0:00:14 > 0:00:18MUSIC: A Mellow Bit Of Rhythm by Andy Kirk
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Bing Crosby might just have been
0:00:21 > 0:00:24the entertainment world's greatest all-rounder.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Count box office ticket sales,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31and he's one of the five most successful actors ever.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34As for music, well, it's unlikely
0:00:34 > 0:00:37White Christmas will ever lose its spot
0:00:37 > 0:00:40as the best-selling single of all time.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43And he had a few other hits along the way.
0:00:43 > 0:00:49He won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1944 for Going My Way,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52saying, at the time, that America was the only country
0:00:52 > 0:00:56where an old broken-down crooner could win an Oscar for acting.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Audiences loved the casual manner and light touch
0:01:02 > 0:01:04he brought to the big screen,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08especially in the seven Road To movies he made with Bob Hope.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12The pair were one of Hollywood's great double acts
0:01:12 > 0:01:15and here they are, on the BBC,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19promoting their 1962 film The Road To Hong Kong.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Listen, tell me something.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23What's so special about YOUR performance, old boy,
0:01:23 > 0:01:24in The Road To Hong Kong?
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Well, I happen to be an actor and I can handle any role.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Mmm-hmm, I'm sure you can, as long as there's plenty of ham in it.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Hey, why don't you tell the folks here
0:01:34 > 0:01:36about some of the acting you do in the picture.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39I play the part of an unsuccessful variety comedian
0:01:39 > 0:01:41with a stupid cowardly disposition.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Mmm-hmm, now tell the folks about the acting you do in the picture.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47LAUGHTER
0:01:47 > 0:01:52Listen, you crumbling como, I'm a great actor! I'm a great actor!
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I could be another Marlon Brando if I had all my teeth removed.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59- He can mumble pretty good.- Anyhow, let's save this brawl for later.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01You're right. We're supposed to be telling everybody
0:02:01 > 0:02:04- what The Road To Hong Kong's all about.- That's easy enough.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06You see, this is the story.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10I'm an astronaut who makes a crash landing and then I lose my memory
0:02:10 > 0:02:12and then I meet this girl who's working as a spy
0:02:12 > 0:02:13for a secret power, you see?
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Mmm-hmm, and we're double-crossed by the leader of the Third Echelon.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Yeah, that's after we met the Grand Llama, of course,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23- but we manage to escape. Now... - Hold it, buster, hold it.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- Yeah, what's the matter?- Buster, you're giving away the whole story.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Who's going to buy tickets? Who's going to come and see the picture
0:02:29 > 0:02:30if they know what it's all about?
0:02:30 > 0:02:32- I've got a little loot in this thing too.- You have?
0:02:32 > 0:02:35- A little lolly? - Let's keep a modicum of secrecy.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38- A little lolly-pop. - I've got a great idea.- What's this?
0:02:38 > 0:02:41We'll just show you one itsy-bitsy scene from The Road To Hong Kong
0:02:41 > 0:02:45- and you can see who gives the best performance, right?- Right.- OK.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50- Come on, watch the threads there. - Please, I just had this pressed.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Hey, you guys like American pictures?
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Yeah, did you ever see any of the old Road pictures,
0:02:57 > 0:02:59like Singapore, Zanzibar and Morocco?
0:02:59 > 0:03:02- You haven't?- Well, watch this.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05- TOGETHER:- Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker's man
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Bake a cake as fast as you...
0:03:09 > 0:03:13- Hey, it still works!- I guess they haven't seen The Late Late Show.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16APPLAUSE
0:03:16 > 0:03:18- Bing, I'd like to admit something. - Yeah?
0:03:18 > 0:03:21It's eight years since the last time we were on the road together
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and I guess I have put on a few pounds here and there.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26- Yeah, a little bit. - Especially there.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29That's spoken like a true sportsman. You know, Bob, maybe I don't hit
0:03:29 > 0:03:32quite as many of the high notes as I used to.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34But the studio say this might be the best Road movie
0:03:34 > 0:03:37we ever made together. How do you account for that?
0:03:37 > 0:03:41- I think, probably, it's teamwork. - That's right, teamwork.- Teamwork.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43We do a routine at the beginning of the picture
0:03:43 > 0:03:46- that really proves our point. - Why don't we do it now?
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- In one take? - Let's have a bash at it.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Without the cars and everything? All right.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02# When two guys pull together, it's teamwork
0:04:03 > 0:04:07# In foul or sunny weather, it's teamwork
0:04:08 > 0:04:13# What does it take to make any business climb?
