I recently watched The Life and Legend of Bing Crosby.  This one truly stood out as a masterpiece of the genre. It showcased an incredible amount of archival material and featured invaluable interviews, truly documenting living history. Documentaries like these are not only precious but vital, as they preserve important aspects of our heritage. Despite its quality, this documentary has not been widely distributed. However, it is available on YouTube, where it has garnered around 10,000 views. Unfortunately I have not seen the other ones.

There is a new interesting release by BCE, described as "Bing Crosby’s original 1950s Radio Shows are now available on Bing Crosby’s YouTube channel! Cozy up and hear Bing chat about life, music, and more—all while crooning timeless ballads in your living room" the release earlier today seems to have gained some digital attention. I always though of radio as the medium most suited to Bing's talents and it is nice to see that they are using radio episodes to promote his legacy, I am a huge fun of his radio work but I haven't yet heard all episodes available so I am not sure from what year this was taken for. 

Welcome!!

Ian Kerstein wrote:

 It's beyond beautiful and makes me want to visit there. 

Though the Isle of Inisfree is an entirely fictional location in The Quiet Man, the village of Cong in County Mayo in Ireland was actually used to bring the fictional Isle of Inisfree to life. 

My favorite Irish tune is "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen." It is such a truly emotional song, and I  adore Bing Crosby's version as well as the one performed by the vocal group Sons of the Pioneers. The latter was the first version I heard as a child as featured in the 1950 John Ford film Rio Grande, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Interestingly, the lyric "since first you were my ... bride" differs among versions: Bing sings "bonnie bride," while the Pioneers sing "blushing bride," which is the original phrasing. I wonder if Bing had a different lyrical version in his hands or if he made the change by mistake.

Bing as he stated in his 1966 Dublin special "had a musical love affair with Ireland" since he heard  "The Rose of Tralee," by  John McCormack, a record he owned as a child in Spokane. Bing later recorded  the best version of the song for Decca in 1945. A lovely and really sweet song.

Of course, the most famous Irish song Bing ever recorded was "Galway Bay," that was written by the Irish immigrant Dr. Arthur Colahan in 1947. Later that same year, Bing Crosby recorded the song, making it famous worldwide. His record reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Victor Young, the prolific and talented composer conductor and arranger that worked with Bing many times (Home on the range, Country Girl, Emperor Waltz, Connecticut Yankee,) played a significant role in shaping Irish music as we now know it. Young was connected with Bing's iconic records such as "Galway Bay," "The Rose of Tralee," and "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." Furthermore Victor Young's work composing the score of John Ford irish themed films like The Quiet Man (1952) that introduce the Isle of Inisfree (written a year earlier) into the general public, Bing included the song in his Irish 1966 special with a children choir creating a truly magical moment that showcased the enduring beauty of Irish music.

I am always dazzled Ian, by your immense knowledge of all those rare and fascinated contextual stories on so many legends. I knew that Astaire (my favorite dancer of all times) was annoyed with the pairing of Ginger Rogers, his daughter Ava said that they worked well but from what I have heard they didn’t have a personal chemistry and never socialized beside the obvious screen one. I didn’t know that he didn’t like it from the beginning I always though that he grew tired of the audience perceiving them as a team.

Following the remarkable success of Holiday Inn and Blue Skies, Paramount sought to replicate the winning formula, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in their third Irving Berlin musicals. Work on the project began as early as 1948, the new movie was written specifically for Bing and Fred but Astaire expressed his dissatisfaction with the script and turned it down. His 1948 decision to turned it down was partly because his intention to retire after the success of Blue Skies. However, MGM quickly turned him around offering him the lead opposite Judy Garland in Easter Parade engaging him in a long contract with MGM the rival studio to Bing’s Paramount After some delays, Bing Crosby almost withdrew from the project due to the tragic passing of his wife, Dixie. Ironically Fred Astaire wife was also ill the same period and die just few weeks before the release of White Christmas. Donald O’Connor was cast opposite Crosby when Bing revived the project in 1953 Astaire, I think was unavailable at the beginning of the year but he probably was not asked again due to his MGM contract. Danny Kaye was great in the movie but I always loved Fred Astaire he was the greatest dancer of all and a great actor.

Bing was also paired with Rhythm Brothers at the beginning but decided to avoid pairings in his entire career so he didn’t have to dissolve one later one but just to be careful to not make one, the same was true in his radio programs in 1930s and 1940s the semi-re

I hope that it will make you happy Ian to know that as far as I know she wasn't dubbed, her own voice was always used at leat in the Crosby pictures.

Jane Wyman is a very strong choice, Bing  I suspect intentionaly avoided to work with the same leading lady in more than two pictures, (except the Road pictures+Dixie that helped to form a stronger connection with Dorothy Lamour, there was the excuse of the franchise there), almost half of his leading ladies were employed for two pictures specially in 1940s.

