arieliondotcom I'd never heard of this movie before seeing it on cable and was pleasantly surprised. Oh, I would have been even happier if it had been in color (the cover on the IMDb page is in color so I'm guessing there is a colorized version out there). And I was disappointed to see Jane Wyman instead of Jane Wyatt whom I was expecting when I heard the intro. But this is a fun film with cute songs well crooned and some seriously funny lines, some of which you can tell are ad libs from Crosby ("Golf, a good old man's game..." and "I'm just a wee boy..."). You'll also see where Martin Short stole his idea for the role of the wedding arranger in the more recent versions of Father of the Bride. Hilarious.It's Frank Capra, and he is an acquired taste. So like certain seasoning, you need to avoid this movie if you don't like schmaltz. But I think if you can get past that and the fact that it should be in color for a movie made this late, you'll find genuine laughs, some whistle-worthy tunes and a pleasant distraction that brings a smile or two. And that's a pleasant surprise.

17268 "Here Comes the Groom" is a better than usual musical. It's overriding virtue is the cast. Crosby is, as usual good. Wyman is extremely good as a musical star--after "Johnny Belinda," she here shows she can play virtually anything. Franchot Tone is also quite good.However, the best performance comes from Alexis Smith, looking more glorious than ever and displaying a wonderfully relaxed and natural talent for comedy. Too bad she didn't really come into her own until 1971 and the legendary Broadway show "Follies.""In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" is the best and best-known song in the score. I wonder what Wyman could have done in a good Broadway musical.

bkoganbing Frank Capra in his autobiography called Bing Crosby, "the master of the cultured ad-lib." A lot of time Crosby would drop several ad-libs into a script and Capra kept them in. According to Capra they were betterthan what the screenwriter had written. Of course partnering with Bob Hope in several films and thousands of radio, television, and live shows Bing had to be quick on the uptake.Capra wanted to do another of his populist films like Mr. Deeds etc., in the three picture deal he signed with Paramount. But after doing Riding High and doing it well with Bing Crosby, he wanted to do one of his type film. The Paramount brass said no, but since he was unhappy at Paramount they agreed to drop their last picture commitment on his contract for one more Crosby film. Just make a good one.Capra was as good as his word. This film is entertainment plus and a lot of that has to do with the chemistry between Bing and Jane Wyman. Most of Crosby's leading ladies were nice women who just melted with the Crosby charm. Not so here. Ms. Wyman gives as good with the wisecracks as Crosby does and is no pushover. What she is here is a fiancé who's grown tired of waiting for her man who's out gallivanting all over the world as per his job as correspondent. When he finally does come back he has two French orphans in tow. But Jane's decided to marry millionaire Franchot Tone. Bing has to get her back or those kids will be deported. That's where the fun starts.By now Paramount was giving Crosby vehicles some respectable budgets and that included letting Frank Capra hire a lot of his favorite supporting players. Those folks make a Capra film an enjoyable experience.Franchot Tone does nicely as millionaire rival and critics were astounded at Alexis Smith who turned out to have a real flair for comedy. Funny parts she wasn't getting at Warner Brothers. She plays a "kissing" cousin of Franchot Tone and figures prominently in Bing's machinations.They were also astounded at Jane Wyman who nobody realized could sing. Why they were is beyond me since she did start in musical choruses. The song In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer won an Oscar for best song and became one of Bing's million selling records, dueted with Jane Wyman on screen and on vinyl.The rest of the score is by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans who were under contract to Paramount and for some reason or other never wrote another Crosby film score. Probably because Paramount didn't assign them because many years later they scored and arranged a whole album of duets with Bing and Rosemary Clooney called That Traveling Two Beat Time. And Bing did pretty good with a song written for his friend Bob Hope by them called Silver Bells.One of the Livingston-Evans songs was a patented philosophical number called Your Own Little House. A nice song on record, on screen it's a great impromptu style number that so many of Crosby's seemed to be. Sung with a group of kids who are French war orphans, Bing does some gentle kidding of fellow entertainers Jimmy Durante and Maurice Chevalier.This is one of Bing's best and great entertainment.

dhosek This is my favorite of Bing's movies, a light comedy with great musical numbers, centering on the fantastic song and dance routine with Bing and Jane Wyman in the office building singing, "in the cool cool cool of the evening". Rent this or catch it on cable or do what you have to, it will be worth your while. Frank Capra's light touch does not disappoint.