BING AND GLENN MILLER

According to the details provided by the site credited below, this picture is from August of 1944, a few months before the band leader disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel.

Of course, he couldn't have known. But Bing almost looks as if he's already worried about the gentleman who gave us “Moonlight Serenade” and “In the Mood.”

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CROSBY FAMILY IN COURT

Bing Crosby's Family In Court
By City News Service


Mary Crosby was ordered to grant a neighbor access to Malibu property that she owned. . The daughter of legendary crooner Bing Crosby was ordered today by a Los Angeles judge to allow her Malibu neighbor to traverse her land to reach a public area where the woman rides horses.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson also told Mary Crosby, who famously shot Larry Hagman's J.R. character in the original "Dallas'' series, and her spouse, attorney Mark Brodka, to give Susan Demers a remote-control device that will open a gate the couple relocated and modified along an access road in May 2011.

Demers maintains that when she bought her property in 1987, it included easements giving her the right to pass over a part of the Crosby-Brodka property. But attorney James Pazos, representing the actress and her husband, said the easements were eliminated years earlier. Johnson was not convinced.

"Then why was she allowed to ride horses there for so many years?,'' the judge asked. Demers' lawyer, David Olson, said the easements were never eliminated. "This is kind of a Hail Mary argument,'' Olson said.

Olson said the 63-year-old Demers suffers from pulmonary hypertension and asked that the gate be simply left open in case she loses or misplaces the electronic device. However, the judge said she would have to settle for having the gate opener.

In a sworn statement opposing the preliminary injunction, Mary Crosby stated that she has dealt with stalkers for many years because of her "Dallas'' fame and worries about her security.

"A couple of the stalkers seemed harmless,'' she said. "However, one of the stalkers, William Casey, was very scary and threatening. Casey showed up at my house one day. When my husband approached him and said he was married to me, Casey said, 'Well, she was my wife first.'''

Since the debut of the second "Dallas'' series, there has been "an increase in both nice and crazy communications,'' Crosby said. Crosby said Demers worked for many years for Kelsey Grammer at his ranch and that she rarely rode her horses through the couple's property even after the gate was first installed in 2000.

Demers did not demand an automatic gate opener until June 2010, according to Crosby. That same month, an excavator dug a path around the gate and said he was hired by Demers to do so, according to Crosby, who maintains that Demers does not need to use the Crosby-Brodka easement to get to the area where she rides her horses.

The preliminary injunction is good until April 15, when the judge will hold a non-jury trial on the issues. Outside the courtroom, Pazos declined to comment on whether he is optimistic for a different outcome at trial.

Brokda attended today's hearing, but Crosby was not present. The 52-year- old daughter of Bing Crosby and his second wife, Kathryn Grant, she and her husband began the litigation by suing Demers and her friend, Martha Gwinn, in Los Angeles Superior Court in December 2010.

Crosby and Brodka's suit asks a judge to determine whether Demers and Gwinn have any rights to cross over the couple's property. They have lived in a rustic area on Barrymore Drive above Pacific Coast Highway since 1982. Demers, a horse trainer, and Gwinn, who rents a residential unit on her property, then filed a cross-complaint alleging nuisance and trespass and later filed the preliminary injunction request...

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REMEMBERING LARRY KINER (1930-1994)

Mention the name of Larry Kiner to any avid Bing Crosby collector in the 1980s and 1990s, and he was a like a god to them. Larry specialized in rare radio broadcasts of Bing and other great stars of the day. With the closing of his company (Redmond Nostalgia) last year, I wanted to revisit what a great man he was...

Larry Kiner, Parlayed His Love Of Old-Time Music Into A Career
By Carole Beers


Larry Kiner knew something was wrong, seeing that stranger dash from a Georgetown bank. So, as if in an old radio show, Mr. Kiner followed the man's car, sticking with it until he could flag down police and finger the suspect.

The next year, 1970, Mr. Kiner created Redmond Nostalgia Co. - specializing in records of old-time radio shows and music - which he'd begun with the several-hundred-dollar reward he had received for helping nab the bank robber.

A letter of thanks from J. Edgar Hoover, then director of the FBI, was another reward, said Mr. Kiner's son Michael of Kirkland.

"He was really proud of that letter," said his son. "It was one of his prized possessions."

Mr. Kiner, old-time hero and old-music buff, died Friday (July 22) of cancer. He was 64.

Born in Milwaukee, Mr. Kiner liked to play piano and loved music of the 1920s and 1930s. The tall, quiet boy began collecting records when he was 12. In 1934 the family moved to Seattle, where Mr. Kiner attended Broadview Elementary School, Seattle Prep and Lincoln High School. He switched high schools, according to his son David of Kirkland, "because he was trying to find a school with a good baseball team. He was a pitcher."

