Themes: Down on Their Luck, Writer's Life, Musician's Life
Main Cast: Bing Crosby, Nancy Olson, Charles Coburn, Ruth Hussey, Robert Stack, Peggy Lee
Release Year: 1950
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
Plot
Bing Crosby stars as Paul Merrick, an irresponsible songwriter in Mr. Music. Merrick's improvidence and prodigality has made him persona non grata in show business, so his secretary Katherine Holbrook (Nancy Olson) takes it upon herself to rehabilitate her boss. Meanwhile, producer Alex Conway (Charles Coburn) desperately needs a hit show to survive. Conway takes a chance on Merrick, who then enlists several of Katherine's college-student friends to put on a musical revue. All the group needs now is some money--$300,000, to be exact. Mr. Music is enlivened by several guest-star appearances, including Marge & Gower Champion, Dorothy Kirsten, Peggy Lee, the Merry Macs, and Groucho Marx who performs an amusing vaudeville turn with Crosby. Director Richard Haydn shows up in a pivotal cameo role, billed as "Claude Curdle." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A variation on the "let's put on a show" plot, Mr. Music's screenplay is strictly standard issue stuff. The score is lesser Jimmy Van Heusen-Johnny Burke; a few adequate songs that don't offend the ear, but also don't make one want to rush right out and buy the sheet music. The whole affair would be instantly forgettable were it not for the presence of Bing Crosby, his immediate supporting players, and a number of notable guest stars. Crosby is still in fine voice, and when he sings that "Life Is So Peculiar," most audiences will think the song is a great deal more than adequate; by the time Peggy Lee has joined him in it, the Merry Macs have had a go at it, Marge and Gower Champion have danced to it, and even Groucho Marx has fiddled around with it, they may even think it's pretty darn dandy. Throw in the odd sight of opera star Dorothy Kirsten singing "Accidents Will Happen" with Crosby, the usually dependable turn from Charles Coburn and a nifty love interest in the person of Nancy Olson, and Mr. Music ends up as passable, and maybe even a little more -- which is certainly more than the material itself would suggest. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
