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I have always enjoyed this movie and the songs from it! I always thought of Ray Walston as Uncle Martin, but after viewing this movie many years ago, I have seen him in a new light. Singing and dancing is not one of Robert Wagner's strong points but in this movie he's not bad to look at. It's a shame that the sound track to this movie and others are not available in CD format.

I'm sure that during his career in his later years Bing Crosby was offered the chance to repeat playing Father O'Malley as an older priest and at one point that would have been a natural fit for him. Unfortunately after this film, Bing was done with the clergy.

He tries his best with Father Conroy and his best moments are musical ones especially with Debbie Reynolds, but the story is not convincing. Try as I might, I just can't believe that Robert Wagner turns from opportunistic heel to good guy just to win Debbie Reynolds.

In fact the main problem with the movie is Robert Wagner. A good actor he just doesn't have any talent musically. His big number in the movie was You Can't Love Them All was recorded by Dean Martin and had a modest success. Now if Dino had played his part, he might have overcome the script.

Bing's best number is The Secret of Christmas. In addition to recording it for the cast album of this film, six years later he recorded it for Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in a joint Christmas album with Old Blue Eyes and Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians. That is the superior version to the one he did in Say One For Me.

I am not a Crosby fan by any means but as usual, Debbie Reynolds brights up this film. Fun debut for Stella Stevens as a wisecracking chorus girl.

When I first saw "Say One For Me" years ago, I was a big Bing Crosby fan even though I had grown up in the Elvis era. I liked Bing's crooning style of singing because it was easier for me to imitate than Frankie Avalon or some teenage girl's heartthrob. I particularly liked the Secret of Christmas song with the line "The little things you do on Christmas Day will not bring back the friend you turned away." That line has meant more to me now in my senior years than it did then. I also liked the title song and even though it has been years since I heard it, I can still sing it acapella like old Bing. The other reason I got a kick out of seeing the movie again was that it featured an actress friend of mine, Nina Shipman, whose grandmother was an early pioneer in independent movie-making and her father wrote the famous Republic serials of the Thirties and Forties. Although she played a tough chorus line gal, she had a cute figure and great legs. Unfortunately, this was the only film to fully show off her figure.

At the time this film was made, there was actually a Catholic parish in the New York theater district (maybe there still is). Since films rarely depict the religious life of theater people, this was a potentially interesting background for a musical comedy-drama. Unfortunately it goes off in many wrong directions. Even Bing Crosby, in his third screen outing as a priest, seems to have lost a lot of his charm and humor. This cleric is much sterner and more sanctimonious than Father O'Malley.

Frank Tashlin directed some good comedies that took irreverent pokes at various 1950's institutions, but I don't think he was the type for the kind of sincere, schmaltzy Christmas fare this movie was apparently supposed to be.

There are some nice moments, some good tunes and performances. If you can lower your expectations, it's not altogether bad entertainment, but it's a shame it wasn't better, given the interesting premise.

The cast that tries to breathe life into the hackneyed show is a pretty good one, with Debbie Reynolds coming off best. Robert Wagner isn't altogether believable as a song and dance man. He's actually surprisingly good in the song numbers. It's just that he's playing someone who should be terrific. (I think the part was intended for Frank Sinatra, early on.) He handles the heel-like tendencies of the role pretty well.

The movie is watchable, relatively entertaining, professionally produced...not a total bomb. The songs are good. So you could do worse.