by Gary Giddins
They dispatch Mima only long enough to rescue her again from Caesar. Her return signals an abrupt change in mood. Josh and Ace have surrendered their bachelor mode; they are now on the road to domesticity, as each sells out the other in the contest for Mima. Any doubts about who will win are put to rest when Josh finally, nearly an hour into the movie, delivers the one indispensable ingredient in a Crosby film, a ballad. If Burke and Monaco’s “Too Romantic” is less memorable than songs Burke and Van Heusen composed for later Roads, it marked a turning point for Burke; it’s the best love song he had written for a Crosby film to date. (Significantly, the far superior “Imagination” and “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” appeared a few months later, written with Van Heusen for Sinatra. For Zanzibar Van Heusen was on the Crosby team.)
Bing’s edict to Burke to avoid I love yous was not strictly enforced; Johnny slid one in at the end of “What’s New?” tied to a cadence that obliges the singer to dispense with it quickly. But the challenge compelled him to be extra-inventive in getting the message across, sometimes with evasive results, as in “On the Sentimental Side” or “East Side of Heaven.” “Too Romantic,” however, is astutely tailored to emphasize Bing’s passive allure. It has him conceding a fear of intimacy because he is too romantic, too vulnerable: “moonlight and stars can make such a fool of me”; “wouldn’t I look a sight on bended knee.” He wants a sure thing: “Don’t let me fall unless it could all come true.” Bing’s rendition in the picture is more robust than his hit record but not nearly as aggressive as Lamour’s. She knows what she wants but has to put up with an obbligato of wisecracks. The song ends as Hope comes from behind and dunks Bing in the lagoon.
The feminization proceeds apace. Starving for food, they use another of Ace’s concoctions, an intended roach killer called Scramo, to darken their skins (Kaigoon requires more of a tanning than a blackening) so they can masquerade as natives at a feast. Josh and Ace wear womanly caftans that cover their breasts, and Bing plays even more broadly than Bob. After an obligatory bring-on-the-girls native dance, they flee from a ceremonial marriage requirement, at which point Gloria and Josh’s father arrive. Josh refuses to leave, but Mima, meaning to protect him from losing his fortune, pretends to love Ace. That sends him packing, after he delivers a maudlin tribute to good old Ace, the first and last time the series would forget itself so egregiously and descend to rank depths of stoic poignancy. Josh learns the truth and returns to Mima, as Ace happily presides like a child who has reconciled his divorced parents (a Hollywood convention of the period, popularized by Deanna Durbin). Still, the audience knows who the real couple is; a Spotto victim comes running in with a policeman, and the movie fades as Bing and Bob go into their patty-cake crouch.
The reviews were so tepid, Paramount excluded even the good ones from trade-paper ads, preferring to display the numbers as Singapore broke records at one theater after another. Time’s man plainly dozed: “Crooner Crosby, the lyric son of a businessman, has an irrepressible urge to be a beachcomber. He and Bob Hope take Miss Lamour beachcombing with them. Bing Crosby sings one song (’Kaigoon’) in Esperanto.” 76 He does not. Many thought that though the film was slight, Bing and Bob deserved a reunion. The New York Times was less encouraging: “We would not go so far as to call the road closed, merely to say one proceeds at his own risk, with heavy going after Lamour.” The Times bestowed “an E for effort… and an SEC for an investigation of the possibilities it has squandered.” 77
The movie opened, grandly enough, at the New York Paramount on a bill with the eagerly awaited revamped edition of Tommy Dorsey’s band. Under a huge display for the film and its stars, the marquee promised: “In person — Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra; Bunny Berigan, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Pied Piper Quartette, [tap dancers] Winfield and Ford; Extra Added Attraction — Red Skelton.” 78 Sinatra had recently cut his first discs with Dorsey, two songs, the second a boyishly anemic cover of “Too Romantic.” The movie and the stage show made for an unbeatable combination, one Variety said gave the lie to the myth that Holy Week was bad for business. 79 An elated New York Daily News headline blared: PARAMOUNT GOES GAY IN A LARGE WAY.But Singapore did not need live music to lure crowds. By March it had broken two-year records in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago. 80 By April Paramount’s ads listed thirty cities where it was held over two, three, and four weeks. 81
