''Top o' the Morning'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy film directed by David Miller 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 ...

Ann Blyth Ann Marie Blyth (born August 16, 1928) is an American retired actress and singer. For her performance as Veda in the 1945 Michael Curtiz film ''Mildred Pierce'', Blyth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is one of ...

, and

Barry Fitzgerald William Joseph Shields (10 March 1888 – 14 January 1961), known professionally as Barry Fitzgerald, was an Irish stage, film and television actor. In a career spanning almost forty years, he appeared in such notable films as ''Bringing Up Ba ...

. Written by Edmund Beloin and Richard L. Breen, the film is about a singing insurance investigator who comes to Ireland to recover the stolen

Blarney Stone The Blarney Stone ( ga, Cloch na Blarnan) is a block of Carboniferous limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney, about from Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with ''the gift of the g ...

—and romance the local policeman's daughter.

Plot

Cast

as Joe Mulqueen *

as Conn McNaughton *

as Sergeant Briny McNaughton *

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

as Hughie Devine * Eileen Crowe as Biddy O'Devlin *

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...

as Inspector Fallon * Tudor Owen as Cormac Gillespie *

Jimmy Hunt James Walter Hunt (born December 4, 1939) is an American actor.. He is perhaps best known for his role as David in '' Invaders from Mars'' (1953). In the 1986 remake of the same film he plays the police chief. Hunt has also appeared in films l ...

as Pearse O'Neill *

Morgan Farley Francis Morgan Farley (October 3, 1898 – October 11, 1988) was an American actor on the stage and in films and television. Career His theatrical career began in 1918 in the stage adaptation of Booth Tarkington's ''Seventeen''. He recrea ...

as Edwin Livesley * John Eldredge as E. L. Larkin * John "Skins" Miller as Dowdler * John Costello as Village Gossip * Dick Ryan as Clark O'Ryan * Bernard Cauley as Boy * Paul Connelly as Boy

Reception

Bosley Crowther of '' The New York Times'' commented, inter alia: "All things being considered, especially the memorable success of Paramount’s “Welcome Stranger” and its incomparable “Going My Way,” it naturally stood to reason that Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald would eventually drift together in another sentimental comedy... And all those band-wagon Hibernians who like to picture Ireland as a land of eloquent talk and superstitions, bright-eyed colleens and Mr. Fitzgeralds, plus a great lot of singing and dancing, should find it entirely to their taste... Mr. Crosby wends a happy and comfortable course through the whole incredible proceedings, taking complacently in stride the fitful abuse of Mr. Fitzgerald and the romantic rue of Ann Blyth...Likewise, Mr. Fitzgerald is deliciously humorous in his busy displays of self-importance and police authority. And of course, he is simply stunning when he comes within range of a pint of ale..." Variety said: "Bing Crosby, after two lush Technicolored musicals, has been handed a light, frothy and more moderately budgeted picture by Paramount to cavort in, which should put him once more at the top of that studio’s breadwinning list...Under David Miller’s light-handed direction, Crosby and the rest of the cast fall right into the spirit of the story. Groaner, despite his having to play to a gal (Ann Blyth) who is so obviously younger, is socko. His easy way with a quip, combined with his fine crooning of some old Irish tunes and a couple of new ones, is solid showmanship."

Soundtrack

*"Top o' the Morning" (

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and care ...

/ Johnny Burke): sung three times by Bing Crosby *" When Irish Eyes Are Smiling": sung by Bing Crosby *"Kitty of Coleraine" (Traditional Irish Air - Edward Lysaght): sung by Bing Crosby *"The Donovans" (

Alicia Adélaide Needham Alicia Adélaide Needham (née Montgomery; 31 October 1863 – 24 December 1945) was an Irish composer of songs and ballads. A committed Suffragette, she was the first woman to conduct at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and the first female pre ...

/ Walter Kent / Francis Fahy): sung by Bing Crosby and group *"You're in Love with Someone" (Jimmy Van Heusen / Johnny Burke): sung by Bing Crosby, and again by Bing Crosby and Ann Blyth *"Oh, 'Tis Sweet to Think" (

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

): sung by Bing Crosby and Ann Blyth *" Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms" Bing Crosby recorded four of the songs for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. They were all issued on a 10" LP titled "

Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz '' Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz'' is a Decca Records studio album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby of songs from his movies '' Top o' the Morning'' and '' The Emperor Waltz'', catalog number DL 5272. Background Bing Crosby had recorde ...

". Crosby's songs were also included in the Bing's Hollywood series.

Radio adaptation

'' Lux Radio Theatre'' presented ''Top o' the Morning'' March 17, 1952. The one-hour episode featured

, Dennis Day, and

References

External links

* {{David Miller 1949 films Films directed by David Miller Films scored by Robert Emmett Dolan Films set in Ireland 1949 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Paramount Pictures films 1940s American films