CROONING THROUGH LOVE: THE ROMANTIC SIDE OF BING

Bing Crosby’s voice was velvet—smooth, warm, and timeless. It drifted through radios and movie screens, comforting a nation through war, winter, and wistful longing. But behind the crooner’s calm exterior was a romantic life filled with devotion, heartbreak, and quiet complexity.

In 1930, Bing met Dixie Lee, a beautiful and talented nightclub singer. Their whirlwind romance led to marriage, and soon they were raising four sons in the glow of Hollywood’s golden age. Dixie was vivacious and charming, but the pressures of fame and family weighed heavily on her. She struggled with alcoholism, and their marriage, though enduring, was often strained. Bing, deeply rooted in his Catholic faith, never divorced her—even when the emotional distance between them grew vast.

Despite the challenges, Bing remained by Dixie’s side until her death from ovarian cancer in 1952. Her passing left a quiet ache in him, one that lingered even as the world saw him smiling on screen.

During his marriage, Bing’s name was quietly linked to other women. Actress Joan Caulfield was one such figure. Friends noted her deep affection for Crosby, and though their relationship was never publicly confirmed, it was clear she hoped for more. But Bing’s devotion to his faith—and his complicated marriage—kept him from pursuing anything permanent.

Then came Grace Kelly, the elegant star who captivated audiences and Crosby alike during the filming of The Country Girl. Their chemistry was undeniable, and Bing reportedly proposed to her. Grace, however, declined. She was already engaged to designer Oleg Cassini and would later become royalty as Princess of Monaco. Crosby, heartbroken, postponed his wedding to another woman—Kathryn Grant—because of his feelings for Grace.

Eventually, Bing did marry Kathryn in 1957. She was young, vibrant, and brought a renewed sense of joy to his life. Together, they had three children and remained married until his death in 1977. Kathryn stood by him through his later years, offering stability and warmth that had eluded him in earlier chapters.

Bing Crosby’s romantic life was never simple. It was filled with longing, loyalty, and moments of quiet sorrow. His relationships shaped not only his personal world but also the emotional depth of his music. When he sang “White Christmas,” it wasn’t just a holiday tune—it was a reflection of the home, peace, and love he always seemed to be searching for.

In the end, Bing passed away in Spain after a round of golf, reportedly saying, “That was a great game of golf, fellas. Let’s go have a Coca-Cola.” It was a simple farewell from a man whose life was anything but.

His love story, like his music, was layered and deeply human. And while the world remembers the crooner for his voice, those who knew him best remember the man behind the melody—a man who loved deeply, lost painfully, and lived fully...

WELCOME STRANGER AND MEDICINE TODAY

Bing Crosby is a selfish, cocky young doctor from the city who goes to small-town Maine to substitute for the crusty old doc (Barry Fitzgerald) who’s finally going to take that long-delayed vacation. Some little boys get sick. The parents are worried. They reach out to highly-qualified outside experts.

The experts, who are effete twits, examine the boys and announce that they suffer from a horrible disease. Everybody panics. Then crusty old Barry Fitzgerald finds half-smoked cigars in the bathroom. That’s the problem! It’s simple! The boys don’t have a horrible disease, he announces with a chuckle; they’ve been smoking cigars. Everybody rejoices, the twits are sent away in shame, and Dr. Bing learns compassion, performs an emergency appendectomy on Dr. Barry, and marries the local sweetheart.

The movie, from 1947, is “Welcome Stranger,” and while it’s nothing special, it says more than it intends to say about contemporary America.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. condemns vaccines. They’d saved countless lives and there is no evidence to suggest they cause autism. But RFK Jr. knows better. Forget the experts. All we need to do is keep kids from smoking cigars.

SOURCE

BLUE SKIES ON BLU-RAY

 

I almost missed this one, but Bing's 1946 gem Blue Skies has been released on Blu-Ray...

