One has to wonder why Frank Capara is so renowned with books written about him till this day. His hey day was the thirties where more than a couple of gems were made but even then his direction was that notch. It was the sharp story with good performances that sinewed and chugged along these movies disguising his directorial flaws. After Mr. John Doe, I think the scripts were not up to snuff, the movies too long and the dialog draggy and haltingly haughty. This movie has all the recipe to be a sharp portrait on the perennial battle of the sexes roles as perceived in society but regurgitation and elemental whimsical and cloying make a peg round as a square. Pardon my regurgitatant riff and whimsical drift. Fair is fair, this was a contract movie and he did it to fulfill his contract, so maybe it's not all his fault. Crosby is a reporter in France, who lives his poor girlfriend waiting on him without ever getting down on his knees and pulling the doodad out of his inner pockets. Her clock ticking, she jumps for the wealthy Franchot Tone. Crosby returns to hear the news, two annoying French orphans in tow and of course tries to win her back. The musical numbers are perfunctory apart from the Oscar winner and chart topper "In the cool, cool, cool of the evening" which is slyly done, introduced and well choreographed to make me smile. Crosby and Wyman have a good chemistry but Tone and Crosby just sparkle especially in a scene in the back of Tone's car which is so well-written and is what the whole movie needed. Alexis Smith, an actress who had never left an impression on me in her previous works, sparkles as a comic ingénue. And then cloying starts again. It began if I have not mentioned in the scenes in Paris which really serve no purpose but to show the kind of guy Bing is. It is way two heavy-handed. And anytime, there is hope, the distracting cloying comes in again. The ending made me want to puke. This movie bares a similarity to a Crosby movie "Waikiki Wedding" which has a similar ending to this movie but is better handled in that movie. In fact Crosby does this role and part better in 1956 in the smarter and delightful remake High Society. So watch this movie if you are fans of the stars in the cool of the evening. It might go down best that way.
Review of Here Comes the Groom
