to their performances in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral made thirty years earlier.  Tough Guys depicts them as two ex-cons released from prison and still spiritually belonging to the 1950s.  Bing sings "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" on the soundtrack.  It is Crosby's 1970's recording made for Concord although Burt Lancaster is shown placing a 78 on the record turntable.
RADIO DAYS (1987)  Woody Allens's affectionate tribute to the golden days of American radio crams loads of music from the 1930s and 1940s onto the nostalgia provoking soundtrack.  Bing's contribution is part of the Decca recording of "Piston Packin' Mama" sung with the Andrews Sisters.
SOMEONE TO LOVE (1987)  Director Henry Jaglom again selected a Crosby recording for one of his films.  Jaglom also played the film's leading role as a film maker.  The reviewer for the "Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote: "the use of evocative songs like "Long Ago and Far Away" conjure a nostalgic yearning for romantic times and distant places".  It is Bing's Decca recording of that song which is used to help perfectly capture the mood of one of the film's introspective moments.
LADY IN WHITE (1988)  The plot is concerned with the ghost of a girl murdered in 1952.  Halfway through this supernatural thriller is a sequence set during the Christmas season of 1963.  We see a shot of a portable record player.  Without assistance the turntable starts to revolve and the tonearm descends on a 78.  Bing sings "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking" and the film's main character, young Frankie, played by Lucas Haas, descends the stairs and sees the ghost of a murdered girl.  The song has a significant part to play in the film's plot.  As the end credits roll the Crosby vocal is reprised, followed by the lyrics being picked up a childish voice intended to be that of the murdered girl.
CHRISTMAS COMES TO TATTER TOWN (1988)  This thirty minute cartoon was first shown on television in the U.S.A. in 1988.  It is a Christmas story which adults are able to enjoy.  The simple plot concerns a doll callet Muffet who hates Christmas and the sentiment surrounding the season of goodwill.  She is supported in her beliefs by a spider and a fly.  When Debbie, the doll's owner, plays Bing's recording of "White Christmas" both spider and fly are reduced to tears.
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989)  The theme of this America film is that men and women cannot have sex and still be just friends.  Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) both graduate in 1977.  They meet agin in 1982 and 1987.  It is the second re-union which sees the relationship between the two strengthening and the lengthy sequence embraces the Christmas/New Year festivities of 1987/8.  Bing sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as the story moves towards a happy conclusion.
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989)  This film charts the ongoing misfortunes of the Griswold family.  Chevy Chase is again as cast as Clark W. Griswold, jnr., for whom disaster lom round every corner.  In a scene set just before Chrismas Day he gazes wistfully into the distance and a sequence illustrates his dreams:  a large swimming pool on a hot summer's day surrounded by bikini clad girls.  The musical item that blends Christmas sentiment with the warm outdoors happens to be the Hawaiian song "Mele Kalikimaka", sung by Bing and the Andrews Sisters.  A further nod to the Crosby influence on Christmas comes at Griswold's darkest hour when the family guests pack to leave the disaster stricken house.  Cheve Chase bars their way, grits his teeth and says, "Nobody leaves.  This is going to be the happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny Kaye". 
THE ROAD HOME (1989)  Originally titled "Last Angels" when released to poor box-office in the U.S.A., Rank retitled the movie for U.K. distribution.  Its theme had Donald Sutherland learning more about adolescent problems than most of us wished to know.  Reviewer Nigel Floyd had this to say when the film reached the British Isles: "Art movies made by concerned middle-aged parents about mixed-up teenage kids are as irrelevant and inappropriate as a Bing Crosby record at a Beastie Boys concert".  Bing's 1943 recording of "San Fernando Valley" seems out of place on the soundtrack where recordings by the likes of Happy Monday, Raheem, The Pogues and The Cure predominate.
AVALON (1990)  The film tells in flashback the family fortunes of the Krichinsky family from 1914 to the mid-60s.  Avalon is a suburb of Baltimore and is the backdrop for mapping out the family fortunes from grandfather Sam Krichinsky downwards.  Bing's soundtrack contribution is "Silver Bells" which he duets with Carol Richards.  Other musical items include Jolson's "Anniversary Song", Buddy Clark singing "I'll Dance at Your Wedding" and "Racing With the Moon" from Vaughan Monroe.
HENRY AND JUNE (1990)  The Henry of the title is author Henry Miller and June is his wife.  It is 1931 and Miller is in Paris.  Director Philip Kaufman decided to use French and American recordings of the period alongside an orchestral score of 1930s classical compositions.  One of his contemporary selections was Bing's recording of "I Found a Million Dollar Baby".
