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After leaving Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, where he first achieved success, Bing Crosby was hired by comedy legend Mack Sennett in 1931 to shoot six short comedies, which you'll find on this DVD. Each centers around Bing's hit songs and has Crosby essentially playing himself, a popular crooner, usually named Bing Crosby, who not only wins the girl but woos her away from another man with his sharp wit, quick retorts, and romantic voice. The six featurettes are "I Surrender, Dear," "One More Chance," "Dream House," "Billboard Girl," "Blue of the Night," and "Sing, Bing, Sing." Each runs approximately 20 minutes, and they are all very funny. I especially like Bing getting chased around the movie studio by a lion in "Dream House." Crosby's abilities as a comedic actor are entertaining and quite remarkable. It would be another nine years before Hope and Crosby teamed up for the first of the seven "Road" movies, but already you can see Bing's impressive talent for playing silly situations and delivering humorous lines. At the time these films were shot, legal action had been taken against Crosby for breaking a singing contract. Therefore, no union musicians were allowed to perform with him until Bing either fulfilled his contractual obligations or settled the matter with his former employer. Sennett cleverly worked around this problem by having Bing croon with recorded music as his accompaniment. Since the musicians were not present while Bing was singing, no restrictions were violated. I recommend these shorts to everyone who enjoys Sennett comedies (particularly Keystone Kops and Chaplin's early work) and to all fans of Der Bingle.Read full review
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