One of Mr. Kiner's daughters, Lt. Katherine Kiner of Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, said, "Dad also pitched one season with a semipro club in Bremerton around 1949." Mr. Kiner in later years would take his children to Seattle Pilots and Mariners games - and to spring training in Arizona.

After his family moved to Santa Monica, Calif., in 1950, Mr. Kiner finished school, then worked in electronic-parts engineering, production and sales. The family moved to Seattle in 1967. He ran some ads in a magazine and began selling tapes of radio shows.

Losing a job helped propel him into producing records of rare broadcasts by Al Jolson and Bing Crosby. He signed 100 aging stars in two years and had records pressed in California and Canada, selling to stores, distributors and mail-order clients.

His robbery reward helped buy equipment and records, a few of which had been made from live broadcasts in wartime. Mr. Kiner collected some 4,000 reels of tape with 40,000 radio shows. He got to travel, and to meet stars such as Rudy Vallee and Cliff Edwards, the voice of Disney's "Jiminy Cricket."

He wrote several books about the stars. He was working on a book about Bing Crosby. He also composed songs - "mostly like the old crooners used to sing," said his daughter. "He recently had played for a show featuring an Eastside dance group, `Tap Happy.' Music was his life."

She said Mr. Kiner, a "to-the-point kind of person" who had an old-fashioned sense of humor, was one of those lucky few who could turn a hobby into a career. His son David inherited the interest in old music . . . and the business. Other survivors include Mr. Kiner's son Steven and daughter Susan Lybyer of Kirkland, and seven grandchildren. Mr. Kiner's wife, Patricia, died in 1991. A memorial service was scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, 308 Fourth Ave. S., Kirkland...

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ON THE ROAD WITH BING AND BOB

by Ron Hall

Beyond legendary entertainers, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope were very generous, patriotic Americans.  They filled their days with a variety of work and play.  A typical week (1930s thru 1950s) involved rehearsing and performing a radio show, filming movies, making personal appearances, filming TV shows, playing golf, visiting the race track and in Bing's case making records.  Still they found time for worthy causes like entertaining the troops, government public service films, hosting the Oscars, religious films and honoring golf caddies!  Since they were friends they often teamed up for charity.

My friend since 1970, Bob DeFlores had a special love for vintage music and Bing Crosby.  He collected rare Crosby films and was privileged to visit Bing in 1977 six months before Bing's untimely death.  Years later this meeting led to an association with Kathryn Crosby and several trips through Bing's basement film and audio collection to help evaluate and preserve other rare films.

In 1994, Bob and I slowly realized that he had many rare films that happened to be in the public domain, and I had a video company that could sell them.  We put together a 90 minute collection of obscure Bing Crosby/Bob Hope shorts, called it On The Road With Bing and Bob and then looked around for Bing Crosby fans.  They were not hard to find! 

"The Fifth Freedom"

So Bob and I issued the VHS video in 1995 and were widely publicized in the Bing Crosby magazines, which resulted in over 200 sales.  Five years later we offered the same films on better quality DVD for another round of sales.  We also issued everything we had about Bing Crosby that happened to be in the public domain, such as Bing's Mack Sennett Shorts, the 1957 Edsel Show, Bing Crosby Cavalcade and more.

About four years ago I arbitrarily stopped selling the films because we had reached all the Crosby fans and Bing Crosby Enterprises was starting to produce their own music and film projects.  However, since I now sell on Amazon.com, I thought I would reissue our first release to see if Bing and Bob fans might find it there.  All of the films are in the public domain, they have not been chosen by Bing's estate for DVD release and many are still quite rare...

DVD Re-issue
On Sale Now!

Theatrical Trailers to Road to Singapore, Road to Zanzibar, Road to Morocco, Road to Utopia and Star Spangled Rhythm.

The Road to Home (1945) Bing and Bob caution sailors not to jump ship at end of the WW-II as they reminisce about their Road pictures.  Who even knew the armed forces had this kind of problem?

Command Performance (1944) Bob Hope, Jerry Colonna, June Allyson, Gloria De Haven and Francis Langford entertain the troops.  Bob hosted over 40 of these variety shows that were sent to the troops during WW-II. 

The Fifth Freedom (1951, Color)  Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Perry Como and Arthur Godfrey remind us of our American freedom of choice.  On the surface a patriotic film about american freedoms, but everyone smokes Chesterfield cigarettes!  Contains some great small-town Americana scenes from 1951. 

You Can Change the World (1954)  Bing and Bob join Loretta Young, William Holden, Irene Dunne, Anne Blyth, Paul Douglas, Rochester and Jack Benny to hear Father Keller tell how all of us can help change the world for the better.  Bing sings “Young American" in this episode of The Christophers TV show.  We traded our excellent copy to The Christophers in 1996 in exchange for their film "Faith, Hope and Hogan" that is included in the September release Golf Mania. 