Bing I am guessing liked sometimes the on-screen chemsitry and also liked on personal level many of his co-stars but he didn't wont to be part of a team like Astaire-Rogers and all the others pairings you mentioned Ian, perhaps he might considere it a limitation. Except Mary Carlisle and Dotorhy Lamour is like an invisible two-movie clause is in place, cause no one else was able to do a third picture with Bing.That way he could use the advantage of repeating a succesfull collaboration without making a potential limited permanant pair, as he did with Jane Wyman, Grace Kelly, Mary Martin, Marjorie Reynolds, Joan Caulfield, Kittie Carlisle, Joan Bennet, Ethel Merman, Martha Raye, Shirley Ross, Nicole Maurey, making two pictures with all of them. There is not another actor with that pattern that I know, there only few the one-pictures co-stars like Rhonda Fleming, Coleen Gray Madge Evans, Ann Blyth, Carole Lombard, Miriam Hokpkins, Marion Davies, Joan Fontaine, usually due to them not being in conctract with Paramount (Davies for MGM, Fleming for Selzinck, Blyth for Universal, Kitty Carlisle and Coleen Gray being fired from Paramount)  or having demanding scedules in the studio, only twice in his 50 years in show bussines did a third picture with the same leading lady only with Mary Carlisle and Dorothy Lamour.

That's the reason i would say that although he worked with Bob Hope for so many years, for so many movies, in radio, in television, on

After the 1930s and 1940s polls it is time for me to revisit that 1950s poll, and a 1960s one will be also a good idea. 

I voted for Joan Caulfield after spending the whole morning considering my options, it was a tough one, in 1940s Bing got the most talented co-stars than any other decade. Marjorie Reynolds was very pretty and radiant, and a good actress, Mary Martin was indeed multi-talented performer and Dorothy Lamour was also radiant, pretty with a great voice and superb comedy timing, she was a good actress  and I adored the Road movies I recently show Dixie the film too.
It was a tough choice, Joan Fontaine is the most talented actress of them all I believe that she was one of the best actress of the golden age, and she deserved the Oscar for her wonderful perfrormance in Rebecca (she lost) and for her performance in Suspicion (she won over her sister Olivia De Havilland) she gave a great performance showcasing her acting range in The Emperor Watz, she was simply captivating and I like her a lot, she was really great. Also I wish to see her Bing Crosby Show episode but I do not have it.
Ann Blyth (1928-) the only one in the list still alive and the earliest alive Academy Award nominee (nominated in 1945 for best supporting actress in Mildred Pierce) at the age of 96 is a very good actress and mighty talented too. Also got a nice chemistry with Bing and a fine singing voice.
Ingrid Bergman is also very beautiful and talented actress winning more Oscars and BAFTA and Tony than all Bing's co-stars of all decades. Her wonderful performance in The Bells of St Mary was one of her finest roles and made it tough to not choose her, she was magical and a great actress - I almost voted for her- and it's dissapointing that she does not rank higher in the poll.
Rhonda Fleming became a star after the Connecticut Yankee and was one of the prettiest, she most definately filmed better in technicolor than anyone else in Hollywood, her hair, her eyes and her skins shade maked her look divine under the Technicolor cameras and rightfully proclaimed Queen of Technicolor. 

But my personal favorit

Thanks for the post! It is the best female cover of the song that I have heard.

Blonde56 wrote:

Pantelis, I love John Ford movies too! John Wayne movies. I love so many movies and stars from the 20's up until the 80's. Then things started to get boring. Oh sure there is still some good stuff around but not on the same level. I guess we agree on this. Others may feel the opposite and that is fine. To each their own. Thanks Pantelis!

 

He is my favorite director Carmela! I have seen all his movies with John Wayne and my favorite was Fort Apache (the first I saw) although Searchers must be the greatest picture ever made in all genres. Ford and Wayne really did some great classics like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, Stagecoach that Bing Crosby did a remake in 1966, though Bing did a great job portraying the Doc Boone one of his finest acting jobs ever, there were many good actors involved like Ann-Margret, Van Heflin, Bob Cummings, Stefanie Powers etc. but the movie is not favorable compared to the original. Also, I believe that the Ford locations were spectacular, the Monumental Valley in the Navajo country in Arizona. Is a lifetime dream to go there one day. I just adored all those movies I have seen them hundreds of times literally.

Mary Carlisle died in 2018 at the age of 104. She was the last surviving co-star from the 1930s. Now, the oldest must be Ann Blyth from Top O' the Morning (1949); she is 96, 97 in August. The surviving stars from the golden age are very few now. The wonderful Mitzi Gaynor (Anythign goes, 1956) died at age of 93 in October and Barbara Rush (Robin and the Seven Hoods, 1964) passed away last March at the age of 97. There are only few left now but all of their work remains immortal.