Here is the Blu-Ray review:

Though it's not as sunny as its title might suggest, Blue Skies reunites Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in a meandering musical that features more than a dozen Irving Berlin tunes. The story of a hoofer and nightclub owner who vie for the same girl (Joan Caulfield) entertains in fits and starts, but can't come close to recapturing the magic of Crosby and Astaire's previous outing, Holiday Inn.

A brand new 2K master yields a glorious 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer that maximizes the impact of the lush Technicolor cinematography of Charles Lang and William Snyder. Superior clarity and contrast combine with beautifully resolved grain to create a vibrant, well-balanced, very film-like picture. The deep blacks of Astaire's trademark top hat and tails and bright, wispy whites of Caulfield's fur outfit grab attention, but it's those sumptuous Technicolor hues that make the visuals of this musical sing. The bold reds of lipstick, a blazing neon sign, and huge bouquet of roses; the subtle variations of green, from the pale tone of Olga San Juan's gown and matching boa to Billy De Wolfe's Irish-green hat; and an array of pastels, from Crosby's powder blue suit to various pinks and lavenders...all of them are perfectly timed so they never look garish or artificial. Several scenes are intentionally dark and even a tad murky, but excellent shadow delineation keeps the picture well defined. Flesh tones remain natural and stable throughout, sharp close-ups flatter all the players, and only a few errant nicks and marks dot the pristine source material. Kino has done a wonderful job revitalizing this 75-year-old classic, and fans of the film will be delighted by this top-notch presentation...

You can find a copy on Amazon - I ordered mine!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING AND HIS LOVES

Bing Crosby had a hard time showing affection. Even in his movies, he rarely passionately kissed his leading ladies. In honor of Valentine's Day, here is Bing with some of the loves in his life.

with 1st wife Dixie Lee (1911-1952)

with mistress and co-star Joan Caulfield (1922-1991)

with girlfriend and co-star Grace Kelly (1929-1982)

with girlfriend Mona Freeman (1926-2014)

with girlfriend and co-star Ingrid Stevens (1934-1970)

with 2nd wife Kathryn Grant

BOOK REVIEW: BING CROSBY - SWINGING ON A STAR

On October 30th I got an early Christmas present when author Gary Giddin's long awaited second volume of his biography of Bing Crosby came out. It took me about two weeks to finish, but it was a great biography. It took a long time for Gary to come out with this second volume. The first volume, Pocketful Of Dreams came out in 2001. The reading community has changed a lot in 17 years, and I worry that this new volume will not do as well as it deserves to do. The life of Bing Crosby is quite remarkable, and Bing Crosby deserves to be remembered more than he is.

The positive parts of "Swinging On A Star - The War Years" is the amount we learn about Bing Crosby. I pride myself in knowing a lot about Der Bingle, but Gary Giddins wrote about things I never knew about. He eluded to an affair Bing had with singer Trudy Erwin, but he doesn't really delve into that. Towards the end of the book he writes about the affair Bing had with actress Joan Caulfield, which I knew about but did not know the personal details about. What amazed me the most was the amount of work Bing tirelessly did for the war effort during World War II. Audiences knew about the work that Bob Hope during the war, mostly because Hope probably told everyone, but Bing Crosby kept a lot of his work for the soldiers to himself. I also never knew about the struggles Bing was having at home during the 1940s. His wife Dixie Lee was destroying herself with alcohol, and to read Bing's own words in regards to his wife is both eye opening and touching.

There is not much wrong with the 600 plus page book on Bing, but at some points author Gary Giddins could have benefited with a better editor. Some of the long stories on people such as director Leo McCarey were way too long and slows down the book. Director McCarey is important to Bing's career, but I don't think he deserves the pages he got in this book. The only other complaint I have is the ending of the book. It ends abruptly like the publisher just picked a point and made Gary end it there. I know there are hopes for a third volume, but a better ending would have been more gratifying for the reader.

