Mr. Music

If you love Bing Crosby, add Mr. Music to your must-see list. In this comedy, he plays a songwriter who prefers to spend his time on the golf course instead of by the piano. His producer and faithful friend, Charles Coburn, makes an arrangement with uptight secretary, Nancy Olson, in order to force Bing back to work. He hires Nancy as Bing's personal jailer, and gives her Bing's fifteen thousand dollar salary and permission to do anything necessary to keep him working.

In Sunset Boulevard, I thought Nancy Olson was plain and slightly irritating, but in this movie, it totally works. She's supposed to be plain and irritating! Bing is charming and a bit of a scoundrel, but it's clear he means well, and Charles Coburn as funny and flustered as he needs to be. Bing is particularly adorable in this movie, since he gets to make fun of himself. And, in pursuit of Nancy, he even does pull-ups to compete with her athletic suitor, Robert Stack!