0:04:13 > 0:04:17- # You'll find it takes teamwork - Let me have it- Every time
0:04:17 > 0:04:23- # Incidentally, we'll have no talk of noses, it's- Teamwork
0:04:24 > 0:04:28- # That pot's no pot of roses, it's- Teamwork
0:04:29 > 0:04:33# Your teeth are still as bright as when they were bought
0:04:33 > 0:04:37- # Nice to have to have teamwork - Like I thought... #
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Bing Crosby's break into acting came with a 1930 film
0:04:42 > 0:04:44called the King Of Jazz,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48in which he was part of a trio called The Rhythm Boys.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52It was a financial flop but it got Crosby noticed
0:04:52 > 0:04:56and eventually led to him appearing in several short comedies,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58directed by Mack Sennett,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02the man known in Hollywood as the master of slapstick.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06You started work for Mack Sennett, didn't you?
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Shorts. Two-reelers, they called them.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10They ran about 20 minutes, I think.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14This involves you, a piano and a lion and it's coming up.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- Argh, argh. - LION ROARS
0:05:20 > 0:05:23- LION ROARS - Argh!
0:05:23 > 0:05:26- LAUGHTER - Argh!
0:05:27 > 0:05:30LION ROARS
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Argh! Help!
0:05:32 > 0:05:34LION ROARS
0:05:36 > 0:05:38- Argh! - LION ROARS
0:05:40 > 0:05:42- Argh! - LION ROARS
0:05:42 > 0:05:44LAUGHTER
0:05:44 > 0:05:46LION ROARS
0:05:46 > 0:05:49LAUGHTER
0:05:51 > 0:05:53LAUGHTER
0:05:53 > 0:05:56LAUGHTER
0:05:56 > 0:05:59RANDOM PIANO NOTES
0:05:59 > 0:06:02LAUGHTER
0:06:02 > 0:06:04LOUD CRASH
0:06:04 > 0:06:06APPLAUSE
0:06:09 > 0:06:11PARKINSON CLEARS THROAT
0:06:13 > 0:06:16- Sheer artistry, huh?- Absolutely! - LAUGHTER
0:06:16 > 0:06:20- In fact, that's unmistakably Sennett, isn't it?- You bet.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24- All those gags from the old silent movies.- Oh, yeah, they were great.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27A lot of great directors came out of the Sennett school,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31the two-reel comedies - McCarey, Frank Capra, to name a couple.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35What was Sennett like to work with? How DID he work, Bing?
0:06:35 > 0:06:36If you were going to do a picture,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39they'd generally get a song or two and use that for the title
0:06:39 > 0:06:42and then they'd have a story conference and a couple of writers,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45a stenographer and Sennett and myself would sit around a room.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48He chewed tobacco and he'd have a big spittoon there and he'd...
0:06:48 > 0:06:50- HE SPITS - ..bang into the spittoon
0:06:50 > 0:06:52and we'd talk over a story
0:06:52 > 0:06:55and the stenographer would jot down some notes, what we talked about.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58I didn't do much talking cos I was just a callow youth then,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01but the writers would - how they were going to start it
0:07:01 > 0:07:03and what was going to be said
0:07:03 > 0:07:05and then the next day, we'd start to shoot.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Never had a complete script or anything like that.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Sennett, he'd drop the handkerchief when the scene was over
0:07:11 > 0:07:15and make an exit, you know. He'd hit the spittoon - boing!
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- Scene's over, cut. - LAUGHTER
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Of course, at this time, at this point in your film career,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23the studios are sort of pushing you
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- as a great romantic idol, weren't they?- Oh, yeah.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Yeah, beating up an empty road, I'm afraid.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34What lengths did they go to to sort of change you physically?
0:07:34 > 0:07:38I remember, one time, they said my ears stuck out too far.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41I looked like a taxi with both doors open, you know.
0:07:41 > 0:07:42LAUGHTER
0:07:42 > 0:07:46So, they got the make-up man to study it and he glued them back.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49And then I looked like a whippet in full flight.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51LAUGHTER
0:07:51 > 0:07:54And the glue used to itch back there, you know.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57And in those days, they used a lot more light,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59when they were lighting a set, than they do now,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and it was very hot on the set and that would make the glue come loose
0:08:02 > 0:08:04and they'd pop out and then it would be cut
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and back to the make-up department, big glue job again.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11So one day they popped out and I said they're going to stay out.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13By that time, I'd made a few pictures
0:08:13 > 0:08:15that were moderately successful,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- so they let them go on that way. - Yeah.- Sticking out.- Yeah.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22I remember when I first tried to get in pictures in Hollywood -
0:08:22 > 0:08:24that's when I was in the Cocoanut Grove -
0:08:24 > 0:08:28an agent took me around to see the head of 20th Century Fox studio
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and I sang a song for him and read some lines for him.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35He said, "Very good." But he said, "The ears are wingy."
0:08:35 > 0:08:37I thought he said, "The years are winging."
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I said, "Oh, I'm not that old."
0:08:39 > 0:08:42He said, "No, I don't mean that. Your ears stick out.
0:08:42 > 0:08:43"There's no way we can photograph you
0:08:43 > 0:08:46"because the ears would be such a...
0:08:46 > 0:08:48"People would right away look at the ears
0:08:48 > 0:08:50"and the scene would go down the drain."
0:08:50 > 0:08:53So he says, "I'm afraid we can't use you."