However, Gary Giddins has a way to make you truly feel like you are a part of his books. I read an online review, and the particular reviewer complained about the amount Giddins devoted to the diary of two Crosby fans that literally followed Bing around through the years. I wished there was more from the sisters, and their diaries on Bing would make a fascinating book. At times I felt anger towards Bing when Gary wrote about Bing's parenting of his sons or his affair with Joan Caulfield. I felt sadness when Gary wrote about Bing's wife drinking herself to death and to some of the dying soldiers Bing entertained overseas. Any book that Gary writes is not only enlightening but truly engrossing.

Gary Giddins was asked recently about a third volume of Bing Crosby's life, and he basically says it depends on sales of volume 2, which makes me nervous. Is there an audience for Bing Crosby in 2018? I wish there was but I am not optimistic. You do not really have to be a Bing Crosby fan to love the book. My wife likes Bing Crosby, because I introduced her to him but she is hardly a major fan. Every day when I read another chapter of the book, I would tell my wife something I learned, and she actually got really into it. So please spread the word about this book, and please support Gary Giddins' writings. The book is pretty close to a masterpiece!

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

NOTE: You can purchase the book here.

BING ON FILM: BLUE SKIES - PART THREE

Back to the movie BLUE SKIES though, here is what Bosley Crowther of the New York Times thought of the movie in his October 17, 1946 review:

So many screen exercises in the music-album line have been so cluttered up with "biography" that it is a pleasure at last to see one in which a tune-vender's life and his music are not mutually and mawkishly abused. Such a one is the Paramount's current and cheerfully diverting "Blue Skies," which catalogues some songs of Irving Berlin without catalyzing that gentleman's career. And with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby as its bright particular stars, everyone's probity is honored by it—especially Mr. Berlin's.

There's a lot to be said for any picture in the musical comedy groove which adheres to the oft-forgotten dictum that a film should be seen as well as heard, that variety and vitality in the visual are the stuff of which musicals are made. And when the evidence of that adherence is so enthusiastically displayed as it is by Messrs. Astaire and Crosby in "Blue Skies," you may depend upon being entertained.

The story? Let's not argue about it. It's a standard and harmless little thing about the casual and genial competition between two song-and-dance men for a girl. One of them very soon gets her, but as he is a rolling stone, his interest is slightly sporadic. On that track, it ambles along. As a plot, it is no more elusive than the peg for "Holiday Inn," in which the two above-mentioned performers and Mr. Berlin's tunes were also combined. And the worst—or the best—to be said for it (you can tolerably take your pick) is that it does have a few soggy moments which are quickly and obligingly dismissed.

But it does serve as adequate hanger for some sparkling and stimulating turns of song, dance and general farcifying to Mr. Berlin's familiar tunes. Best of the lot, for our wampum, is Mr. Astaire's electrifying dance to that ancient and honorable folk-song, "Puttin' on the Ritz." Turned out in striped pants and top hat, Mr. A. makes his educated feet talk a persuasive language that is thrilling to conjugate. The number ends with some process-screen trickery in which a dozen or so midget Astaire’s back up the tapping soloist in a beautiful surge of clickety-clicks. If this film is Mr. A.'s swan song, as he has heartlessly announced it will be, then he has climaxed his many years of hoofing with a properly superlative must-see.

And that's not his only contribution. In company with the redoubtable Bing, he doubles in song while that nipper doubles in dance in a comedy gem, written especially for the occasion, entitled "Two Song-and-Dance Men." He also kicks his heels glibly in a fancy production of the torrid "Heat Wave," and trips through the plot and other numbers with the elasticity of a happy rubber man. Naturally, Mr. Crosby, as the rolling-stone character, has his share of the spotlight and holds it with aggressive modesty. He makes something lively, slick and novel of "Cuba," along with Olga San Juan, and groans with his customary competence a new hit "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song." Joan Caulfield, the "you" of this ditty, is loveliest and passive as the girl who stands none too seriously or firmly between Crosby and Astaire. And Billy De Wolfe, an obnoxious sort of person, is allowed only once to get too much in the way. For the rest, there are no less than twenty of Mr. Berlin's melodious tunes jammed here and there onto the sound-track, either as production numbers or incidental bits. And we must say that Robert Emmett Dolan has directed the music as distinctively as Stuart Heisler has directed the actors—or maybe more so. That's why they sound so good. Or maybe it's because they're used as music and not as milestones in somebody's awesome "life."    

