The Secret Strategy Behind High Society (1956) | Gary Giddins Film Intro

Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra shared the screen for the first time in High Society (1956), but only after a brilliant scheme was employed to get commitments from the two titans. Renowned jazz expert and Crosby biographer Gary Giddins reveals behind-the-scenes scoops of this legendary pairing, including how Crosby handled Sinatra’s early misbehavior, backed by three sources and quoting an eyewitness to their historic exchange. TIME STAMPS 0:00 Film Society of Screwball Comedy Logo 0:38 Renowned jazz critic, film historian, and Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong biographer posits that “High Society” (1956) is one of the great Hollywood musicals 0:49 Gary Giddins provides the background on High Society’s progenitor play “The Philadelphia Story” 1:01 Katharine Hepburn’s involvement as actor and stakeholder in “The Philadelphia Story” 1:16 BEHIND THE SCENES SCOOP: Gary Giddins explains that film producer Sol Siegel wanted to make “High Society” as a vehicle to bring Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra together, and the clever scheme he used to get commitments from Crosby and Sinatra 2:48 Once filming commenced, Frank Sinatra started to misbehave, arriving late and not knowing his lines 3:48 The film’s stars met and realized something had to be done, and only Bing Crosby had the status to talk to Frank Sinatra about his misbehavior. 4:02 Gary Giddins recounts confirming that Crosby did meet with Sinatra about his misbehavior from two sources, Saul Chaplin (music supervisor), and John Patrick (screenwriter) 4:11 BEHIND THE SCENES SCOOP: Gary Giddins lucked out by finding the assistant publicist Quentin Quelle, then 21-years old, who actually heard the Crosby-Sinatra conversation. Gary Giddins quotes from his interview with Quentin Quelle about what Crosby said to Sinatra 5:34 Frank Sinatra is third-billed in “High Society”. That would never happen again 5:47 Crosby and Sinatra received equal pay, $200,000 each for starring in “High Society” 6:13 As Bing Crosby begins "Little One" his low and high notes demonstrate his continued singing virtuosity 6:27 And Frank Sinatra was at the peak of his vocal powers in 1956, the year he recorded his "Songs for Swingin' Lovers" album 6:43 Legendary music composer Cole Porter wrote the songs for “High Society” 7:06 The real-life Newport Jazz Festival, the film’s background event, was revolutionary for rich, white, “gated” Newport, RI 7:44 Leonard Bernstein had brought jazz music to a broad audience with his "What is Jazz" television special 8:00 Gary Giddins recounts some pioneers of jazz music, and Bing Crosby’s first film work with Louis Armstrong in "Pennies from Heaven" (1936), in which Crosby insisted Armstrong get top-billing in a white-film, even though he's only in the film for about 7-minutes 9:25 Gary Giddins notes how Louis Armstrong and his band are used in “High Society” as a Greek chorus, with Armstrong narrating the film, interrupting the film every once in a while with a little narrative information 9:42 Another problem for Frank Sinatra was Bing Crosby’s extraordinary talent for ad libbing, demonstrated while Crosby and Sintra were singing their duet. Lines needed to be created for Frank Sinatra because he couldn't keep up with Crosby 10:00 There were half-dozen versions of the duet, and Saul Chaplin wrote in his memoirs, "To this day I don't know if we got the best lines in the film" 10:11 Bing Crosby biographer recounts that the duet with Sinatra was Bing Crosby's favorite scene of his whole film career. 10:22 Gary Giddins posits that the reason is because everybody felt that Crosby outdoes Frank for a specific reason, which Gary Giddins recounts: Sinatra is playing drunk and moving all around the set Crosby barely moves a muscle, yet you can't take your eyes off him. 10:45 Crosby and Sinatra’s timing in the duet is spectacular. It's a wonderful scene. SOURCES: Bing Crosby A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years 1903-1940, by Gary Giddins (Little Brown 2001) Bing Crosby Swinging on a Star, The War Years 1940-1946, by Gary Giddins (Little Brown 2018) Satchmo, by Gary Giddins (Doubleday 1988) Natural Selection, Gary Giddins on Comedy, by Gary Giddins (Oxford 2006) #HighSociety. #GaryGiddins. #Bing Crosby. #Frank Sinatra. #Louis Armstrong. #screwball. #screwballcomedy. #screwball_film. #screwball_film_society. #AliecePickett. TAGS: High Society (1956 film), Gary Giddins, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, screwball, screwball comedy, screwball film, screwball film society, commentary, Aliece Pickett,