0:08:53 > 0:08:56And later on, I got signed up by Paramount and was doing very well
0:08:56 > 0:08:59and we used to go to the same church, Catholic church,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01and on the way back from communion,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04I'd pass his seat and I'd give it this, you know.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06LAUGHTER
0:09:06 > 0:09:08LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:09:14 > 0:09:16What about when you made a film called The Bells Of St Mary's?
0:09:16 > 0:09:19- How was the voice then? - I don't know. I can't remember.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Well, let's have a reminder of it cos we've got a clip of that.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24We couldn't, of course, do the...
0:09:24 > 0:09:26You can't pick a sequence from that film
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- without doing the title song from it.- Oh, great.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30I didn't know, until I did this programme,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33it was written for an English review in 1917.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35SHE PLAYS THE PIANO INTRODUCTION
0:09:37 > 0:09:40# Ding, dong
0:09:40 > 0:09:43# Ding, dong
0:09:43 > 0:09:48# Ding, dong, ding
0:09:48 > 0:09:55- # Oh, bells of St Mary's - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:09:55 > 0:10:02- # We always will love you - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:10:02 > 0:10:08- # With your inspiration - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:10:08 > 0:10:15- # We never will fail - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:10:15 > 0:10:21- # Your chimes will forever - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:10:21 > 0:10:28- # Bring sweet memories of you - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:10:28 > 0:10:32- # So proudly ring out - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:10:32 > 0:10:35- # While we sing out - Ding, dong, ding, dong
0:10:35 > 0:10:41- # Hail, hail, hail - Ding, dong, ding. #
0:10:41 > 0:10:44APPLAUSE
0:10:44 > 0:10:48You know, Ingrid Bergman, a great lady and a great actress,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50she's a great practical joker.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53In that picture, we had a priest on the set all the time,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55as they always did, in any religious picture,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59to see that everything was according to the proper dogma and everything.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03This priest's name was Father Devlin and he was very severe.
0:11:03 > 0:11:04We couldn't do anything.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07It was a delicate relationship - a priest and a nun.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10On the last day of shooting, there was a very sad scene
0:11:10 > 0:11:14where she knows she's not going to live much longer
0:11:14 > 0:11:17and I come to say goodbye to her and it's quite a tearful scene.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Father Devlin was watching and everybody else.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I didn't know this had been cooked up between Ingrid and the director.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27I finally said goodbye and she took me in her arms
0:11:27 > 0:11:29and gave me a great big wet kiss, gave me a...
0:11:29 > 0:11:31LAUGHTER
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Father Devlin fainted almost.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36LAUGHTER
0:11:36 > 0:11:39And then we went back and did the scene right.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41- And- I- damn near fainted. I couldn't imagine.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44- I thought she'd lost her mind! - LAUGHTER
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Just bent me over and gave me one of those big soul jobs, you know.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52There was, in fact, in any case, some trouble about the suggestion,
0:11:52 > 0:11:57implicit in the look, in that scene, of a love relationship between...
0:11:57 > 0:12:00That's right. Father Devlin was watching it like a hawk.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02LAUGHTER
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Most people, I suppose, when they think of you,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07think automatically, as well, of Bob Hope.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10- That's to give him his polite name, isn't it?- Oh, yes, yes.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13- It's been a great relationship. - How did it start, that relationship?
0:12:13 > 0:12:16We were both in vaudeville and one of those times I told you about,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19he was on the bill once or twice with me.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22We were at the Capitol Theatre one time, in New York.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24He used to do an act with a young lady, a two-act.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Oh, he was a gay one then.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29He had the straw hat and the spats and the cane.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Have you ever seen him...? He always looks so, kind of, unflappable,
0:12:33 > 0:12:34in charge of a situation.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Have you ever seen him embarrassed, visibly embarrassed, Mr Hope?
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Er, not very often. Once, yes, once I did, yeah.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44We'd made a picture here, at the Shepperton Studios.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47We both liked to play golf,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49so we tried to find a house in the country
0:12:49 > 0:12:53and we found a house out near Windsor somewhere.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56And the golf course was right between Shepperton
0:12:56 > 0:13:01and the house, you know, about 15 minutes to the golf course
0:13:01 > 0:13:03and another 15 home, which was an ideal setup
0:13:03 > 0:13:07because it was summer and you had those long English twilights
0:13:07 > 0:13:09and we'd finish at 5.30 or 6 o'clock,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11and we'd just whip to the golf course,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13play till dark and then home to dinner.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15So, one day, we were doing a scene.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18It was supposed to be in a harem and the villains had captured us
0:13:18 > 0:13:21and they decided to give us a soiree, a big orgy,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24with dancing girls and wine and dancing
0:13:24 > 0:13:26and everything going on, and merriment,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29because they thought they were sending us to our death
0:13:29 > 0:13:31in a moon capsule to never return.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33And Hope was stretched out on a chaise longue
0:13:33 > 0:13:35and girls were curling his hair
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and another girl was painting his toenails red
0:13:39 > 0:13:42and they were doing his nails and carrying on like that,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44and I was laying on another chaise longue
0:13:44 > 0:13:46and they were squirting the wine into me
0:13:46 > 0:13:49and they were covering us with unguents and oil
0:13:49 > 0:13:52and frankincense and myrrh, all those things.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55And we finally finished the scene.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58The director says, "Cut," and we whipped over to the golf course,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02played 13 holes, came back in the locker room at Wentworth.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07The locker rooms at British golf courses are very austere.
0:14:07 > 0:14:08They just have a bench,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12a nail to hang your sweater on or your coat on
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and a cold basin over in the corner.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18And we're sitting down and he took off his golf shoes and his socks
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and I noticed there's two British gentlemen
0:14:20 > 0:14:22sitting on the bench across from us -
0:14:22 > 0:14:25typical British country types, you know,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28with the 'stache and the tweed coats.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32I saw one of them, his eyes went to Hope's feet, you know,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34and then he turned to his companion and nudged him
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and his companion looked down and they looked at me and I...
0:14:38 > 0:14:41LAUGHTER
0:14:41 > 0:14:44And they looked down again at these red toenails
0:14:44 > 0:14:46and finally one of them said to me,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49"Mr Crosby, sir, is your friend with the ballet?"
0:14:49 > 0:14:53LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:15:00 > 0:15:02He put on his shoes and socks and he went out
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and didn't say not a word, not a word.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06I don't blame him. Follow that.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08We talked about professional friendship there.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12What about the professional rivalry that was drummed up
0:15:12 > 0:15:16about you and Sinatra when Sinatra first arrived on the scene?
0:15:16 > 0:15:18- Was that rivalry real?- Oh, no, no.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21We were very good friends and, as you say, it was drummed up,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24just to get something in the newspapers.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27I'm sure neither one of us took it as a serious rivalry.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31I admired his work and I hope to believe that he admired mine.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33We saw a lot of one another.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34He was on my radio show several times
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and I went on a couple of shows he had.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Can I just give you a quote that he said about you once,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41he's alleged to have said about you? It's a famous one.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It says that Sinatra said about you,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46"Crosby happens once in a lifetime. Why does it have to be MY lifetime?"
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Yeah, I've heard that. Yeah.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I didn't influence Frankie in any way
0:15:58 > 0:16:00and I certainly didn't halt his progress in any way
0:16:00 > 0:16:02cos he's a brilliant performer and he proved it.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05I was going to ask you what your assessment was
0:16:05 > 0:16:07- of Sinatra as a singer. - He's a great singer.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10He creates a mood, which very few people are able to do.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14I don't think I create a mood when I sing. Nat Cole could do that.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18- Sinatra does it in a memorable way. - Mmm.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22When he walks on, with the topcoat over his shoulders and the hat,
0:16:22 > 0:16:27and he goes into Black Magic or one of those kind of things,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31- he's created a mood right away and the audience is with him.- Mmm.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36- Very few people can do that, that I know of.- Mmm.- Lena Horne can do it.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Yes. There's a marvellous moment - well, a marvellous film,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43- High Society, you made together. - Mmm-hmm.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46We've got, I think, the best sequence from that,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48the moment when you collided in song
0:16:48 > 0:16:51and that lovely song Well, Did You Evah.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- Oh, yeah.- Let's have a look at that. One of my favourites.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06# I drink to your health
0:17:06 > 0:17:09# Nah, let's drink to your wealth
0:17:09 > 0:17:13- # You're my bon ami - Hey, that's French!
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- # Liberty- Fraternity
0:17:20 > 0:17:23# Have you heard? It's in the stars
0:17:23 > 0:17:26# Next July, we collide with Mars
0:17:26 > 0:17:29# Well, did you evah
0:17:29 > 0:17:31# What a swell party
0:17:32 > 0:17:34# Swell party
0:17:35 > 0:17:42# Swellegant, elegant party this is. #
0:17:45 > 0:17:48APPLAUSE
0:17:58 > 0:18:01I can't think of any number that illustrates the old axiom
0:18:01 > 0:18:04that when you have somebody writing something good for you,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07a piece of material like that, it's got to be pretty good,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09if you just sing what he's written. And that was Cole Porter.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12And with a piece of material like that,
0:18:12 > 0:18:13it had to be fairly entertaining.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17It's a beautiful song but magnificently executed.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18It's absolutely perfect,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20one of my all-time favourite clips from a movie.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Well, the material was there, Michael, you know.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24When you get something like that,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- you really feel like rolling, you know.- Yeah, that was great.
0:18:27 > 0:18:33As someone who had experienced huge success in both film and music,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37Bing Crosby wasn't precious about how he reached audiences.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41For years, he had radio shows and appeared in television specials
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and the mid-'60s even saw him in his own sitcom,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48called, simply, The Bing Crosby Show.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50And here he is, talking with Joan Bakewell,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54and comparing working in TV to working in film.
0:18:57 > 0:18:58Mr Crosby, this is the first time
0:18:58 > 0:19:01you've done situation comedy on television, isn't it?
0:19:01 > 0:19:03- It's true, Joan, yes. - How do you feel about it?
0:19:03 > 0:19:08Well, it was a very enriching experience because it gave me
0:19:08 > 0:19:10an opportunity to do something different every week
0:19:10 > 0:19:12and to work with some new people.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15I won't say it was easy because the hours were long.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19You haven't got much time to waste standing around.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22We shot a film in three days.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26- We tried to average that, and we came very close to doing it.- Yeah.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30And we started working in August and didn't get through till February.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33You did say, once, that no entertainer
0:19:33 > 0:19:36who's in everyone's home once a week, can survive for long.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39- Have you revised that opinion? - I guess I'll have to.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41But this is just going to be for one year,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43but I think I could enlarge on that
0:19:43 > 0:19:47and say if he was in one's home once a week for SEVERAL years.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Let's put it that way.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Now, coming from films into television work,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55does this mean you're not going to do any more films?
0:19:55 > 0:19:59No, I'm on my way to do one now - Stagecoach, at 20th Century Fox,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03a remake of the old classic that John Ford directed.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07I think it was the picture that launched John Wayne into stardom,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10and I'm playing the bibulous doctor.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14Which do you prefer working in - the hectic television studios
0:20:14 > 0:20:16or more relaxed atmosphere of film?
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Well, I would never want to do a series again,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22although we did have a good crew and we had a lot of fun.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25It's just too confining. You just can't think of doing anything else.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28When you're through at 7.30, 8 o'clock,
0:20:28 > 0:20:29by the time you've had dinner,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32it's bedtime because you have to get up again at 6,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and five days a week for six months, that is a little confining.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39I think a spectacular on television -
0:20:39 > 0:20:42a big musical show, with singing and dancing stars -
0:20:42 > 0:20:45that's all right, three or four of those a year.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48And I plan to do nine Hollywood Palace shows.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Has that come over here, the Hollywood Palace?
0:20:50 > 0:20:53It's a variety show, like Ed Sullivan. And I'll MC it.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57- That's easy. That's two or three days' work for each show.- Mmm.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00But in a situation comedy, which is sort of acting television,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04do you find television is a different skill than films?
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Well, they settle for much less in the way of quality
0:21:07 > 0:21:09in the situation comedy on television,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12cos they don't have the time or the budget.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Film, they take more time because they want to get the quality.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20But prices of production costs being what they are in television,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23they just can't waste time fooling around. They have to go.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Of course, we've been seeing you - I don't know whether you know this -
0:21:26 > 0:21:29in the Road films, which are going out on BBC television at the moment.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33- Oh. - And this was the start, wasn't it,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37- of your famous partnership with Bob Hope?- Well, I knew him before.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40We played theatres together in the early '30s.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44He was a stand-up monologist and I was a singer,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46- so we knew one another before that. - Yeah.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48But that was the first time we worked together,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50was in The Road To Singapore.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53And this is where you hit on this tremendous partnership gimmick,
0:21:53 > 0:21:58- if you like to call it, of mutual insults.- Uh-huh.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Has it ever got out of hand?
0:22:00 > 0:22:03No, no, it's just a rib, a gentle sort of a rib.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07We're very good friends and I have a lot of admiration for him.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09He's done tremendous things for people
0:22:09 > 0:22:11and for humanity all over the world,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14let alone the entertainment that he's provided.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17He's done so many great things in the humanitarian way,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20that I think he's an outstanding person.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24It's a pretty close-fought battle of wits in these Road films.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25Does he always come out on top?
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Oh, he's a little funnier, quite a bit funnier than I am -
0:22:28 > 0:22:32a little more adroit, shall we say, at the bons mots.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36- Now, your name isn't really Bing, is it?- Harry.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38How did the Bing come about?
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Oh, way, way back, I guess, when I was a child, there was a comic strip
0:22:42 > 0:22:45called The Bingville Bugle in our newspapers
0:22:45 > 0:22:47and there was a character named Bingo in there.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50And, somehow or other, they called me Bingo,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53and then they knocked off the "O", and now I'm Bing.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55So, it's been Bing since you were very small.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57A baby, yeah, since I was a child.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Now, the other tab is, of course, the classic "Old Groaner" one.
0:23:01 > 0:23:02Where did that come from?
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Tommy Dorsey hung that on me, I think, the band leader.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09- Oh, yes, that arose out of a... - We used to work together a lot.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11He was with Whiteman when I was with Whiteman.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16And then, later, he had his own band and I did some shows with him
0:23:16 > 0:23:18and we were very old friends
0:23:18 > 0:23:21and he hung that cognomen on me - The Old Groaner.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23You're the sort of classic crooner,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26but where does the phrase "crooner" come from?