      

When I showed my wife BLUE SKIES years ago, she thought it was corny but this movie has so much going for it. It features a unique time in American history – between both World Wars that is often over looked in film. The movie also paints a realistic portrayal of what a struggle marriage can be sometimes. Yes, the marriage of Bing and Joan Caulfield was a show biz marriage, but if you looked closely at what broke them up, it is the same problems that face married people even today – lack of communication and trust. For a 1940s musical this film deals with some serious subject matter, which you tend to overlook, because the star of the film is the Irving Berlin music, and the perfect performances of Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire who were just a couple of song and dance men!

THE END...

BING ON FILM: BLUE SKIES - PART TWO

As Jed Potter relates his "album of Irving Berlin songs" to his radio listeners, movie viewers get to to be treated to see and hear such classic tunes including: "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" (sung by chorus, danced by Fred Astaire); "I've Got My Captain Watching for Me Now" (Sung by Bing Crosby); "You'd Be Surprised" (sung by Olga San Juan); "All By Myself" (Crosby); "Serenade to an Old-Fashioned Girl" (sung by Joan Caulfield); "Puttin' on the Ritz" (Astaire); "I'll See You in C.U.B.A." (Crosby); "A Couple of Song and Dance Men" (Astaire and Crosby); "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song" (Crosby); "Always" (chorus); "Blue Skies," "The Little Things in Life," "Not for All the Rice in China" (all sung by Crosby); "Russian Lullaby" (Chorus); "Everybody Step" (Crosby); "How Deep is the Ocean" (chorus); "Running Around in Circles" (Crosby); "Heat Wave" (sung by Olga San Juan/danced by Astaire); "Buy Bonds Today" "This is the Army" "White Christmas" and "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song" (all sung by Crosby). "Mandy" and "Some Sunny Day" are those other songs heard as background music.

Astaire's "Puttin' on the Ritz" number, where he dances to eight images of himself, is one of the great highlights. First introduced by Harry Richman for the 1930 musical, PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ, the original lyrics have been changed to fit the Astaire style as well as the changing of times. Crosby and Astaire also provide fine moments with their joint collaboration as "A Couple of Song and Dance Men." Billy De Wolfe supplies much of the comedy relief as Johnny's partner and assistant. Aside from being the love interest to Olga San Juan, he does a five minute one man comedy routine as Mrs. Murgatroyd.

While the story tends to get corny at times, it does get better with its passage of time and its assortment of fine songs. Aside from Crosby's singing, his sentimental moment where he meets with his little girl (Grimes) again is well done, along with Astaire's dancing, which is always first rate. He briefly breaks away from his traditional character where he becomes a troubled dancer who turns to liquor after being jilted. Joan Caulfield, then new to the movies, would work again with Crosby in WELCOME STRANGER (1947), an underrated drama with songs. Crosby and Astaire wouldn't work together again (except for a radio show together in 1951) until being reunited again for their TV special, "A Couple of Song and Dance Men" (CBS, 1975). Also in 1975, the two would make an great album together of the same name that I recommend.

TO BE CONTINUED...

BING ON FILM: BLUE SKIES - PART ONE

When I first started watching movie musicals (and Bing Crosby movies for that matter), the 1946 film BLUE SKIES was my favorite musical. As the years have gone by other musicals has pushed Blue Skies down on the list, but I still love the film. There is really not much to not like about the film. The film had it all from beautiful technicolor to over two dozen Irving Berlin songs. It had two of the giants of the musicals with the singing ability of Bing Crosby and the dancing wizardry of Fred Astaire. Throw in a beautiful leading lady like Joan Caulfield, and there is no reason why BLUE SKIES would not be one of the biggest musicals of 1946.

