Ann Blyth behind bars...or are they merely balusters?...with Barry Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby in Top O' the Morning (1949). With the fast-approaching St. Patrick's Day, and it's showing on Turner Classic Movies Sunday the 10th at 8 p.m., we bring our attention to this pleasant mystery-comedy...or is it comedy-mystery?
From my book on Ann's career: Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:
The famed Blarney Stone in Blarney Castle has been
stolen, and Bing Crosby, an American insurance investigator—nothing like the
hard-edged Edward G. Robinson in Double
Indemnity (1944)—is on the case. However, like, Fred MacMurray in
that same movie, Bing does take to relating his impressions into a Dictaphone.
Barry
Fitzgerald plays the village constable. His re-match with Bing Crosby, a
partnership that first brought success to both of them in Going My Way (1945), is the focus of the film. Mr. Fitzgerald
is a crusty, pompous codger, has no idea how truly innocent he is, and holds
the reins of authority in this village only in his own mind. The
villagers, even his own daughter, acknowledge that he is not taken seriously
and that solving the crime of the stolen Blarney Stone might finally get him
the respect he craves.
Hume
Cronyn, in a 180-degree turn from his sinister role in Brute Force, is his assistant, delightfully played
with excitable hero-worship of his superior, but as the plot
progresses, we see that Mr. Cronyn has more going on under the surface.
“All the excitement! It’s a pity Ireland doesn’t have more to steal.”
Also available in eBook at:
