Universal borrowed Bing Crosby from his home studio (Paramount) for this unprepossessing, but good-natured comedy-with-music, a working-class screwball farce. Bing’s a Singing Telegram messenger who loses his job and gains a year-old tyke when the kid’s mom leaves town to track down her wastrel hubby. Along with Joan Blondell, Bing’s ever-patient fiancé, and his under-employed roommate (Mischa Auer, fun company even without a speck of decent material), they try to keep things on the QT. After all, that kid’s valuable property with a rich bossy grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith) and a nosy radio gossip (Jerome Cowan) hot on his trail; he's a diapered missing heir! Miraculously, considering the cutesy set-up, the film keeps the comic misunderstandings to a minimum, quickly explaining each new complication and moving on to the next, nobody has to act dumb just to keep the plot on track. No doubt, this is possible because a third of the running time is taken up by music spots for Der Bingle. Alas, the songs are no more than pleasant. But in its modest way, this is an exemplary programmer; put over with a snappy pace by David Butler who’d make three more pics with Bing, including THE ROAD TO MOROCCO/’42 back @ Paramount.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The next time you read one of those sexually revisionist bios note the sleeping arrangement for Bing & Mischa in their little apartment. Yep, people of the same sex used to share a bed. No fuss, no sweat, no turning! And saved a bit of cash. Here, the joke isn’t sharing the bed with another guy, but with a little kid. That’s too much!
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