The movie that was proposed was a lot different than the movie the film became. Leading lady Joan Caulfield was the protégé of Mark Sandrich, who directed many of the Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals. Sandrich was originally slated to direct this film, but died of a heart attack during pre-production and Stuart Heisler was drafted in to replace him. Heisler wanted Caulfield replaced, but Crosby, who had approval of his leading ladies, insisted she remain in the film. Reportedly Heisler and Crosby did not get along, and the following year Heisler would direct Susan Hayward in SMASH UP: THE STORY OF US which was based on an unflattering portrayal of Dixie Lee Crosby. Also Paul Draper, a Broadway dancer was supposed to star with Bing, but he left the film early on as well. Bing and Draper did not get along. Crosby was laid back to his way of filming, while Paul approached every scene and nuance of the movie as if he was choreographing and intricate ballet. Draper did not endear himself to Crosby either but trying to get actress Joan Caulfield removed from the picture. He was constantly complained about her lack of singing and dancing ability. During the first week of production Draper's speech impediment and his trenchant criticism of Caulfield's dance ability led Crosby to insist on his replacement by Fred Astaire who, then forty-seven, had already decided that this would be his final film and that he would retire.

In common tradition to many 1940s movies, most commonly found in the "film noir" genre, BLUE SKIES is told in flashback, starting in modern day setting at a radio station, Broadcast Network of America in New York City's Rockefeller Center, where Jed Potter (Fred Astaire), a former dancer now a radio personality, relates his life story and career to his listeners, a story with a beginning but without a finish. Dating back circa 1919 following World War I finds Jed attracted to Mary O'Hara (Joan Caulfield), a girl, a "very pretty girl," working in the chorus. He invites her to accompany him for dinner at a night club owned by Johnny Adams (Bing Crosby), his Army buddy. Almost immediately, Mary is attracted to Johnny, but in spite of Jed's warning that Johnny is not the marrying kind, she cannot resist him. Johnny and Mary marry, and during their union have a daughter, Mary Elizabeth (Karolyn Grimes). All goes well until Mary finds that Jed is right in his assumption of Johnny being selfish and unstable, buying and selling nightclubs (one of them called "Top Hat") at a moment's notice, and unable to settle down at in one place they could call home. After their divorce, Mary becomes engaged to Jed. Finding she's unable to marry Jed, Mary disappears, leaving Johnny as well as Jed, through his narration, to wonder whatever became of her.

TO BE CONTINUED...

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING IN THE 1940S

The decade of the 1940s was marked by the horrors of World War II. However, Bing owned the 1940s. He was the biggest star of that decade, the most widely beloved American, and was the most recorded human voice. Bing was at the height of his career in the 1940s as theses photos show...

with Dinah Shore 

with Bob Hope

with Joan Caulfield

MOVIE REVIEW: BLUE SKIES

For over two decades, Bing Crosby was the number one star at Paramount. He successfully rescued the studio from bankruptcy in the early 1930s. Despite that, Paramount rarely put Bing in a technicolor movie. However, when the studio did put Bing in a big budget musical, the result was always out of this world. That was the result of 1946's Blue Skies.

As in Holiday Inn (1942), Blue Skies is designed to showcase the songs of Irving Berlin. The plot, which is presented in a series of flashbacks with Astaire as narrator, follows a similar formula of Crosby beating Astaire for the affections of a leading lady. Comedy is principally provided by Billy De Wolfe.

Joan Caulfield was the protege of Mark Sandrich - who directed many of the Astaire-Rogers musicals - and who was originally slated to direct this film. He died of a heart attack during pre-production and Stuart Heisler was drafted in to replace him. Heisler wanted Caulfield replaced, but Crosby - who was reportedly having an affair with Caulfield - protected her. Stuart Heisler had never directed a musical, and Bing and the director did not get along. A year after Blue Skies came out, Heisler directed Susan Hayward in a movie called Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman, which was supposedly the life story of Bing's first wife Dixe Lee Crosby.

