''Blue of the Night'' is a 1933 Mack Sennett Star Comedy (No. S3628) directed by Leslie Pearce and starring

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

. It was the last of the six short films Crosby made for

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...

and which helped launch his career as a solo performer.

Background

Six shorts were made by Crosby for Mack Sennett, of which were four filmed in a three-month period in 1931 and two in 1932. The shorts were: *

I Surrender Dear "I Surrender Dear" (sometimes written as "I Surrender, Dear") is a song composed by Harry Barris with lyrics by Gordon Clifford, first performed by Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra with Bing Crosby in 1931, which became his first s ...

(released September 1931) * One More Chance (released November 1931) * Dream House (released January 1932) *

Billboard Girl ''Billboard Girl'' is a 1932 Educational-Mack Sennett Featurette (No. S2709) starring Bing Crosby and directed by Leslie Pearce. This was the fourth of the six short films Crosby made for Mack Sennett and which helped launch his career as a sol ...

(released March 1932) * Sing, Bing, Sing (released March 1933) *Blue of the Night (released January 1933) After filming the first four shorts in 1931, Crosby went to New York and enjoyed great success on the radio and through live appearances at the Paramount Theatre. He was soon signed to make a film called

The Big Broadcast ''The Big Broadcast'' is a 1932 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby, Stuart Erwin, and Leila Hyams. Based on the play ''Wild Waves'' by William Ford Manley, the film is about a radio-singer wh ...

and he returned to Hollywood on June 12, 1932. First of all, he had to fulfil his contract with Sennett and on June 17, he started filming “Sing, Bing, Sing” (original title The Girl in the Transom) on June 17. Then on July 2, 1932, filming started on “Blue of the Night” (original title “Honey Crooners”). Crosby had adopted "

Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day) "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" was the theme Bing Crosby selected for his radio show. It was recorded in November 1931 with Bennie Krueger and his Orchestra. The song was featured in a Mack Sennett movie short starring B ...

" as his theme song late in 1931 and it had enjoyed chart success reaching No. 4 in the charts of the day. It was therefore entirely appropriate that it should be partially employed as the title for this short film.

Cast

*Bing – Bing Crosby *Marian Bradley – Marjorie “Babe” Kane *Gilbert Sinclair –

Franklin Pangborn Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...

*Policeman –

Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...

*Marian’s Friend–

Toby Wing Toby Wing (born Martha Virginia Wing, July 14, 1915 – March 22, 2001), "Toby" being an old family nickname, was an American actress and showgirl, once called "the most beautiful chorus girl in Hollywood". Early years Wing was born in Ame ...

Plot

The film opens as Bing, a famous radio singer, makes a farewell appearance at a night club and sings 'My Silent Love' which he follows, by request, with 'Auf Wiedersehen, My Dear'. Later he happens to board a train at the same time as a young lady, Marian, and they are mistakenly showered with confetti intended for another party, The passengers and train porter assume they are newly-weds and present them with a perambulator and two baby dolls. Marian, failing to recognise him, tries to impress by saying that she is engaged to Bing Crosby. When she says that it is the first night she has not heard Bing sing, he tells her that he has a portable radio. As his berth in the sleeper train is the one immediately above hers, he says that he will play it for her. In the upper berth he simulates radio tuning noises and then sings 'Ev'ry Time My Heart Beats' accompanying himself on guitar. Subsequently, Marian's friends see a newspaper report about her engagement to Bing. Gilbert Sinclair is indignant and says that it was taken for granted that he and Marian were engaged. Marian denies any such arrangement and is then told that Bing has telephoned to say he is arriving that afternoon. When Bing arrives, he tells Marian that he is Jack Smith, a reporter, and that he had put news of her engagement in the press. She confesses that she lied and is in an embarrassing position with her friends and he promises to help her. Their conversation is overheard by Gilbert and when Bing meets Marian's friends and explains how he met Marian, Gilbert tries to expose him and wagers his Cadillac car that Bing is an imposter. To prove his identity to Marian's friends and to a police patrolman who holds the car keys and Bing's five dollar stake, Bing sings his signature tune '

', finishing the song as he and Marian drive off in the car leaving Gilbert floundering in the swimming pool after resisting the loss of his automobile.

Reception

The

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals'' Greenwood Press. p. 242. It was replaced by the ''QP Herald ...

was enthusiastic. "With Bing Crosby singing 3 of his most popular numbers, “Auf Wiedersehen,” “Every Time My Heart Beats” and “Blue of the Night,” this catchy Sennett film looks to be one of those that will draw in about as much money as the regular feature."

Soundtrack

* "My Silent Love" (

Dana Suesse Nadine Dana Suesse (; December 3, 1911 – October 16, 1987) was an American musician, composer and lyricist. Biography Dana Suesse was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1909. When she grew too tall for ballet, she began piano lessons with Gertru ...

Edward Heyman Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul," "When I Fall in Love," and " For Sentimental Reasons." He also contributed to a number of songs for films. Biogr ...

) * "Auf Wiedersehen, My Dear” (

Milton Ager Milton Ager (October 6, 1893 – May 6, 1979) was an American composer, regarded as one of the top songwriters of the 1920s and 1930s. His most lasting compositions include "Ain't She Sweet?” and “Happy Days Are Here Again”. Biography Ag ...

/ Ed G. Nelson /

Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...

Al Goodhart Al Goodhart (January 26, 1905 – November 30, 1955) a member of ASCAP, was born in New York City and attended DeWitt Clinton High School. During his lifetime he was a radio announcer, vaudeville pianist and special materials writer. He also owned a ...

) * "Ev’ry Time My Heart Beats” (

Benny Davis Benny Davis (August 21, 1895 - December 20, 1979) was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. Biography Davis started performing in vaudeville in his teens. He began writing songs when working as an accompanist for Blossom Seeley. In ...

Gerald Marks Gerald Marks (October 13, 1900 – January 27, 1997) was an American composer from Saginaw, Michigan. He was best known for the song " All of Me" which he co-wrote with Seymour Simons and has been recorded about 2,000 times. He also wrote the s ...

) * "

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0023820, Blue of the Night (1933) 1933 films American black-and-white films American short films Paramount Pictures short films 1933 musical comedy films American musical comedy films Films directed by Leslie Pearce 1930s American films