Top o' the Morning (1949)A singing insurance investigator comes to Ireland to recover the stolen Blarney Stone...and romance the local policeman's daughter. Director:David Miller |
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Top o' the Morning (1949)A singing insurance investigator comes to Ireland to recover the stolen Blarney Stone...and romance the local policeman's daughter. Director:David Miller |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Bing Crosby | ... |
Joe Mulqueen
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| Ann Blyth | ... |
Conn McNaughton
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| Barry Fitzgerald | ... |
Sergeant Briany McNaughton
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| Hume Cronyn | ... |
Hughie Devine
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Eileen Crowe | ... |
Biddy O'Devlin
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| John McIntire | ... |
Inspector Fallon
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Tudor Owen | ... |
Cormac Gillespie
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Jimmy Hunt | ... |
Pearse O'Neill
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Morgan Farley | ... |
Edwin Livesley
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John Eldredge | ... |
E. L. Larkin
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John 'Skins' Miller | ... |
Dowdler
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John Costello | ... |
Village Gossip
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Dick Ryan | ... |
Clark O'Ryan
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Bernard Cauley | ... |
Boy
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Paul Connelly | ... |
Boy
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One bright morning, the villagers near Blarney Castle, Ireland hear terrible news: the famed Blarney Stone has been stolen. Enter Joe Mulqueen, singing insurance investigator from New York. The lovely daughter of police sergeant McNaughton soon catches Joe's eye, and oddly enough Joe fulfills an ancient prophecy of who her lover will be. Meanwhile, Joe does find time to do a little investigating... Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
This film is set in Ireland. Apparently, the famed Blarney Stone has been stolen and an insurance investigator (Bing Crosby) has been sent by his company. After all, the rock was insured and they don't want to have to pay off if they can help it. When Bing arrives, the town and especially the constable (Barry Fitzgerald) do not welcome him. So, naturally, it's up to Bing's considerable charms to warm their hearts. One whose heart warmed quite quickly is Fitzgerald's daughter (Ann Blyth)--who becomes smitten with Bing and thinks his arrival signals some sort of weird prophecy.
Overall, the film is a lot of agreeable blarney. It's enjoyable but silly and inconsequential. The songs, while enjoyable, are also easy to forget and the film it NOT another "Going My Way". A few things that kept it from being better (other than the silly plot) were that many of the actors and accents seemed about as Irish as pizza--another is that Ann Blyth was 25 years younger than Bing--and that's just a bit creepy.