Going My Way (1944)

Touches You

So much average

Just what I expected

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Conflict is the essence of great entertain¬ment. Here we have not only conflict between young and old, but between go-ahead and conservative, between the money-grubbing and idealistic. The characters are cleverly shaded, their opposing points of view made more palatable and sympathetic by giving them human qualities with which audiences can identify. The old priest may be a bit crusty and cantankerous, he may be over-set in his ways, he may be naive and even simplistic, but his heart runneth over with pure gold. All the same, he is somewhat refreshingly removed from Hollywood's usual conception of the do-gooder priest. His young colleague is much more the smilingly humanitarian stereotype - though even he is allowed a few unusual quirks. For instance, he sings, (You have to remember that although we now completely accept Crosby in a priestly role, such casting was a major deviation from the norm back in 1944. Although time has now diminished the dramatic impact of this mind-boggling break with tradition, McCarey deserves a great deal of credit for pushing ahead with this unthinkable innovation despite the strenuous objections of Paramount executives).The casting of Crosby and Fitzgerald could not have been more felicitous. Although Crosby's career was already in full swing (in 1943 he was voted by U.S. exhibitors as the country's number four box-office star), Going My Way catapulted him into super-star status. From 1944 to 1948 he was the most popular star in America (and Australia as well), only dropping into second position in 1949 due to the huge success of Bob Hope's The Paleface. In fact, Going My Way was second only to The Paleface as Paramount's most popular Australian release of the 1940's.For Fitzgerald, Going My Way lifted his career from the character-player league to major star.The other players lend excellent support, although the film failed to make any appreciable impact on their overall careers. It is Crosby's and Fitzgerald's movie. Although Stevens takes time out to sing Carmen, she doesn't stay in the memory. It's Crosby's jaunty air, his crooning of "Too-ra-loo-ra", his swinging on a star and his breaking down of Fitzgerald's distrust and antipathy that we remember.As might be expected, the movie is superbly crafted in all departments. In fact, in his book on The Films of Bing Crosby, Robert Bookbinder wisely points out that the very excellence of Crosby and Fitzgerald in his picture's leading roles tends to overshadow McCarey's contribution. Some critics would argue that this is as it should be: the more perfect a director's work, the more unobtrusive. On this basis, McCarey certainly deserved his Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' award for Directing as well as his award for Original Story.

Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald both won well-deserved Oscars for this gem, as did the film for best picture and Leo McCarey for best director. Unfortunately, this great film has been forgotten by most of today's movie fans. It also won best song for "Would You Like to Swing on A Star?" The cast includes Rise Stevens, the GREATEST Carmen ever. One scene features Maestra Stevens singing "Habanera" staged at the Metropolitan Opera. Bing also sings "Ave Maria" and "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra".The supporting cast also features Frank McHugh and Gene Lockhart, and Bowery Boy Stanley Clements and Little Rascal Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer Watch for this one on stations that feature old films. You'll love it.

When Leo McCarey won the Best Director award for The Awful Truth in 1937, he said they gave it to him for the wrong film, referring to the heart-wrenching Make Way For Tomorrow of the same year. I don't know what better film he made in 1944, but it must have been very good to earn Going My Way 7 Oscars. This is far from his best work, but admittedly there's little wrong with it, it's just inoffensive and harmless to a fault. It's damn near void of meaningful conflict outside of its opening and closing 10 minutes. It tries to start an argument about the old vs. the new and independence vs. guidance but neither idea is fully fleshed out besides briefly in a titular song. Instead it opts for toothless pleasantness, ideal to cater to soft hearts during the end of World War II. In that case, I guess it would have been decent company in a volatile world.But today, it's just far-fetched that a bunch of ragtag boys would suddenly reform into a church choir without much disagreement. That's more or less the bulk of the film so to have it so undeveloped leaves it unsatisfying. The film hinges on Bing Crosby's warmth and familiar songs and I can see how it can be intoxicating, but it can't exist on that plane alone. Barry Fitzgerald gets a lot of credit for the film's enduring success - and he's famous for being the only actor nominated twice for the same performance at the Oscars - but his mannerisms were more irritating than heartwarming. The film is handsomely shot for its time at least, but it didn't win an award for that department somehow. It's a shame it hasn't had the staying power of other Best Pictures that resonate like All Quiet on the Western Front and Casablanca, but it was the Academy's early days.6/10

Another great movie from Bing Crosby. Here a worldly man who has chosen to become a Catholic priest comes to a church that is failing and tries to turn it around. The resident, older priest played very capably by the great Barry Fitzgerald, is at first very reluctant to embrace the newer ideas that the younger priest brings up. He does come around when the church is under threat of closure. They eventually save the church with the help of some street kids that Bing turns into an excellent church choir. I also like when Bing takes the young aspiring women under his wing so she does not end up on the mean streets. Overall this is an extremely well done and acted movie.