HUDSON HAWK (1991)  This American comedy thriller was the first major financial disaster of the 1990s as far as Hollywood was concerned.  Bing's recording of "Swinging on a Star" plays a major part in the plot.  Willis as the Hudson Hawk of the title plans to steal a Leonardo de Vinci from a New York auction house.  He estimates the heist will take the length of time it takes to sing "Swinging on a Star".  Does he pull it off?  Do you care?
OSCAR (1991)  When Sylvester Stallone isn't playing Rocky or Rambo he tries to turn in performances which don't clash with his popular image.  As Angelo Provolone in Oscar he promises his dying father he will go straight.  It is 1934.  In a scene in the first reel Stallone's daughter (Ornella Muti) is showing her rebellious side.  She is in retreat in her bedroom smoking and listening to Bing's 1932 recording of "Sweet Georgia Brown".  Rebellion didn't come much worse than that in the 1930s.
NOVEMBER DAYS (1991)  Although commisioned by the BBC, this documentary about the fall of the Berlin Wall received wide theatrical release in the U.S.A.  It was made by Marcel Ophuls, who is known for his "no holds barred" style.  Parts of Bing's May, 1942 recording of "Song of Freedom" are used throughout the film.  Anti-semitism is an issue explored in the film and Bing's vocal gives added poignancy in a sequence when a Neo-Nazi is interviewed.  Little did Russian Jew Irving Berlin know when he wrote "Song of Freedom" for Holiday Inn how tellingly it would be utilised half a century later.
GRUMPY OLD MEN (1993)  This Warner Bros. film includes Bing's Warner Bros. released recording of "Winter Wonderland".  About three-quarters through this comedy of the feuding couple played by Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau comes a scene set in Christmas Eve, 1992.  "Winter Wonderland" is heard as we watch a familiar urban snow scene.  The viewer is led to expect a cosy sequence but instead a serious note is struck as we watch a fraught incident about a failing marriage.  The feelgood effect of the Crosby vocal is countered by the on-screen disharmony of marital discord.
TRAPPED IN PARADISE (1994) Paradise is a town in the U.S.A. populated by trusting, unsophisticated citizens.  It is visited for the first time on Christmas Eve by Nicholas Cage and his two brothers.  There is a scene in the town's bank where customers are conducting business whilst Bing's 1963 recording of "Do You Know What I Here" is playing over the public address system.  Cage and brothers rob the bank, bungle an escape and then become reformed characters. 
THE TROUBLES WE'VE SEEN (1994)  This Marcel Ophuls documentary uses similar techniques to the earlier November Days.  It won the International Critics prize at the 32nd New York Film Festival.  It is a history of war correspondents and how news is filtered before it reaches readers, viewers and listeners.  The war in Sarejavo is prominently featured and Ophuls juxtaposes apparently unrelated film clips in order to make a point.  Bing is heard singing "White Christmas" to film footage of sledding in the Bosnian mountains.
THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU’RE DEAD (1995) I find it difficult to understand why the American Decca recording of “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive�  by Bing and the Andrews Sisters was selected to accompany a scene in this violent gangster film. Just over an hour and a half into the picture Andy Garcia, the film’s leading man, is the subject of a vicious beating. We study his bruised features and for about half a minute the Crosby/ Andrews Sisters recording plays on the soundtrack. The music has no obvious relevance to the action unfolding on screen.
MOTHER NIGHT (1996)  Nick Nolte plays a double agent who broadcasts anti-semitic propaganda to the U.S.A.  Bing's Decca recording of "White Christmas" is played unedited over the credit titles at the film's beginning.  Then, forty minutes into the action, there is a sequence set in New York in 1960.  "White Christmas" is heard on the soundtrack.  We see a display of Decca 78s as the Nolte character explains he has 26 copies of the Crosby disc which he obtained via the U.S. Armed Forces. 
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)  A thriller from Warner Bros. which proves once again how a Crosby Christmas record can provide instant atmosphere.  It is sometime in the 1950s and it is Christmastime.  About twenty minutes into the film there is a scene is a liquor store.  Bing and the Andrews Sisters are heard singing "Mele Kalikimaka" when Kim Basinger and a cop visit the store.  Violence ensues.
LOCUSTS, THE Releases on video as “The Secret Sin�  this is a most unlikely film to feature a Crosby recording on the soundtrack. Set in Kansas in the early 1960s our hero (Vince Vaughn) runs away from his past to seek anonymity as a ranch hand. The film’s songs are almost all late 1950s recordings with the notable exception of Bing’s “Did You Ever See A Dream Walking� . That song starts up as background music some thirteen minutes into the story. We hear it as Vaughn makes his way in the moonlight to his bunkhouse. The soundtrack recordings preceding Bing are by Brenda Lee and Buddy Holly and it is impossible to fathom why Bing’s recording – legitimately licensed from Sony according to the film’s credits – was considered for a story involving incest, castration and suicide. Crosby soundtrack contributions don’t get more bizarre than this.
ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998) This is an intelligent thriller set in the U.S.A. towards the end of the twentieth century.  The film's underlying theme of this Touchstone Picture is the extent of technology's ability to invade privacy.  Will Smith plays an innocent citizen sucked into a web of political corruption.  His financial background is distorted and his marriage almost destroyed.  The film's final scene provides a happy ending.  The credits roll.  Bing's 1947 Decca recording of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is played as the audience leaves the cinema with Crosby's re-assuring voice reminding them it was only a film.
FOREVER HOLLYWOOD (1999)  This fifty minute compilation is shown on a regular basis at the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.  The Egyptian is operated by the American Cinematheque.  The film glorifies Hollywood.  It ends with Bing singing "Going Hollywood" from the film of the same name.
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS (2000)  The film is set around 1950 but a flashback sequence takes us to 1942.  The editor of a small town newspaper has published an editorial sympathetic to the Japanese community.  He is telling his son about the number of readers who have cancelled the paper as a result of his views.  In the background to the scene we hear Bing's Decca recording of "Would You".
BI-CENTENNIAL MAN (2000)  In this Robin Williams comedy he plays a robot.  In one scene he is seen repairing a phonograph.  The 78 that is played is Bing's "I Found a Million Dollar Baby".
HOLLYWOOD ENDING (2001)  Directed by Woody Allen, this film sees his return to comedy form with a subject that many would not find amusing.  The plot is about an Academy Award winning director who becomes blind.  Allen avoids original scores for his movies.  He frequently uses recordings from the 1930s and 1940s.  In view of the setting of Hollywood Ending it is not surprising that he makes use of Bing's recording of "Going Hollywood".
BAD SANTA (2003) One of the few Christmas season films for adults has Billy Bob Thornton playing department store Santa each year.  He chooses a different store annually, insults the kids who sit on his knee and robs the stores after closing time.  Disney’s Buena Vista company had a financial hand in this 15 rated un-family film.  About twenty minutes before the end of the film there is a scene which takes place on Christmas Eve.  Prior to carrying out another robbery Billy Bob is assisting in dressing a Christmas tree and hanging Christmas stockings.  On the film’s soundtrack we hear Bing singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas� .  Almost all of the 1962 Warner Bros. recording is used. 
FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (2004) This Michael Moore compiled film is an anti-George W. Bush documentary.  Three-quarters of the way into the film there is footage of U.S. military stationed in Iraq.  It is just before Christmas, presumably in the year 2002.  Bing and the Andrews Sisters can be heard singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" on two occasions during the sequence.
THE POLAR EXPRESS (2004) Another film set at Christmastime which makes use of Bing's seasonal recordings to provide that goodwill feeling.  This time both "White Christmas" and "Here Comes Santa Claus" can be heard on the soundtrack of a film which uses animation in an expensive but effective way.  Tom Hanks provides several voices to characters in a story about a boy who doesn't believe in Santa (at lease until the film ends).
THE AVIATOR (2004) The film biography of Howard Hughes contains some chronological inaccuracies but director Martin Scorsese captures the spirit of Hughes' pioneering, if sometimes misdirected, efforts in the film and airline industry.  Bing is heard twice on the film's soundtrack during the drama's first half.  "Thanks" is played shortly after the sequence depicting the premiere of the film "Wings" and "Some of These Days" is featured when Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, visits the home of Kathryn Hepburn (Cate Blanchett).  Neither recording is pertinent to the action but both sit nicely with the period.
•    THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD (1995) I find it dimwIt to understand. why
the American Decca recordisg.of 11 Accentuate the Positive" by Bmg and the Andrews Sisters was selected
to accompany a sce.o in this violent gangster film. Just <wei' an.hour and a half into the picture Andy Garcia
RUN, FAT BOY, RUN (2007). Bing’s recording of “Nice Work If You Can Get It�  with accompaniment by Buddy Bregman can be heard over the pre-credit sequence of this British comedy. We see guests assembling for the wedding of the film’s leading characters played by Simon Pegg and Thandie Newton. Then Pegg does a runner and the plot concerns his running in a London marathon in order to reconcile with Newton.
NANNY MCPHEE AND THE BIG BANG (2010) Hollywood likes to make sequels where a previous success makes a follow up picture easy to market. Hence Nanny McPhee now having to contend with a big bang. This is a film for all the family and an early sequence depicts three children cleaning up the farm in readiness for their two cousins coming to stay. The accompanying soundtrack features Bing singing "The Best Things in Life are Free". .It is the first use in a film of a Ken Barnes session recording. Bing was in London to record the song in 1975. The film was originally titled Nanny McPhee Returns on its American
release.

