Top O’ the Morning

Originally published on social media on March 17th, 2022

Well, top o’ the morning to you and Happy St. Patrick’s Day ! Last night, my family and I discovered a pot of gold in the form of this Bing Crosby movie!

I keep up with Turner Classic Movies often and have explored many films of this era and more, and so I almost find it odd that I hadn’t heard about this until now. Also, my family and I have have explored a lot of “St.Patrick’s movies” and Irish films and stories since the pandemic began two years ago! I thought we had explored them all and I am so grateful I was wrong! There is something so refreshing about watching a Bing Crosby film, maybe this film was the blessing I didn’t realize I needed.

Here is why I love the film:
- Bing Crosby (say no more)
- The soundtrack is full of Irish folk songs sung by the man who sings Irish music best (Bing)
- The story is full of clever and humorous moments.
- It’s a comedic mystery
- Barry Fitzgerald is my favorite crabby Irish actor and does great in this film. He’s also just a great actor in general and an Irish legend himself. Did I mention he’s an academy award winner?
- Most important of all (besides Bing) is how it teaches viewers about Irish culture of that day in a non offensive way. There are references to traditional music, the Blarney Stone, Irish small town gossip, Irish dancing, and silly meaningless superstitions.

This is a fun film to watch! Unfortunately, it is not available to stream or own. Good news is, I was able to watch it on YouTube for free! All you have to do is look it up (or message me for the link).

There were some moments of frustration where you wondered what was going to happen, as well as moments where hearing the same superstition got old, but otherwise this is a delightful film.