Bing Crosby Box Set DVD, 1936-49

That an entertainer so phenomenally popular in his lifetime should be so neglected now is something of a mystery. Fifty years after his last hit record, Crosby is sti... more >

That an entertainer so phenomenally popular in his lifetime should be so neglected now is something of a mystery. Fifty years after his last hit record, Crosby is still, despite Presley, The Beatles, Madonna et al, the world's best selling recording artist, and forty years after his last film, he is still the third biggest box office draw in movie history, yet his achievements are consistently ignored by the media and commentators on film and music. This box set, covering films made between 1936 and 1949, is a very welcome chance for a retrospective. On this showing, as an actor, he operates within fairly narrow variations on his screen persona. Frank Capra once compared him favourably to Spencer Tracey, which may seem surprising since he he hasn't got an ounce of Tracey's range, but he does share with Tracey the ability to make dialogue sound wonderfully spontaneous and immediate: if you are one of those who cavil at his Oscar for 'Going My Way', imagine how flat Crosby's lines must have appeared on paper, and hear how he gives them warmth and flesh. It is no wonder that for fifty years the cinema-going public thought it knew Bing Crosby as well as it knew its neighbours, his performances are so natural and engaging. As narrow as his acting range is, however, his range of vocal stylings is immense. I can think of no other singer who can handle material from W.C Handy through vaudeville with Astaire to hymns and light operatics and do it all credibly and with conviction as Crosby does here. These are not great films or works of art and are very much of their time, but they are hugely enjoyable, and hopefully this issuing of them will help to reverse the trend which has led to the sidelining of probably the most influential and certainly the most successful entertainer ever. < less