0:23:26 > 0:23:27You've made that your own.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29I think it started with Vallee, Rudy Vallee.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33He was the first one I can remember that was called a crooner.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36He sang with a megaphone, at first, in front of his band,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40and then later, with radio, with a microphone and a PA system.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43I think he was the first crooner.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48Since you began recording, styles of singing have changed very much.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52What do you think of the modern pop idiom of singing nowadays?
0:23:52 > 0:23:56- What do you think of the Beatles? - I think they're very good.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59They might change their...pace a little,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02singing different types of songs, once in a while.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05I know sometimes, programmes, they do everything just the same.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Somebody in there's a very talented writer,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10because they took a couple of their songs,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15and made records of them without lyrics
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and they were very successful and they sounded very good,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20so there's a good constructionist in the group.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22I don't know which one it is.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Er... I think they're very entertaining.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30The picture they made was a big success. I don't like their hairdo!
0:24:30 > 0:24:34- You don't?- The barbers' union must be really disgruntled about that.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39- Mr Crosby, will there ever be a time when you retire?- Not completely.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41I thought of it every once in a while,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45but I go fishing for a month or go hunting for a month,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48go travelling for a month, and it begins to get dull.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51And I wonder what's going on
0:24:51 > 0:24:53and I get the itch to get my hand back in again.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56I don't think I could ever completely retire.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59There'd always be something to do, I'm sure.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03- I can play crotchety old curmudgeons or something...- Yeah, for sure.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- ..as I get older.- Well, we hope you never do retire.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08- Thank you very much indeed. - Thank you, Joan.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10It's been very nice to have this chat
0:25:10 > 0:25:12and have an opportunity, through you,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15to say hello to the viewers of the BBC too.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21The Bing Crosby Show was a modest success and lasted 28 episodes.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25But audiences really wanted a big-screen Bing -
0:25:25 > 0:25:28or at least wanted to hear him talk about the good old days,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30which is what he did,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34when he returned for another chat with Michael Parkinson, in 1975.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Can I talk to you now a bit about another aspect of your career,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41which you touched on earlier, which was Hollywood?
0:25:41 > 0:25:43In those great days of Hollywood, in the '30s,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45what kind of place was it to be?
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Well, working in pictures then was tremendous fun,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51because everybody was friendly. For instance, Paramount studio,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55they had a long line of dressing rooms, and just to name a few,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59there'd be Freddie March, Jack Oakie, Maurice Chevalier, Bob Hope,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03Bill Holden, Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert...
0:26:03 > 0:26:06I don't know. And James Stewart. Go on and on.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09And every evening, after you finished work at 5 o'clock,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13they had a big mall on the lawn and we'd sit out there and have a drink
0:26:13 > 0:26:15and talk and discuss and go home leisurely
0:26:15 > 0:26:17and come back the next day and have a nice day.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20There was no drive to do it under a certain amount of days,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24a certain amount of money. It was just fun and the directors were fun.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28They had a lot of gags going on, local jokes and private jokes,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30ribbing people and needling people.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34In that field of having fun while you were working,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36who was the actor or actress or director
0:26:36 > 0:26:38who was most fun to work with, that you found?
0:26:38 > 0:26:41- Billy Wilder was really great fun to work with.- Mmm.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45I did a picture with him with Joan Fontaine called The Emperor Waltz,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and he was a prankster. Blake Edwards is another.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51- He's notorious.- Great prankster. He does pictures with Peter Sellers,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53and I think either one of them would work for nothing,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55they have so much fun.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58What about somebody that I know that you knew and liked,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01although I never actually met, but I've seen a couple of her films
0:27:01 > 0:27:03and she was a staggeringly beautiful woman,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07- and that was Carole Lombard? - Oh, priceless! A wonderful woman!
0:27:07 > 0:27:11She was so beautiful and she could say the most outrageous thing
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and get away with it because of her pretty face
0:27:14 > 0:27:16- and she had a delivery that you didn't mind.- Mmm.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20I did a picture with her once and, in the picture,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24the writer says they'd written a big routine with a trained bear.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26In fact, I had to sing to the bear.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28LAUGHTER
0:27:28 > 0:27:31We had a director named Norman Taurog and he was a little feisty,
0:27:31 > 0:27:33a nervous sort of director,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and he just hated delays and he wanted to get everything right.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39So, they auditioned a lot of bears and...
0:27:39 > 0:27:41- LAUGHTER - Yeah!
0:27:41 > 0:27:43They had trainers come by and showed them the script,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45what the bear was supposed to do.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48He was supposed to roller-skate and do all kinds of things.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50And they finally selected a bear.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53He gave the guy, like, 300 a week or something.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56And we started working with the bear and he wouldn't do a darned thing.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59He wouldn't do anything. He bit the trainer,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- he bit the assistant director and... - LAUGHTER
0:28:02 > 0:28:04..Taurog, the director, was going out of his mind.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06He was going bonkers, trying to...
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Cos we had to get these scenes, it can't drag on forever.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11He finally sent the bear over with the assistant director.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13"You spend a week with him on the stage."