Kate Cameron of the Daily News caught the spirit that ignited audiences. After expressing astonishment that Bing and Bob had not been teamed before — “Separately, they’re good, but together they’re a riot!” — she noted: “Road to Singapore is something I can’t explain. It is as goofy a bit of make-believe as I have seen upon a screen…. After the long list of heavy and so-called ‘significant’ films that hit the screen lately, Road to Singapore is a blessed relief. It’s naughty — but nifty.” 82 Cameron knew her readers. Hollywood flaunted its talent and diversity in 1940, producing a trove of films that made money and endured as classics or semi-classics: The Shop Around the Corner, Rebecca, His Girl Friday, The Great Dictator, Christmas in July, The Letter, The Bank Dick, The Sea Hawk, Brother Orchid, Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet, Pinocchio, The Great McGinty, The Grapes of Wrath, The Mortal Storm, Foreign Correspondent, My Favorite Wife, Rhythm on the River, The Mark of Zorro, The Philadelphia Story, Pride and Prejudice, and several others. Yet as splendid as those pictures were, Road to Singapore, with receipts of $1.6 million, was the top-grossing picture of the year. 83
This was hardly a tribute to the public’s discernment. Most of the year’s top-ten moneymakers, excepting Rebecca and Road to Singapore, are forgotten today — The Fighting 69th, Arizona, Buck Benny Rides Again, North West Mounted Police, Kitty Foyle. While they disappeared, however, Singapore inaugurated a franchise that echoed through the culture during and after the war, persistently for more than twenty years. Until James Bond, the Road series was the most lucrative ever produced. For Bing, it indicated redefinition. His contemporaries had followed him for a decade; now a much younger audience was drawn to him as well. Neither Crosby nor Paramount nor, for that matter, Jack Kapp and Kraft could have imagined in 1940 that everything he had already achieved would be remembered, within a few short years, as merely a prelude to what followed — a bagatelle compared with the symphony of adulation he roused in the 1940s, when Bing Crosby was remade in the crucible of war.
Bing Crosby Discography: The Early Years
This section includes all studio recordings in which Crosby participated between 1926 and July 6, 1940. With the exception of two “fluffs” and dramatically different versions of “St. Louis Blues,” alternate or rejected takes are omitted.
The parenthetical information denotes Bing’s instrumental and vocal accompaniment. Bandleaders appear to the left of the slash and vocalists to the right. When Bing shared billing with other artists, beginning in 1931, the costarring performer’s name is preceded by a dash.
Vocal group refers to singers in the Whiteman band other than the Rhythm Boys, though on occasion (as on “Changes”) the Rhythm Boys were part of the vocal group; S denotes a Bing Crosby solo. In those instances when no musical director was credited, the ensemble is identified by the name of the label, e.g., Brunswick (Brunswick Studio Orchestra).
All sessions before May 1931 were released under the names of various bandleaders or Paul Whiteman’s Rhythm Boys, except for a handful by Bing. Beginning with the May 4, 1931, session (“Were You Sincere?”), all recordings were released under Bing’s name.
1926
Oct. 18: I’ve Got the Girl! (Don Clark/Al Rinker)
Dec. 22: Wistful and Blue (Paul Whiteman/Al Rinker)
1927
Feb. 10: Shanghai Dream Man (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Feb. 25: That Saxophone Waltz (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Feb. 28: Pretty Lips (Paul Whiteman/Al Rinker)
Mar. 7: Muddy Water (Paul Whiteman)
Apr. 29: I’m Coming, Virginia (Paul Whiteman/S—Al Rinker)
Si
de by Side (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
May 9: I’m in Love Again (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
