It was only natural that at some point Paramount would give Bing Crosby and Irish story, preferably with Barry Fitzgerald, and this turned out to be the third and last of their teamings.
Crosby recorded a lot of Irish and Irish style songs during his career and he has some good numbers here, traditional and those supplied by Burke and Van Heusen. Some were staples for his Irish albums.
I wish they had given him something like The Quiet Man to do. In that John Ford went on location to film it and took full advantage of the Irish countryside. Paramount played on the cheap here, the thing was shot on the backlot and it shows. Location and technicolor would have been essential here.
For most of the film the plot is light, an American insurance detective is on the trail of the thief of the Blarney Stone and takes time to romance Ann Blyth the local constable's daughter. The detective and constable are perfectly cast with Bing and Barry respectively.
When they get down to the business of finding the thief the film turns noirish. Too abruptly for such light material. Crosby was certainly capable of handling serious drama as well as the light stuff that he was known for, but not in the mood of the same movie.
If you love Bing as I do, by all means see this. If not it's a curiosity.
Crosby recorded a lot of Irish and Irish style songs during his career and he has some good numbers here, traditional and those supplied by Burke and Van Heusen. Some were staples for his Irish albums.
I wish they had given him something like The Quiet Man to do. In that John Ford went on location to film it and took full advantage of the Irish countryside. Paramount played on the cheap here, the thing was shot on the backlot and it shows. Location and technicolor would have been essential here.
For most of the film the plot is light, an American insurance detective is on the trail of the thief of the Blarney Stone and takes time to romance Ann Blyth the local constable's daughter. The detective and constable are perfectly cast with Bing and Barry respectively.
When they get down to the business of finding the thief the film turns noirish. Too abruptly for such light material. Crosby was certainly capable of handling serious drama as well as the light stuff that he was known for, but not in the mood of the same movie.
If you love Bing as I do, by all means see this. If not it's a curiosity.