User Reviews

This was the second of two Universal productions Paramount player Bing Crosby made for the studio. The first was East Side of Heaven. In this one, Bing, along with El Brendel, look after pre-teen Gloria Jean after her father (Donald Woods) meets a tragic end. They all move from San Francisco to New York so the girl can live with her rich uncle (Allyn Joslyn). But he's a snob and he redirects them to his uncle (Charles Winninger) on the West side. I'll stop there and just say that the plot doesn't always make sense but when Bing and Gloria sing, all is right with the world. El Brendel is an acquired taste who's occasionally amusing though that squirrel was hilarious! On that note, If I Had My Way is worth a look. P.S. Since I always like to point out when a player from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, is in another one, here, it's Moroni Olsen-who was the voice of the angel who sent for Clarence at the beginning of that one-as the banker who explains what a bank does to Ms. Jean. Also, one of the "old-time" acts is a Minstrel number that would make one blanch today but it's interesting for historical purposes.

Every time vaudeville comic El Brendel says those words, I felt the urge to scream. His bad Swedish accent, overused in many early Fox musicals, is blatantly obnoxious here, and ruins what is essentially a Deanna Durbin Universal musical film without Ms. Durbin present. Gloria Jean, a slightly younger newcomer, takes over, and while she is sweet, ever ready to help (like Durbin's "Miss Fix It" of the dozen movies she had made at Universal up to this point), her voice is not up to the quality of Ms. Durbin's. It is sweet enough to sing operetta style songs at parties, but to hold together an entire movie of 90 minutes, she just isn't up to the task. Bing Crosby, on loan from Paramount, is his usual easy going self, and has the hard task of telling the sweet Ms. Jean that she is now an orphan. As they take her from the Golden Gate Bridge setting of San Francisco to the 59th Street (Queensborough/Ed Koch) bridge of New York City, they find out that her selfish uncle (Allyn Joslyn) wants no part of her, but a loving great uncle (Charles Winninger) from the same address on the West Side of 59th Street does.

Everything would be fine plot line wise (for what plot there is) if El Brendel wasn't so heavily involved in it. This ninny of a pal gives away all of Crosby's money so they can purchase a failing Swedish restaurant which they intend to turn into a swank nightclub for fading Broadway stars. Then, they plot to con Jean's uncle into buying some worthless stock so they can keep the restaurant from being closed. Some real life faded Broadway stars appear, doing their old acts, so there is some historical value in that. But every time El Brendel appears, the corny vaudeville type comedy just reeks of its old age. There is one good jazzy song that Gloria Jean fails to deliver as Durbin would have. Otherwise, Crosby really doesn't have any good material other than the acting scene of telling the poor young girl of her father's fate. "A Tale of Two Cities" actor Donald Woods appears briefly as the doomed dad. A forgotten Broadway star named Blanche Ring appears briefly to warble her still performed hit, "Rings on My Fingers".

Crosby fans may enjoy this, but for those who want to limit their sugar intake, this one is not recommended.

Wow! Bing and 12 y.o. Gloria Jean made a fabulously appealing costarring team at this time. Gloria still had her 'little girl' charm and looks, but a 'big girl' operatic singing voice, rather similar to those of older Universal singing stars Deanna Durbin and Suzanna Foster. Two years later, she had blossomed into her full teen beauty, and would be a sometimes romantic singing partner for slightly older Donald O'Connor in several films. Reportedly, both Gloria Jean's and Suzanna's film careers were much negatively impacted by Deanna's dominance, and they were retained, in part, as bargaining chips by Universal with Miss Durbin. She should have had a much bigger entertainment career somewhere!

Several reviewers have expressed strong dislike for the supporting actor El Brendel, playing Axel, one of Bing's construction buddies. He provides periodic humor with his fractured English and takes on situations, and is the only other character present throughout the film. I thought he was a plus. S.Z. Sakall played a very similar character in many films of the late '30s - '50s. Some reviewers of his films find him irritating, although I again find him generally a plus.

Various reviewers have different favorites among the several featured songs. To me, the clear winner is the bouncy swing-styled "Meet the Sun Halfway", which functions as the de facto theme song, being sung by Bing and Gloria near the beginning and again at the end of the film. Apparently, this is also Gloria's favorite, as she begins her brief sampling of her film career, available at You Tube,with this song. Before getting into this song in the first rendition, Bing goes through an apparent mimicking of a new acting sensation:Danny Kaye. The message of this song is simple: Work hard for your dreams and luck(the sun) will likely help you fulfill them.

Bing sings the title song(as distinct from the theme song), in response to Gloria's depression because he says he has to leave her for a new job. This is a decent mellow ballad, also with a very broadly applicable message.In response to Gloria's suggestion that Bing could become a millionaire if he put his nose to the grindstone, he sings the ballad "I Haven't Time to be a Millionaire", enumerating all the little pleasantries and doing good things for people he would miss out on as a result of becoming a driven money-maker, like Uncle Jarvis. Gloria gets the point after a while, and sings her version in response. Gloria has her solo in "Little Grey Home in the West", perhaps in remembrance of her prior home near the Golden Gate Bridge, which her recently deceased father, along with Bing's character, worked on. This pre-WWI sentimental favorite is the only song sung by the stars that was not composed for this film. Bing also sings "April Played the Fiddle". The final original tune: the upbeat "The Pessimistic Character, with the Crabapple Face", done as a group sing, communicates another message to don't get down too low when things look impossibly bad.

The screenplay has tomboyish Californian Gloria suddenly an orphan, after her father's accidental death. Bing is her temporary guardian, until she is relocated with her NYC uncle Jarvis Johnson, she has never seen. Only problem is this wealthy tightwad snob doesn't want anything to do with her or his deceased brother, who married a singer/actress, which he considers a low class station in life. Jarvis is effectively played by Allyn Joslyn, who specialized in rather similar snobbish characters. His equally snobbish striking blond wife is played by Claire Dodd. Clair usually played 'the other woman' roles in a variety of films for various studios. True to her persona in this film, she apparently had an aloof personality, often being referred to as 'the ice bucket'.

Ex-vaudevillian Charles Winninger plays the fading vaudevillian uncle of Gloria's father, Joe Johnson. Unlike Jarvis, he is quite willing to take in Gloria, although he has little money. Meanwhile, friend Axel uses his and Bing's savings to buy his old friend's ailing Swedish restaurant, so his friend can return to his MN farm. Bing is shocked at this turn of events. They need more money to reinvent it, but Gloria's attempt to borrow money from a bank fails. Thus, Bing hatches an idea to get $5000. from tightwad Jarvis by convincing him that some worthless stock left by his brother is recently very valuable. He uses this money to redo the restaurant as a dinner plus vaudeville club. Jarvis discovers the stock he bought is worthless, and wants to sue and jail Bing for fraud, and shut down the restaurant. Jarvis is locked in the freezer to 'cool down'. Meanwhile, Gloria's banker friend is impressed with their restaurant business and agrees to lend then $5000. to pay off Jarvis. Jarvis and his wife decide to be friendly with the others as a result, and everyone is getting along fine at the end.

The inclusion of several actual ancient vaudeville performers near the end is controversial among reviewers,especially Eddie Leonard's blackface rendition of the standard:"Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider", which he long ago composed. I much prefer Eddie Cantor's rendition. Leonard was 70 y.o. and would die the next year... The 'Six Hits and a Miss"(cute name) backed up several of these performances.