 

27/12/2010 11:03 pm  #3


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Thanks for that, Malcolm.  I'll keep my ears open for others.  As I have only seven of the films you quote of Michael Parkinson's list I can see I have a lot of catching up to do!  Reading the synopsis of some suggests that they may fall into the category of 'collectibles' rather than 'enjoyables!
I'm doing the same with Al Bowlly in films.  Pretty much any film set in the 'Thirties tends to slot in Bing or Bowlly, though one gets a little disappointed to hear Love Is The Sweetest Thing from the latter every time.  A 1944-set, Dutch made, wartime resistance film made in 2007 features Al singing Red Sails In the Sunset.  Possible but unlikely.
Bert

     Thread Starter
 

29/12/2010 12:39 am  #4


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Bing was heard on the TV show 'Cold Case'. I did report it at the time and Bert, you mentioned it in 'BING' when I advised you.
Think it was 'Ac-cent-uate'.

 

29/12/2010 7:47 am  #5


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Ron, we are talking about films not TV programmes which is a different subject.

 

29/12/2010 5:23 pm  #6


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Sorry!

 

17/2/2011 10:34 pm  #7


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Just sort of watching "Trapped in Paradise" and it was nice to hear Bing singing "Do you hear, what I hear".
That is a nice recording.

 

18/2/2011 11:22 am  #8


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Hi Ron!  Well done! Keep your eyes and ears open for more Bing in films.  A new one to me is a cartoon that I've not heard of or seen before.  On the recommendation of Gary Giddins [from his new book on the cinema]  I've bought a few DVDs he refers to and one of them is a box set of Hammer movies that has extras one of which is a Color Rhapsody cartoon dating from 1936 which is entitled The Merry Mutineers.  Basis of the short film is two boys sailing their 'pirate ships' on a pond and turn to attack each other.  Close up of the ships' crews reveal famous film stars including Bing as a sailor painting a mast - a pinch from Anything Goes of the same year. Bing changes into a 'mammy' character when he gets covered in paint.  Other celebrities  include The Three Stooges  Wallace Beery, Charles Laughton [as Cpt. Bligh], W.C. Fields, The Marx Bros., Jimmy Durante, Laurel & Hardy, Fred Astaire, Joe E. Brown, George Arliss.  Is this film familiar to anyone? Bert

     Thread Starter
 

18/2/2011 2:51 pm  #9


Re: Bing's recordings in films

I had never heard of it but it is listed on the Internet Movie Database site. It was released on October 2, 1936 and it was a Columbia release. I'll tell Keith Parkinson.

