[Dixielandjazz] Bing Crosby documentary reviewed -- New York Post, November 25, 2014

[Robert Ringwald]

Bing Crosby Documentary ‘Rediscovers’ Enigmatic Crooner
by Robert Rorke
New York Post, November 25, 2014
If Bing Crosby seems like a voice from a long-forgotten era, it’s because in many
ways he is. As cabaret star Michael Feinstein laments, “No one dreamed he’d fade.”
Except maybe the four sons from his first marriage, two of whom committed suicide
and two who died of natural causes. Crosby’s stern parenting, which included corporal
punishment, was detailed in his late son Gary’s memoir “Going My Own Way,” the title
an ironic comment on Crosby’s most famous film, which was published six years after
Bing’s death in 1977.
The “American Masters” special, “Bing Crosby Rediscovered,” narrated by Stanley Tucci,
aggressively and dutifully tries to repair the image of Bing the Beater by celebrating
his impressive accomplishments.
First, there was the voice. Not a belter like contemporaries Rudy Vallee and Al Jolson,
Crosby’s velvety baritone imbued a song with an intimacy that had not been heard
up until that time, directly influencing crooners Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Dean
Martin.
He offered male singers a way to surrender to the melody while retaining their masculinity,
and he was a born collaborator who gravitated towards the harmony part. He could
sing with anyone -- Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Sinatra and --
in a you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it moment -- with a crucifix-wearing David Bowie
(dueting on “The Little Drummer Boy”).
Crosby also ruled the marketplace and turned a tremendous success on radio into a
stunning recording career -- 41 Number 1 hits and 23 gold and platinum records. His
“White Christmas” is the bestselling record of all time.
Sinatra, a teen idol in his day, did not surpass Crosby’s sales until the 1960s.
He also effortlessly transitioned to movies. His dopey “Road” pictures with Bob Hope
were the most successful film franchise prior to the James Bond movies and, if that
weren’t enough, he won a 1954 Best Actor Oscar for his role as a Catholic priest
in “Going My Way.”
Generous with fellow entertainers -- Rosemary Clooney credits him with saving her
career after she suffered a nervous breakdown -- and strangers (he tirelessly entertained
the troops in World War II), Crosby’s failings came at home. He was never there.
Before his first wife, Dixie succumbed to ovarian cancer, she was already a drunk.
No one ever seemed to have asked Bing if tending to the chaos at home was a priority.
Many entertainers can delineate Crosby’s finer points as a musician, but his private
life sounds like a nightmare. He got a second chance at love when he married starlet
Kathy Grant and had three children who seem well-adjusted. They remember a different
Bing. Will we?
-30

-Bob Ringwald
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