0:28:13 > 0:28:16And the assistant director took a club over
0:28:16 > 0:28:20and he beat this bear on the head until he whimpered a little
0:28:20 > 0:28:22and he'd finally do what he was supposed to do.
0:28:22 > 0:28:23He was just a difficult bear.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Then they came back, they brought him back to the scene,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and he did...right into the same kind of conduct.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31And, again, Taurog was out of his mind.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35He finally scraps some scenes and scrubs some others and we got by.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38The picture's finished and we had a big cast party, as they always do
0:28:38 > 0:28:42after the picture finishes, on the set, and then everybody went home.
0:28:42 > 0:28:43And Taurog arrived home.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Carole Lombard had bought the bear and it was tied to his front porch.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50LAUGHTER
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Now, you think that didn't kill him? Cos her about 500 for the day.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Who was, then,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59of all this extraordinary assembly of people that you've met
0:28:59 > 0:29:02throughout your career, who was the most talented, do you think?
0:29:02 > 0:29:06- Judy Garland, I think.- Really? - In the women, surely Judy Garland.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08- Yeah.- For many reasons, Mike.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11We all know she's a great singer and a wonderful dancer.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13She can do any kind of a dance.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15We know she's a great dramatic actress.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18But she is the best, or was the best low comedy comedienne
0:29:18 > 0:29:20I've ever seen.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22I mean, baggy pants, red nose, Dutch-accent comedy.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24She was sensational.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Could do Italian, anything. She got very little chance to do it.
0:29:27 > 0:29:28We did it on radio shows.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30I had her for 12 weeks on a radio show I had
0:29:30 > 0:29:32and she did a lot of it then.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35But that's a broad spectrum,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38to be able to do all those things and look lovely,
0:29:38 > 0:29:42sing like a bird, and get sympathy, be dramatic
0:29:42 > 0:29:45and still be a hokey comedian, which she was.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48But, ultimately, tragic. Couldn't pick the right fellow, could she?
0:29:48 > 0:29:51Married all kinds of fellows. I don't know who they all were
0:29:51 > 0:29:53but none of them pleased her or made her happy.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57And she deserved happiness cos I had great times with her,
0:29:57 > 0:29:59never had a moment when there was any concern.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02She was laughing and kidding and having fun
0:30:02 > 0:30:04- all the time I ever worked with her. - Mmm.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06Two years after that interview,
0:30:06 > 0:30:11Crosby was back on these shores, still touring at the age of 73.
0:30:11 > 0:30:17He was, famously by then, one of the wealthiest stars on the planet,
0:30:17 > 0:30:23with a fortune estimated at over 500 million.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25So this conversation with Vincent Hanna
0:30:25 > 0:30:30starts with what is, perhaps, the most obvious question.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33The thing that strikes one is why bother at all?
0:30:33 > 0:30:37- Why do you need to do shows any more?- Well, there's no real need.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40I've always been an actor for over 50 years
0:30:40 > 0:30:44and it's very hard to get out of something like that.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46You might say I'm almost in a rut.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48But there's a desire on the part of every actor
0:30:48 > 0:30:52to continue to appear, to see if there's an audience for him.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55If he's accepted, it makes you feel good.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58I don't do enough of it to become tired or anything.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02It's just three hours at night, and not every night.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05That's the chief reason, I guess, just to be in action,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08to know that there is an audience for you that'll accept you.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10You've chosen a pretty tough way to do it.
0:31:10 > 0:31:11You're touring around Britain,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14you're on the stage for a long period every night.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16There are periods when the other people are on,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19I go and get my feet up and take a breather.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22You've no need for money to do this, obviously.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26No, I need a certain income. I have all kinds of obligations.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29You're always behind with your taxes, with the government.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32You're always a couple of years behind.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36I've got to have an income to keep things on the status quo.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39- How rich are you, can I ask? - I can't say. I really wouldn't know.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41So much is real estate.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44We don't know whether it's worth anything, how much it IS worth.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48These things could be valued at practically any price,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51- you don't know.- Are you, in fact, richer than Bob Hope?
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Oh, no, I don't think so. He has got...
0:31:54 > 0:32:00He started buying real estate around Hollywood in 1937, '38,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02and at that time...
0:32:02 > 0:32:05You know what's happened to that part of California?
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Values have gone up tremendously.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Of course, he says he pays a lot of taxes,
0:32:09 > 0:32:11and I suppose he does on all that property.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14Who's the richest of you all, do you think, in Hollywood,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16- of this generation? - It's hard to say.
0:32:16 > 0:32:17Fred MacMurray is very well-to-do.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21He's been very canny in his investments and has had good advice.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25Fred Astaire must be in good shape. We're all...
0:32:25 > 0:32:28I have nothing to complain about and I'm sure Hope doesn't either,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30but when you say, "How much are you worth?",
0:32:30 > 0:32:32for an actor, that's hard to say
0:32:32 > 0:32:34because he's got so many things outstanding,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37obligations that he has to meet.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39The thing to do is try and arrange your estate
0:32:39 > 0:32:41so that you leave something for your children.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44The other thing is, how do you actually last the pace?