 

18/2/2011 3:08 pm  #10


Re: Bing's recordings in films

I have now discovered that Keith had already listed the film in his A-Z of Bing's Movies (see the BING magazine site) under Cartoons. Don't think he had ever seen it though and he'll be delighted with your news, Bert.

 

19/2/2011 12:50 pm  #11


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Ok Malcolm, thanks for the info.  Sadly, it can't be copied because apart from the legality it is on NTSC format!  Another recent DVD purchase, Blues In The Night, has extras including Swooner, Crooner.  I have heard of this cartoon but never seen it and assume it is known among other Crosbyphiles. Excellent that these Crosby orientated cartoons are being issued! Bert

     Thread Starter
 

20/2/2011 9:04 am  #12


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Swooner Crooner is more well-known. It was directed by Frank Tashlin in 1944 and it picked up an Academy Award nomination.  It depicted Bing and Frank Sinatra as roosters and showed how singers could speed up production on the assembly line when American industry was geared up to boost output during wartime.

 

04/3/2011 9:17 pm  #13


Re: Bing's recordings in films

I watched 'Nanny McPhee and The Big Band' (your final listing) last week, Malcolm, and I was surprised to find they'd used Ken Barnes 70s production of 'The Best Things In Life Are Free' when they were trying to establish a 1940s ambience.  It clearly wasn't a 40s arrangement and it certainly wasn't Bing's 40s voice!  Perhaps a little more research wouldn't have come amiss.


Devotee of 'the art that conceals art' which of course Bing epitomised.
 

05/8/2012 8:07 am  #14


Re: Bing's recordings in films

I may have missed reference to the following but has anyone watched The Road To Home on the internet? Starring Bing & Bob it is obviously a US government short directed at American navy personnel at the end of the war advising them not to 'jump ship' but go through the proper channels for their release, outlining the financial advantages, etc. I watched it with Trevor Wagstaff last Friday evening and it was new to both of us.

     Thread Starter
 

05/8/2012 9:35 am  #15


Re: Bing's recordings in films

I saw it first on a Festival Films video tape dated 1995 which contained various items from Bob DeFlores' collection. The video was called "On the Road with Bing & Bob" and it also included "The Fifth Freedom" "The Road To Peace" and "You Can Change the World".

 

05/8/2012 10:23 am  #16


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Thanks for pointing that out. I have that video but had forgotten the individual titles. It's a long while since I viewed it!

     Thread Starter
 

27/2/2013 12:00 pm  #17


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Watching Alfred Hitchcocks's 1936 film Sabotage I see that there is a two minute excerpt of
Walt Disney's cartoon Who Killed Cock Robin at around 59 minutes into the film. Is this known about?
Bert

     Thread Starter
 

04/3/2013 12:10 am  #18


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Always remembered that film, Bert, because of the scene where the photographer shoots the bloke.
Finally saw it again after 30 years or so.

 

08/3/2013 6:38 pm  #19


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Hi Ron, I'd completely forgotten about that sequence until I saw it again recently.
Also just seen again Bing and Bob as cartoon characters [along with Groucho and Elvis] wirh brief speaking roles in Walt Disney's full-length feature, Aladdin And The King Of Thieves.

     Thread Starter
 

09/3/2013 7:31 pm  #20


Re: Bing's recordings in films

A couple other places I have heard Bing mentioned is:

ANNIE (1982) - During the song "We've Got Annie" the one singer sings 'Benny Goodman is swing, and Bing is a king by far"

FROSTY RETURNS - an ABC cartoon mentions Bing. An older lady says she hates snow and winter, but she "likes a Bing Crosby Christmas song as much as the next person"
 

 

19/4/2013 12:02 pm  #21


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Just seen in the 'Gramophone' magazine that Rise Stevens has died three months short of her
100th birthday where it is noted that she sang an aria in the Oscar winning Bing Crosby film Going My Way..

     Thread Starter
 

17/11/2013 11:41 pm  #22


Re: Bing's recordings in films

Bing´s 1941 version of the  song "You are my sunshine" backed an erotic scene of the satirical Russian/ Hungarian/ German movie "Hotel Lux", made 2011, director Leander Haussmann. The plot plays 1938 (!) between Berlin and Moscow and was about a Jewish comedian.

Last edited by Dieter (17/11/2013 11:43 pm)

 

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