May 24: Magnolia (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
June 20: Mississippi Mud/I Left My Sugar Standing in the Rain (Rhythm Boys)
sweet Li’l/Ain’t She Sweet (Rhythm Boys)
July 6: My Blue Heaven (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Aug. 12: The Five Step (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
Aug. 19:The Calinda (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Aug. 20: It Won’t Be Long Now (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
Sept. 21: Missouri Waltz (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Nov. 11: That’s Grandma (Rhythm Boys)
Nov. 17: Miss Annabelle Lee (Rhythm Boys)
Nov. 23: Changes (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Nov. 25: Mary (Paul Whiteman)
1928
Jan. 11: Ol’ Man River (Paul Whiteman)
Jan. 12: From Monday On (Rhythm Boys)
Jan. 20: Mississippi Mud (Frank Trumbauer)
Jan. 27: Make Believe (Paul Whiteman)
Feb. 7: Poor Butterfly (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Feb. 8: There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the salt of My Tears (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Feb. 13: Sunshine (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
From Monday On (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Feb. 18: Mississippi Mud (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group,Irene Taylor)
Feb. 28: From Monday On (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
High Water (Paul Whiteman)
Mar. 1: What Price Lyrics? (Rhythm Boys)
Mar. 12: I’m Wingin’Home (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Mar. 14: Metropolis (Part 3)(Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Mar. 15: Lovable (Paul Whiteman)
Mar. 16: March of the Musketeers (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Apr. 21: I’m Afraid of You (Paul Whiteman)
pr. 22: My Pet (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
It Was the Dawn of Love (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Dancing Shadows (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Apr. 23: Louisiana (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Apr. 24: Grieving (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Do I Hear You Saying? (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
Apr. 25: You Took Advantage of Me (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
May 21: Evening Star (Paul Whiteman/vocal group)
May 22:Get out and Get Under the Moon (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
June 10:Taint So,Honey,Taint so (Paul Whiteman)
I’d Rather Cry Over You (Paul Whiteman/S-vocal group)
June 17: I’m on the Crest of a Wave (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
That’s My Weakness Now (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
June 18: Because My Baby Don’t Mean “Maybe” Now (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Out-o-Town Gal (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
June 19: Wa Da Da (Rhythm Boys)
That’s Grandma (Rhythm Boys)
Nov. 10: My Suppressed Desire (Rhythm Boys)
Rhythm King (Rhythm Boys)
Dec. 22: Makin’Whoopee (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Dec. 28: I’ll Get By (As Long as I Have You) (Ipana Troubadours)
Rose of Mandalay (Ipana Troubadours)
1929
Jan. 25: I’m Crazy Over You (Sam Lanin)
Susianna (Sam Lanin)
If I Had You (Sam Lanin)
Jan. 26: The Spell of the Blues (Dorsey Brothers)
Let’s Do It (Dorsey Brothers)
My Kinda Love (Dorsey Brothers)
Feb. 28: Coquette (Paul Whiteman)
Mar. 7: My Angeline (Paul Whiteman)
Mar. 14: My Kinda Love (Bing Crosby/Matty Malneck)
Till We Meet (Bing Crosby/Matty Malneck)
Mar. 15: Louise (Paul Whiteman)
Apr. 5: I’m in Seventh Heaven (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
Apr. 10: So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together (Rhythm Boys)
Louise (Rhythm Boys)
Apr. 25: Little Pal (Paul Whiteman)
May. 3: Reaching for Someone (Paul Whiteman)
May. 4: Oh, Miss Hannah (Paul Whiteman)
Orange Blossom Time (Paul Whiteman)
May 16: Your Mother and Mine (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
S’posin’ (Paul Whiteman)
May 24: I Kiss Your Hand, Madame (Bing Crosby/Matty Malneck)
Baby, Oh Where Can You Be? (Bing Crosby/Matty Malneck)
Sept. 6: At Twilight (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Sept. 13: Waiting at the End of the Road (Paul Whiteman)
