Just for You

Paramount had good results from the teaming of Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman in the 1951 film Here Comes the Groom, so they reunited the two for 1952's Just for You.

Crosby had great rapport with Wyman, displayed in their duet of In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening in the earlier pic. Just for You tried to recreate the magic with Zing a Little Zong - and nearly succeeded. Crosby - famed for his relaxed approach to singing - was becoming increasing stiff as the years went by, but always seemed more at ease in the company of other singers. Wyman is an excellent vocalist - not only can she carry a tune, she has a way of conveying her charming personality through her voice, which is not easy to do. She has three solo songs on this LP - more than Bing. None have been reissued, to my knowledge.

Bing is also heard in two songs with the Andrews Sisters, who are not in the film, and with the little-known but excellent Ben Lessy, who appears on the wonderful vaudeville-style duet On the 10:10 from Ten-Ten-Tennessee.

Crosby solos on the beautiful title tune. I have added another Bing solo as a bonus track - A Flight of Fancy, which was not on the 10-inch LP, but was the flip side of Just for You when it came out as a single.

The songs are by the estimable Harry Warren, who had been doing movie scores for 20 years by this time and would continue to do so for several more years. His lyricist on this occasion was Leo Robin.

The plot of Just for You has curious echoes of Crosby's personal life. Bing plays a widower in the film, which was made shortly before his wife's own death from cancer. The plot concerns Bing's estrangement from his son; Bing himself had difficult relationships with his own sons, notably Gary. And Crosby's son in the film conceives quite a passion for Wyman; Bing's son Dennis later married a showgirl that the elder Crosby had dated.


Mamie and Jane

If the oedipal theme doesn't achieve much tension, it's because the son, as played by Robert Arthur, displayed his attraction to Wyman mainly by being annoying. And Wyman, while a most attractive woman, was not a terribly sexy presence. By this time she had adopted an unbecoming hairdo similar to that of First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. It didn't do much for either of them.

In the film, Crosby was a Broadway producer, Wyman his star attraction, Carolina Hill. (She came from a sister act that also included Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Idaho. OK, I made that up.) Below, Bing rehearses Jane, adopting the pained look that was one of his specialties.

Believe it or not, this film is a favorite of mine!

REMASTERED VERSION