Excerpt from The Edsel Show (1957)  Frank Sinatra joins Bing on a musical road tour of the world until they run into old ski nose himself.  This is not a public service film, but continues the theme of rare Crosby/Hope "Road" films, this time with Frank subbing for Bob.  (Newly added to this video release.)  

1954 Academy Awards Show (1954)  Bing Crosby comes to the dais to help Bob Hope hand out music Oscars.  (Newly added to this video release.)

Honor Caddie (1954)  Color.  Bing and Bob in an excerpt from a public service short honoring golf caddies.  (Newly added to this video release.) 

The Road to Peace (1949)  Bing joins Ann Blyth in an inspirational plea for world peace.  They sing “When Irish Eyes are Smiling."  Added last to the disc since the message goes on a bit long! 

These films are highly entertaining today.  The following clip from "You Can Change the World" shows Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Father Keller and Bob Hope's phoned in contribution.

***You can purchase On the Road with Bing and Bob directly from Festival Films*** FESTIVAL FILMSht here!       

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING AND THE PIRATES

I guess next to horses and golf, baseball was one of Bing's other favorite past times. From 1946 until the end of his life, he was part-owner of baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. Although he was passionate about his team, he was too nervous to watch the deciding Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, choosing to go to Paris with Kathryn and listen to the game on the radio. Crosby had the NBC telecast of the game recorded on kinescope. The game was one of the most famous in baseball history, capped off by Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run. He apparently viewed the complete film just once, and then stored it in his wine cellar, where it remained undisturbed until it was discovered in December 2009. Here are some pics of Bing and The Pittsburgh Pirates...

BING IN ONE MORE CHANCE

One More Chance
Tile #198 on the Studio City Walk of Fame

Production Company: Mack Sennett Comedies

Cast: Bing Crosby, Arthur Stone, Patsy O'Leary, Matty Kemp, George Gray, Alice Adair, Kalla Pasha

Directed by Mack Sennett

Bing Crosby stars as 'Bing Bangs' in One More Chance. The two-reel musical comedy short, produced and directed by Mack Sennett the "King of Comedy", was released on November 15, 1931.

Songs in the film include "One More Chance" and "Wrap your Trouble in Dreams" performed by Mr. Crosby.

One More Chance is one of six musical comedies Mr. Crosby made for Mack Sennett that include I Surrender, Dear (1931), Billboard Girl (1932), Dream House (1932), Blue of the Night (1933) and Sing, Bing, Sing (1933).

Mr. Crosby went on to become the first multi-media superstar entertainer with records, radio, television and film. Between 1931 and 1939 alone, Crosby produced more than 150 charted hits, which included twenty-two #1 hits and fourteen songs that landed at the #2 spot.

Patsy O'Leary appeared in 47 shorts and 3 feature films from 1927 to 1932. The majority of her films were for Mack Sennett and filmed at Mack Sennett Studios, now home to CBS Studio Center.

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BING AND 1945

The year 1945 was a time of war, peace, chaos, and calmness. This was the year that President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the reins. This was his fourth term in office. He suffered a stroke on April 12, 1945, and died within hours. Harry S. Truman took oath on April 12, 1945.

Going to the grocery store was quite the shopping affair, from the popcorn vendor on the outside to the fresh produce displays and penny candy counters on the inside. Remember some of the penny candy such as BB Bat suckers, Kit Kats, Tootsie Roll Pops, and a variety of bubble gum? Cracker Barrel Restaurant has many of the old time candies. Remember when the popcorn machine was outside of the Indiana Theater, which many people enjoyed the popcorn.

Service station attendants cleaned windshields, checked fluids, and often provided treats for the children. Mailmen would deliver packages with a friendly greeting, and sometimes there would be a brief visit before delivery continued. I remember Mr. Jim Evans and Mr. Bob Stanley, who were two of these type mailmen.

Buying war bonds in 1945 was encouraged by many businesses to use for Christmas and Birthday gifts. They were $18.75, and at maturity they became $25 in 10 years. Over the course of the war, 85 million purchased bonds, totaling close to $185 billion dollars. Uncle Sam was posted several places on posters to encourage buying bonds.

Memories of childhood in 1945 were often shaped by what kids heard on the radio. Backyard playgrounds were expanded in Western Plains. Homemade baseball diamonds utilized stones and boards for bases. Tall trees were goal posts. Blankets were thrown over clothes lines to become tents. Young people would take cookies and milk into their tent for snacks.

Hopscotch was a popular game which we made on driveways and sidewalks. Girls loved to make bracelets and necklaces our of beads and buttons.