When You’re Counting the Stars Alone (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Sept. 27: Can’t We Be Friends? (Bing Crosby/Matty Malneck)
Gay Love (Bing Crosby/Matty Malneck)
Oct. 9: Great Day (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Without a Song (Paul Whiteman)
Oct. 16: I’m a Dreamer, Aren’t We All (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
If I Had a Talking Picture of You (Paul Whiteman)
Oct. 18: Southern Medley (Paul Whiteman)
A Bundle of Old Love Letters (Paul Whiteman)
After You’ve Gone (Paul Whiteman)
1930
Feb. 10: Happy Feet (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
Mar. 21: Song of the Dawn (Paul Whiteman/S—vocal group)
Mar. 22: Livin’in the Sunlight, Lovin’in the Moonlight (Paul Whiteman)
Mar. 23: A Bench in the Park (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys Brox Sisters)
I Like to Do Things for You (Paul Whiteman/Rhythm Boys)
You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me (Paul Whiteman)
May 23: A Bench in the Park (Rhythm Boys)
Everything’s Agreed Upon (Rhythm Boys)
Aug. 26: Three Little Words (Duke Ellington/Rhythm Boys)
Oct. 29: Fool Me Some More (Gus Arnheim)
It Must Be True (Gus Arnheim)
Nov. 20: Them There Eyes (Gus Arnheim/Rhythm Boys)
Nov. 25: The Little Things in Life (Gus Arnheim)
1931
Jan. 19:1 Surrender, Dear (Gus Arnheim)
Mar. 2: Thanks to You (Gus Arnheim)
One More Time (Gus Arnheim)
Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (Gus Amheim)
Just a Gigolo (Gus Arnheim)
Mar. 30: Out of Nowhere (Bing Crosby/Brunswick)
If You Should Ever Need Me (Bing Crosby/Brunswick)
May 1: Ho Hum! (Gus Arnheim/Loyce Whiteman)
I’m Gonna Get You (Gus Arnheim)
May 4: Were You Sincere? (Brunswick)
Just One More Chance (Brunswick)
June 12: I’m Through with Love (Brunswick)
Many Happy Returns of the Day (Brunswick)
I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store) (Brunswick)
June 24: At Your Command (Harry Barris, piano)
Aug. 19: I Apologize (Victor Young)
Dancing in the Dark (Victor Young)
Star Dust (Victor Young)
Sept. 14: Sweet and Lovely (Victor Young)
Oct. 6: Now That You’re Gone (Victor Young)
A Faded Summer Love (Victor Young)
Oct. 8: Too Late (Victor Young)
Goodnight Sweetheart (Victor Young)
Oct. 25: Gems from George White’s Scandals, Part 1 (“The Thrill Is Gone”) ( — Victor Young)
Gems from George White’s Scandals, Part 2 (“Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries”) ( —Victor Young, Mills Brothers, Boswell Sisters)
Nov. 23: Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day) (Brunswick)
Dec. 3: I’m Sorry Dear (Brunswick)
Dec. 16: Dinah ( — Mills Brothers/Bennie Kreuger)
Dec. 21: Can’t We Talk it Over (Helen Crawford, organ)
I Found You (Helen Crawford, organ)
1932
Jan. 21: Snuggled on Your Shoulder (Bennie Kreuger)
Feb. 11: St. Louis Blues (take A) ( — Duke Ellington
)
St. Louis Blues (take B) ( — Duke Ellington)
Feb. 16: Starlight (Brunswick)
How Long Will It Last? (Brunswick)
Feb. 23: Love, You Funny Thing (Brunswick)
My Woman (Brunswick)
Feb. 29: Shine ( — Mills Brothers/Brunswick)
Mar. 8: Face the Music Medley, Part 1 (“Soft Lights and Sweet Music”) ( — Victor Young)
Shadows on the Window (Victor Young)
Mar. 15: Paradise (VictorYoung)
You’re Still in My Heart (Victor Young)
Apr. 13: Lawd, You Made the Night Too Long ( — Don Redman/Boswell Sisters)
Apr. 23: Sweet Georgia Brown (Isham Jones)
Waltzing in a Dream (Isham Jones)
Happy-Go-Lucky You (Isham Jones)
Apr. 24: Lazy Dream (Isham Jones)
Let’s Try Again (Isham Jones)
May 25: Cabin in the Cotton (Lennie Hayton)
With Summer Coming On (Lennie Hayton)
May 26: Love Me Tonight (Lennie Hayton)
Some of These Days (Lennie Hayton)
Sept. 16: Please (Anson Weeks)
Oct. 14: How Deep Is the Ocean? (Brunswick)
Here Lies Love (Brunswick)
I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You (Brunswick)
Oct. 25: Linger a Little Longer in the Twilight (Lennie Hayton)
We’re a Couple of Soldiers (Lennie Hayton)
We’re a Couple of Soldiers (fluff take)
(Lennie Hayton)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (Lennie Hayton)
Sweet Sue — Just You (Lennie Hayton, piano)
Oct. 28: Let’s Put Out the Lights and Go to Sleep (Brunswick)
I’ll Follow You (Brunswick)
Nov. 4: Just an Echo in the Valley (Brunswick)
Someday We’ll Meet Again (Brunswick)
Dec. 9: Street of Dreams (Brunswick)