Going My Way

Some films, like Casablanca, remain fresh years later. Others, like Going My Way, are as quaint as your grandmother's antimacassars. It's not hard to imagine why this film was a huge hit and won the Best Picture Oscar of 1944, but today it is a relic of a long bygone era.

The film concerns a young priest, Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) arriving at a New York church to assist it's long-tenured pastor, Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). Fitzgerald is an old fuddy-duddy, set in his ways, but has the church on the brink of foreclosure. Crosby is more progressive and does things like set the local hoodlums on the straight and narrow by forming them into a choir, or making sure a runaway girl doesn't turn to the seamy side of life by giving her a few tips on how to sing.

There are a few main problems with this film. One is that the parish priest just isn't seen the same way anymore. I'm sorry to say they are not the honored authority figures they once were, due mainly to sexual scandals. There's a scene in which Crosby runs into an old flame (opera singer Rise Stevens) and when she realizes that he's now a priest she gets all glowing and apologetic. Today that seen would be played far differently--she'd probably wonder if he was gay all along.

Secondly, this film is really just a string of vignettes. There's no particular arc to the story, and the conflict, well, I'm not sure what the conflict was. There is really no tension between Crosby and Fitzgerald, for their differences are settled halfway through the film. There's some nonsense about Crosby trying to sell a song to save the church's financial bacon (this leads to best scene in the film, Crosby singing "Swingin' On a Star" with the choir), but that isn't exactly a white-knuckler. And the scenes with the local street kids are laughable. I'd like to see Father O'Malley try the same thing with the Crips and the Bloods (by the way, one of the kids is played by Carl "Alfalfa" Sweitzer). The story just kind of meanders over two hours of twinkly behavior by the two priests.

Crosby and Fitzgerald both won Oscars. Crosby was the biggest star of the time--in films, on radio, and on records. He certainly has some warmth and charisma but this is no brilliant acting job. He more or less hosts the movie. He's never called on to show any particular emotion other than concern.

The film was directed by Leo McCarey, who also won an Oscar. McCarey is an important figure in film history. He started with Hal Roach, and worked on many Our Gang comedies, and is owed a tremendous debt of gratitude for teaming Stan Laurel with Oliver Hardy. He also directed the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup and the classic screwball comedy The Awful Truth (for which he won his first Oscar). Going My Way, though, has none of the panache of his earlier work. It feels like penance.