How many can remember your parents leading you in your nighttime prayers, and then they would read you a bedtime story. At mealtimes the father would say grace, and as the children grew older, they took their turn to return thanks.

Many fond memories of 1945 were enjoying each other in the activities of the youth. Some had picnics, and it was followed by a game of Croquet. Later it was ice cream time. Bowling, roller skating at a rink, and ping pong, caught the fancy of the youth and the young at heart.

Radio stars and the hits of 1945 were Ellery Queen, Amos and Andy, Bing Crosby, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Fibber McGee and Molly, Green Hornet, Lone Ranger, Sherlock Holmes, Buster Brown, and Tommy Dorsey.

Top Hits of 1945 were “Till the End of Time” by Perry Como, “Sentimental Journey” by Les Brown, “I Can’t Begin to tell You” by Bing Crosby, “Chickery Chick” by Sammy Kaye, and “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, which is still heard at Christmas time.

The minimum wage was 40 cents per hour. Bread was nine cents a loaf, bacon $0.41 a pound, eggs 58 cents a dozen, milk 3l cents a gallon, movie tickets 35 cents each, cars $1,020 each, and homes around $4,600.

Those were the days...

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BING AND THE 1952 OLYMPIC TELETHON

1952 Olympic Telethon

Three old friends, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope at table and Dorothy Lamour at microphone, lead 14 1/2 hour Olympic Telethon that received more than $1,000,000 in pledges for the U.S. Olympic team.

A story in the June 23, 1952, Los Angeles Times reported:

Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and scores of other personalities went to bat for the 1952 U.S. Olympic team yesterday and smashed a sizzling home run – worth more than $1,000,000.

The two stars sang and joked their way through a 14 1/2 hour television marathon which was beamed to a nationwide audience estimated at 50,000,000. And their efforts – plus those of hundreds of other persons responsible for the show – raised the Olympic fund well over its goal.

Two television networks – NBC and CBS – carried the show by microwave to 68 stations in 48 cities from coast to coast. The telethon, staged at NBC studios in the El Capitan Theater, began at 8 p.m. Saturday and ended for the tired performers at 10:30 a.m. yesterday after switching to New York for appearances by several noted sports figures.

Crosby, who teamed with Hope to answer hundreds of telephone calls and introduce the more than 250 actors, dancers and singers on the program, was making his television debut on the record-breaking telethon.

He and Hope deserted the cameras for three or four hours early yesterday morning to freshen up but were back on the stage for the finale and exchange comments with the New York end of the show.

Avery Brundage, president of the U.S. Olympic committee, opened the program Saturday night with an announcement that the Olympic fund was still nearly $500,000 short of the money it needs to sent the nation’s athletes to Helsinki this summer. Fourteen and a half hours later, just three minutes before the show ended, contributions donated and pledges across the nation as a result of the program were announced as $1,000,020.

Officials said this figure, however, probably will be swelled by many thousands of dollars this week as mail contributions are received ….

Hope and Crosby, obviously weary after their long stint before the cameras, were still joking as they posed with Miss Lamour after the show.

“Well, Bob, ready for a fast 18 holes. Where’il it be? Lakeside or Rivera?” Crosby cracked.

The telethon was a big success — or so it seemed. A brief mention in the Hedda Hopper’s July 12, 1952, column reported that “Bing Crosby and Bob Hope are terribly upset because only a third of the money pledged on their Olympic telethon has been collected.”

But the $300,000 was enough to help get the U.S. team to Helsinki. According to a story at tvparty.com, once the telethon doubled the stated goal of $500,000, many donors refused to honor their pledges...

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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...

HIGH TIME ON BLURAY

Why this is only being released on BluRay is beyond me. I like High Time but not enough to buy a new player for...

'High Time' Announced and Detailed for Blu-ray

Blake Edwards' 1960 musical comedy starring Bing Crosby will have a limited Blu-ray run this August.

In an early announcement to retailers, Twilight Time will be bringing 'High Time' on Blu-ray on August 14.


Order 'The Hunger Games'


Coming to Blu-ray August 18th


Widower and hamburger restaurateur Harvey Howard decides to go to college at 51 years of age. Resisting the easy path, he insists on not receiving preferential treatment, and lives in a dorm like the other students despite the disapproval of his grown son and daughter. As the years pass, and he gets involved in study sessions, fraternity initiations, and sporting events, he begins falling in love with Professor Gautier, the French teacher, but doesn't consider re-marrying appropriate.

The Blu-ray will be limited to 3000 units and will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 soundtrack, and supplements include an isolated score track by Henry Mancini and the original theatrical trailer.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.95 which can be pre ordered here.

You can find the latest specs for 'High Time' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under August 14.

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