0:32:44 > 0:32:49I see recent reports of Elvis Presley dying of old age at 42.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51That's a tragic, tremendous shame.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54He got overweight, I guess, and worked very, very hard.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57I've never read the final story of what was the matter with him.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Some said heart attack, a stroke, or something.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03They said he had the insides, the arteries,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06of a very old man when he died, and I wondered what your secret is.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08You seem to be as young and as fresh...
0:33:08 > 0:33:11Well, my mother and father achieved...
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Well, my mother was 93 and my father was in his late 80s,
0:33:15 > 0:33:16so maybe it's a family trait.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20Maybe it's because I do get a normal amount of rest.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24If I'm not at a dinner party or some kind of a function,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28I'm in bed at 10.15, maybe for days on end,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31and I always get up at 7, no matter what time I go to bed.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34And lately, if time allows, I take a little nap, get my feet up.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37If it's only for 30 minutes, just lie down on your back,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40with your feet a little higher than your head
0:33:40 > 0:33:42and it revives you a little bit.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44I don't do it every day cos I don't have...
0:33:44 > 0:33:47I'm playing golf, or something, and just skip it.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49I understand you're planning to make one more Road picture
0:33:49 > 0:33:52- with Bob Hope. - There's talk about it.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55We have a treatment, you know - a treatment, like a synopsis -
0:33:55 > 0:33:57but it hasn't been fleshed out with enough scenes
0:33:57 > 0:33:59to tell whether we want to do it.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01What the thing needs is a lot of lunacy,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04like Monty Python and Marty Feldman
0:34:04 > 0:34:07and Mel Brooks and those guys have been using so successfully.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10- Do you watch Monty Python, things like that?- Oh, sure, I see them all.
0:34:10 > 0:34:16I like these sketches that Hill does. What's his name? Benny Hill?
0:34:16 > 0:34:18And Dave Allen.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Those wild sketches - it needs a lot of that kind of stuff,
0:34:21 > 0:34:22and they're trying to fix it up.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25You seem to be very happy in London and in Britain.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27It's my favourite city of all the world.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29I've been all over and this is my favourite city, London,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33and England has everything I like - the horse racing on turf,
0:34:33 > 0:34:37with lots of long-distance racing, the golf, the shooting, the people.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39There's such civility in England.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42You don't find it in any other country in the world.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46It has an atmosphere. The cabbies are funny, everybody's funny.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49I know you people are going through a trying time, a difficult time...
0:34:49 > 0:34:50But you came over to cheer us up.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52But when I come here, I'm cheered up.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55I get a kick out of the English people. The chief...
0:34:55 > 0:34:57If I were to describe England,
0:34:57 > 0:35:02I'd say it's an atmosphere of civility that no other nation has.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Three weeks after that encounter,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07the British producer Lew Grade announced
0:35:07 > 0:35:12that Crosby and Bob Hope would be reunited for one more Road To film.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17This one was going to be called Road To The Fountain Of Youth.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23The day after Grade's news, whilst on a golf course in Spain,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Bing Crosby died from a sudden heart attack.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33His last words? "That was a great game of golf, fellas."
0:35:33 > 0:35:38He'll be forever remembered as one of Hollywood's biggest stars -
0:35:38 > 0:35:40the singer who conquered cinema,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43with a voice that Louis Armstrong once said sounded
0:35:43 > 0:35:46like gold being poured out of a cup.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51We'll end now with a clip that doesn't just showcase that voice,
0:35:51 > 0:35:56but also the humour and charm that made fans love Bing Crosby
0:35:56 > 0:36:00and, in this case, made a certain chat show host
0:36:00 > 0:36:03feel rather special too.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06APPLAUSE
0:36:14 > 0:36:17# Hello, Parky
0:36:17 > 0:36:20# Oh, hello, Parky
0:36:20 > 0:36:25# It's so nice to see you back on your show again
0:36:26 > 0:36:30# Now don't you say a single word, Parky
0:36:30 > 0:36:34# Because it's absurd, Parky
0:36:34 > 0:36:37# To keep yakking when we've got this backing
0:36:37 > 0:36:41# With this fine bunch of young men
0:36:41 > 0:36:45# In London town, there's nowhere
0:36:45 > 0:36:48# I can ever go where
0:36:48 > 0:36:53# I'm as welcome as I am when I'm with you
0:36:53 > 0:36:59# So, don't you get bored, Parky
0:36:59 > 0:37:03# Listen to the folks applaud, Parky
0:37:03 > 0:37:07# You'll get your chance to talk when we're all through
0:37:10 > 0:37:11# Mr Parkinson
0:37:13 > 0:37:16# Cock your ear and hark it, son
0:37:16 > 0:37:22# The folks are glad to see you back again. #
0:37:23 > 0:37:26- There you are! - APPLAUSE