Starring Bing Crosby, Edith Fellows, Donald Meek, and Madge Evans
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Music by Arthur Johnson; Lyrics by Johnny Burke
We ease into the spooky season with this Crosby vehicle, the first of three he did as an independent producer releasing with studios other than Paramount. It's also the first of four vehicles where the focus is on his relationship with a child, though there is a love interest here, too. Bing has been known to dive into the Christmas season, but this is the closest any of his laid-back movies get to horror. How does the tale of a drifter who helps a little girl and her grandfather find a home look compared to the similar If I Had My Way and Sing You Sinners...and why are we including it for Halloween? Let's begin in prison, as an inmate (John Gallaudet) on his way to the chair gives a letter to his fellow inmate Larry Poole (Crosby) and find out...
The Story: Larry delivers the letter to little Patsy Smith (Fellows) and her dapper grandfather (Meek). The letter admits that the man killed Patsy's father accidentally, and he's given them the key to his home and hideout to make up for it. The house is a dilapidated wreck and reputedly haunted...and that's the least of Larry's troubles. For one thing, Larry really wants to become a gondolier in Venice, not adopt a family. Susan Sprauge (Evans) of the local Welfare Office has been trying to take Patsy to the local orphanage, claiming her grandfather can't bring her up properly.
Larry makes a lot of con-deals in an attempt to turn the haunted house into The Haunted House Nightclub, but it comes to bite him in the rear when he's unable to con the county license board. When his attempt to make quick money for a restaurant license lands him in the hospital, Susan's boss takes Patsy away. Larry attempts to rescue her, but it's Patsy who saves herself in the end and brings Susan and Larry together.
The Song and Dance: Bing had to fight for Columbia to let Louis Armstrong and his band appear, but he was very right, and right to give him second billing. Their spooky song mid-way through livens up the film, and while his role is stereotypical, Armstrong shows some charm and works well with Crosby and Meek. Crosby gets a rare chance at drama as a former jailbird, and Evans is one of his few leading ladies to match him well as the tenacious social worker. There's a nice score, too, with one big hit in the Oscar-nominated title song that remains a standard to this day.
Favorite Number: Our first number proper isn't until almost 20 minutes in, but it's "So Do I," with Larry playing his antique lute for a tenement and Patsy dancing along to gather those pennies. Patsy, Larry, and Gramps ride a hay wagon to their new home, singing goofy lyrics to "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Crosby performs the title song three times, first for Patsy when she's frightened during a thunderstorm at the haunted house, briefly when singing for the orphans, and late in the film when he's searching New York for Susan.
Armstrong gets the delightful horror-tinged "Skeleton In the Closet," with a dancer in a skeleton costume and Patsy popping jokes and tricks at the nightclub patrons. Bing joins him for the ballad "Let's Call a Heart a Heart." He gets "One, Two, Button Your Shoe" with the kids at the orphanage during the carnival's appearance there.
What I Don't Like: Mixed feelings on the nightclub setting. On one hand, the haunted house club was so creative, and the two numbers done there so enjoyable, I wish they did more with it. On the other hand, this doesn't degenerate into a series of club numbers with little story in the end, so kudos to Columbia for attempting a stronger ending. Unfortunately, it comes off as melodramatic, meandering, and unbelievable. Crosby is no jailbird, and there's no real reason for Susan to fall for him so quickly. Fellows comes off more like a nasty brat who hates everyone than a scared kid who wants to stay with her grandfather, too. It's a little dark for one of Bing's 30's vehicles, what with Bing being a former prisoner and the child under threat of being sent to an orphanage, not to mention that haunted house.
The Big Finale: This is too meandering and strange to be one of Bing's better vehicles. Recommended mainly for major fans of his or Armstrong's, or anyone who wants to find out where the title song came from.
Home Media: On DVD, but expensive. Your best bet is streaming. Tubi currently has it for free.
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