Tap dancer Paul Draper was the initial choice to partner Bing Crosby, however, during the first week of production Draper's speech impediment and his trenchant criticism of Caulfield's dance ability led Crosby to insist on his replacement by Astaire who, then forty-seven, had already decided that this would be his final film and that he would retire, having spent over forty years performing before the public. The film was billed as "Astaire's last picture" and its very strong performance at the box office pleased him greatly, as he had dearly wanted to go out on a high note.

The reasons for Astaire's (temporary) retirement remain a source of debate: his own view that he was "tired and running out of gas", the sudden collapse in 1945 of the market for Swing music which left many of his colleagues in jazz high and dry, a desire to devote time to establishing a chain of dancing schools, and a dissatisfaction with roles, as in this film, where he was relegated to playing second fiddle to the lead. Ironically, it is for his celebrated solo performance of "Puttin' On The Ritz," which featured Astaire leading an entire dance line of Astaires, that this film is most remembered today.

The story is told in a series of vignettes and musical numbers that serve to show events in flashback. Our narrative link is New York radio star Jed Potter, who once was a renowned Broadway hoofer. The conceit is that he is on the air, telling his life story... which does not yet have an ending. The tale starts just after World War I and centers around two men who became friends while serving in the Army: rising dancer Potter and the business-minded Johnny Adams. While young, hardworking Potter dreams of and works for stardom, the more laid-back and less disciplined Adams has hopes of becoming a successful nightclub owner.

In time, dancer Potter falls in love with a band singer, a "very pretty girl" named Mary O'Hara. He takes Mary to Adams' nightclub, and she takes a shine to Adams. Potter warns Mary that his old buddy is not the marrying kind. So, of course, she marries Adams. The union is not a happy one, despite the birth of a child. Adams' nightclub business is anything but a resounding success, and it turns out Potter was right: Adams is self-centered and unable to commit to his nightclubs, his marriage, or his daughter. The couple divorces, and Mary tries again with Potter. The two even become engaged. But Mary can't go through with the wedding and takes off. A devastated Potter turns to booze and subsequently suffers an accident that puts an end to his dancing career. He winds up behind a radio microphone, sharing his story with his audience, hoping that wherever Mary is, she can hear him.

Blue Skies was one of the biggest money makers of 1946. On a personal note, the film contains one of my favorite Bing songs "You Keep Coming Back Like A Song". The song was nominated for an Oscar for best song but lost to the Judy Garland song ""On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" from The Harvey Girls (1946). Filmed in beautiful technicolor, it was a shame that the majority of Paramount's movies, even the musicals, were filmed in black and white. Bing Crosby's eyes never looked bluer than in this film. The movie  ranks as one of Bing Crosby's best movies for Paramount, and it is a shining reason why Paramount kept Bing under contract for nearly twenty-five years. The plot today may seem corny, but if you are sentimental as I am, you will still like the film. Definitely thouigh if you are a Bing Crosby fan and/or a Fred Astaire fan, then this movie is for you. Blue Skies has got it all...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10
 

BING AND JOAN CAULFIELD

The marriage of Bing and Dixie Crosby had its ups and downs as any marriage may have. What added to the ups and down is Bing Crosby was the most widely recognized person in the world in the 1940s and poor Dixie was a closet alcoholic. It was the 1940s, and people did not talk about their problems or feelings as they do now. It seemed like looking back at the marriage of Bing and Dixie, Bing buried himself into his work and Dixie became sort of a recluse. However, there has always been a rumor that Bing and actress Joan Caulfield had an affair.

Joan Caulfield was an unknown 22-year-old actress when she got the call in 1945 to play the leading lady in Bing Crosby's motion picture Blue Skies. Mark Sandrich, who was preparing to produce and direct the movie, discovered Caulfield in the rushes of her first Paramount movie, Miss Susie Slagle’s. He was so impressed by her beauty that he wanted to cast her as a song-and-dance star in the Crosby musical -- if Joan could dance. Joan let her enthusiasm overwhelm her honesty and assured Sandrich she could indeed dance. She couldn't. Sandrich sent her to Carmalita Maracci’s dance school at her own expense in the hope that her role could be salvaged.

