Going My Way

If you are looking for something thoughtful, dramatic, or even controversial, go somewhere else. But if it's a light-hearted comedy you're after, then pull up a chair and check out "Going My Way".

Bing Crosby stars as Father Charles "Chuck" O'Malley, a newly-ordained priest assigned to take over St. Dominic's, a New York City church with a mortgage currently run by veteran priest Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). Both Crosby and Fitzgerald give good performances in this movie, as attested by the fact they each won an Oscar (and Barry Fitzgerald was nominated TWICE, for Actor and Supporting Actor, a move that necessitated a rule change at the Academy). If you ask me, between the two of them, I would go with Barry Fitzgerald. His portrayal of the crusty, yet kind-hearted Father Fitzgibbon was a role he was born to do, and it shows.

This movie also features the talents of soprano Risë Stevens, who plays Jenny Linden, an old friend of Father O'Malley's, in town performing at the Metropolitan Opera House as Carmen. Though her acting is somewhat wooden (it was only her second role), she shines all three times she sings. Which leads me to the title of the movie itself.

"Going My Way" is not a story about the Catholic Church, nor is it about old friends reuniting, or even about two young lovers (James Brown and Jean Heather). It's about a song. That's right. A song, written by Father O'Malley, and upon which its success determines the very future of St. Dominic's. Like I said, this is light comedy; nothing too serious is happening here.

At the time of this movie's release in 1944, World War II was at its crescendo. The newsreels and the papers were full of reports of the war. Some war veterans had made their way back home after getting wounded in battle. Major offenses like Operation: Overlord (D-Day) had succeeded, but at tremendous cost. At a time when the world was at its grimmest, this was the perfect escape. The only reference to the war in the entire movie occurs when landlord Ted Haines Sr. (Gene Lockhart) discovers his son, Ted Jr. (Brown) quit his job and eloped with a young singer named Carol James (Heather). Just when he thinks his son has lost all sense of reality, he turns around and sees Ted Jr. in an Army Air Corps uniform. Only then, Ted Sr. realizes his son hasn't gone mad; he is off to join the war.

If you are a fan of the "Road" movies Bing Crosby did with Bob Hope, you most likely remember the occasional aside in which either Bing boasts about his Oscar, or Bob grumbles about it. Well, this is the film that gave Bing his Oscar. And he was nominated again the next year for playing the same character in the the sequel "The Bells of St. Mary's". Obviously, he must've been doing something right! "Going My Way" was a little ray of sunshine cast upon a pained world and, even now, it will still put a smile on your face.

It's the sort of picture where you have to understand the mentality of the movie-going audience of the time. It was a sensation at the 1944 box office (#1 for the year, and the follow-up "The Bell's of St. Mary's" was #1 the next year); part of this had to do with the fact that it took America's mind off the on-going war effort and cheered them up quite a bit, and part of it had to do with its star, Bing Crosby.

Oscars were handed out for its hit song, Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, the director, and the movie itself. The Motion Picture Academy, in a display of childish enthusiasm, gave Fitzgerald a crack at the leading Oscar and the supporting one, too.

Seen today, outside of the WWII context, the movie is a pleasant non-event. At its best, it contains a scene from "Carmen" that for a brief flash takes the film into the stratosphere, much in the same way "Vertigo" was featured in "12 Monkeys", and a clip from "The Third Man" was interlaced with a brief passage of "Leaving Las Vegas". Bing Crosby is the ultimate in old-school crooning, and Barry Fitzgerald is to crotchety old Irishmen what Walter Brennan was to crotchety old mid-westerners. At the film's worst, "Going My Way" is hopelessly naive and dated--at one point an exchange plays out as if it were a sitcom waiting for the laugh track (without the laugh track). It gives you a feeling that you're "hanging out" with the characters, and that at any moment they'll turn to you and say "hey, pal, thanks for renting the video. You're O.K. with us". Whether or not ferociously polite priests and aw-shucks street gangs will be invited to your next soiree will likely make or break the film for you.

In fact it's not a film at all. Not in the sense that "8 1/2" is a film, or "Star Wars", "The Godfather", or even "Wayne's World". It's an exercise in good natured good nature, and if that's what you butter your bread with, have at it. For those looking for dimension, wit, conflict, or any of those other extraneous story-telling devices, you might find yourself left out in the cold.

A very enjoyable film starring Bing Crosby as a progressive Irish Catholic priest who comes to St. Dominick's, a church that is struggling. Initially, he's not very welcome by most, including old Father Fitzgibbon...but with his charm and the song in his heart, he manages to slowly grow on the folks as he finds subtle ways to solve everyone's problems. This is a heartwarming movie without being over-sappy.

*** (Out of 4)

In `Going My Way,' director Leo McCarey taps into one of the basic tenets of human nature, that being the fact that even the most selfless individual has wants and needs that often go unrecognized or unexpressed. It's a matter of understanding the human condition, being sensitive to what drives our fellow man and responding to it. A young woman of eighteen leaves home because of a conflict with her parents, yet has nowhere to go; a man with a touch of `Scrooge' in him, who runs a Savings & Loan has trouble setting his priorities; a gang of street-wise kids need some direction; an elderly priest after forty-five years has allowed his parish to slip into financial straits. All circumstances that are affecting in their innate humanity, and it's into this that McCarey taps directly with his story, and it's the reason for the success of his film. Simply put, it has heart-- and it makes it timeless.

Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald) has been at St. Dominic's in New York since it was built, but the financially strapped parish is in arrears on the mortgage payment, and Mr. Ted Haines Sr. (Gene Lockhart), of the S&L that holds the note, would like nothing better than to be able to foreclose on the church, because then he could raze the building and turn it into a parking lot. Meanwhile, the Bishop has sent a young priest, Father Chuck O'Malley (Bing Crosby) to St. Dominic's to look into the situation, and very quickly the good Father finds that he has his hands more than full.

Sent to take charge without `taking charge,' in deference to Father Fitzgibbon's tenure, Father O'Malley has his work cut out just trying to save the church; but that's not all he has to contend with. Found alone on the street by a local policeman, a girl named Carol James (Jean Heather) is brought to St. Dominic's, and Father O'Malley realizes that without some help, she's headed for nothing but trouble. He also encounters a lad named Tony Scaponi (Stanley Clements), the leader of the gang that has been terrorizing the neighborhood, and turning that situation around becomes a priority on Father O'Malley's `to-do' list. Then there is Mr. Haines Sr. to deal with. But most especially in need of all (though he doesn't realize it himself) is Father Fitzgibbon, and this, too, Father O'Malley recognizes. Now it's just a matter of addressing all of these needs at once; and as Father O'Malley finds out, it's no easy task.

There's something of the Angel, Dudley (played by Cary Grant in `The Bishop's Wife'), in Father O'Malley, as he is not only sensitive to the needs of those he encounters, but knows how to resolve their conflicts in a way that suits the best interests of all concerned. His solutions may be those of a perfect, pie-in-the-sky world and not necessarily a reflection of reality, but it works because it captures the spirit of what this movie is all about: caring and lending a helping hand to those who need it. The solutions may be unrealistic and overly simplified, but the feelings and emotions of the characters are very real, and McCarey's ability to capture that essence of humanity is what earned this film the Oscar for Best Movie of 1944 (McCarey received Oscars, as well, for Best Director and Original Story).

As Father O'Malley, Bing Crosby gives one of his best performances, which earned him an Oscar for Best Actor. But as good as he is in this part, the award is something of a surprise; the Father O'Malley Crosby presents has the patience of a Saint and insight to match, and his mild mannered approach to the character makes his portrayal the kind that are usually overlooked and under-appreciated because of the apparent facility of the delivery. And Crosby does make it look easy-- which also makes it very real, striking a chord as perfect as the solutions to the problems he solves along the way. It's interesting to note that when Crosby recreated the role a year later in `The Bells of St. Mary's,' though he slipped back into the character readily enough, it didn't seem to have that same depth or impact as in this one, but more of a `been there, done that' feel. Then again, this story and the characters with which he is surrounded here are much richer and have much more definition than those of the sequel, and this film is much more emotionally involving.

Barry Fitzgerald received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Father Fitzgibbon, and well deserved it was. Father O'Malley may be the anchor of this film, but Father Fitzgibbon is it's soul. And the final scene-- unexpected and extremely moving-- leaves no doubt about it. That scene, in fact, so powerful in it's simplicity, veritably sums up the sentiment of the entire movie. It's a triumph for Fitzgerald, as well as McCarey, but the one who really comes out the winner is the viewer.

The supporting cast includes Frank McHugh (Father Timothy), William Frawley (Max), James Brown (Ted Haines, Jr.), Rise Stevens (Genevieve Linden), Eily Malyon (Mrs. Carmody), Carl `Alfalfa' Switzer (Herman) and Adeline De Walt Reynolds (Mrs. Molly Fitzgibbon). A heart-felt and uplifting discourse on the brighter side of the human condition, `Going My Way' reflects the good there is to be found in humanity if we but take the time to seek it out. An entertaining, feel-good film, this is what the magic of the movies is all about. I rate this one 9/10.

A fairly old-fashioned film even when first released, Going My Way is probably a tough sell these days compared to other 'feel good' movies of its time. It's a little too long, a little too sweet, a little too casual, and has more than a little too much music. Then again, it also has Bing Crosby; and a Crosby picture without music is like a fish-tank without fish.

Bing plays a young, progressive priest assigned to the parish of an aging, stubborn, much older priest (Barry Fitzgerald) who desperately needs help in dealing with his church and congregation, and is too proud to ask for it. At first the old priest distrusts the younger one and regards him as too 'modern' in his outlook. In time the two men come to get along famously, but with a few bumps in the road along the way. The movie is a comedy and a sermon, a musical and a drama. It is at times painfully and at other times hilariously realistic. When it sticks to its central story it's just fine. But it zooms off in dozen different directions and at times seems to lose its way. In the end everything comes together neatly, but it takes an awful long time for the movie to get there.

Going My Way is literally the opposite of film noir. It is bright and sunny, and aggressively optimistic in tone. Yet it is set in the slums of New York in a parish surrounded by poverty and crime. Director Leo McCarey does not minimize the negative aspects of the parish community; if anything he emphasizes them,--in order to offer a cure, or rather cures: faith, hope and charity. The movie's sensibility can be summed up in the face and demeanor of its star, Bing Crosby, who manages to be smart, open, breezy, charming, sly and decent all at the same time. One can't help but be reminded, after seeing this film, that life's problems, heavy and complex as they are, can be addressed in other ways and in other vocabularies than those of social scientists and existential philosophers, and that simplifying matters, cutting them down to their essentials is perhaps as important as verbalizing them. Most people do not read the great books or discuss the great ideas, and for most of us complexity is a burden, simplicity a virtue. Without resorting to any theory or idea, Going My Way makes this point quite nicely, and offers some pleasant songs in the bargain.