Sandrich died suddenly on March 4, 1945, at the age of 44, before filming could begin. His replacements were much less sympathetic toward Joan, especially since Crosby's co-star and choreographer, tap-dancer Paul Draper, also wanted Joan out. He did not want a leading lady with two left feet, even if they were pretty feet. Joan's name disappeared from the cast sheets and press releases. Meanwhile, Draper began auditioning other actresses for Joan's part.

Then, suddenly, Joan was reinstated, Draper was fired, the script was rewritten and Fred Astaire was coaxed to replace Draper. Why were these extraordinary steps taken for an unknown actress? (Joan's first movie, Miss Susie Slagle’s, would not be released until 1946.) Obviously, someone very powerful had taken an interest in Joan and was determined to keep her in that movie. That someone most likely was Bing Crosby, who had just won the Oscar for his role as Father O'Malley in Going My Way. Not only was he Hollywood's leading box-office attraction, Bing was also a major stockholder in Paramount.

Most likely Bing met Joan late in 1944 during the filming of Paramount's all-star movie version of the radio show Duffy's Tavern. Bing, Joan and the four Crosby boys all made an appearance in this film. He and Joan became friends and were seen in public together socially. They recorded the radio version of Bing's movie Sing You Sinners for the Lux Radio Theatre on April 6, 1945.

That Joan and Bing had grown close was widely rumored around Hollywood. Moreover, neither Blue Skies nor Miss Susie Slagle’s had been released when Paramount announced that Bing's next movie, Welcome Stranger, would also co-star Caulfield. Clearly a special relationship had developed between the two. In 1954 Joan admitted to a relationship with a "top film star" who was also a married man with children who eventually chose his wife and children over her.

That this "top film star" was Bing Crosby was confirmed by actress Patricia Neal, who shared a cruise ship to England with Caulfield in 1948. At the time Neal was having her own affair with a much older married actor, Bing's friend Gary Cooper. Like Bing, Coop eventually decided to stay with his family too. Neal wrote:

She [Joan Caulfield] was a lovely girl and we had some good talks. She, too, was in love with an older married man who was quite as famous as Gary [Cooper]. She confided to me that she desperately wanted to marry Bing Crosby. We were in the same boat in more ways than one, but I could not tell her so." (Neal, As I Am, Simon and Schuster, 1988, p109)

Bing requested permission from the Catholic hierarchy to divorce his wife, Dixie, so he could marry Caulfield. The church denied his request and Bing remained with Dixie until her death in 1952. In 1950 Joan married Hollywood producer Frank Ross. They divorced nine years later. She married her dentist in 1960. They divorced in 1966. She never remarried. Each marriage produced a son. Joan died of cancer on June 18, 1991.

To be honest, is an affair really any of our business? Probably not, but it is what good stories are made up. Hopefully the rumors will be confirmed or put to rest when author Gary Giddin's second book on Bing Crosby comes out in the near future...

BING MARATHON ON TCM

It's going to be a day early, but TCM is honoring Bing on his 108th birthday with a marathon of his movies, and well as a short Bing did in 1957. It is going to be a terrfic day of Bing tomorrow...

MAY 2:
8:25 AM JIMMY FUND - BING CROSBY (1957)
Bing Crosby urges the audience to donate to the Jimmy Fund to end childhood cancer.

8:30 AM Going Hollywood (1933)
A girl poses as a French maid to catch a singing star.

10:00 AM Road to Singapore (1940)
A runaway tycoon and his sailor buddy try to con their way through the

11:30 AM Road to Zanzibar (1941)
A lady con artist scams two out-of-work entertainers into financing a safari.

1:15 PM Road to Morocco (1942)
Two castaways get mixed up in an Arabian nightmare when they're caught between a bandit chief and a beautiful princess.

2:45 PM Going My Way (1944)
A young priest revitalizes a failing parish and brings new life to the elder priest.

5:00 PM Blue Skies (1946)
Vaudeville partners spend years vying for the same beautiful woman.