Two Bing Crosby Musicals: ‘Rhythm on the Range’ and ‘Waikiki Wedding’

Bing takes us on a musical travelogue in two delightful movie musicals.
Two Bing Crosby Musicals: ‘Rhythm on the Range’ and ‘Waikiki Wedding’
Tony Marvin (Bing Crosby) and his buddy Shad (Bob Burns), in "Waikiki Wedding." Paramount Pictures
Tiffany Brannan
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Bing Crosby started his career as a radio singer in the early 1930s, but by the end of the decade, he had become one of the top movie stars in Hollywood. Although his early films centered around one hit song after another, he proved his talent as both a comedic and serious actor by the mid-1930s.

Two charming Crosby films which are lesser known are “Rhythm on the Range” (1936) and “Waikiki Wedding” (1937). Although they feature very different settings, the films have a similar cast of characters, that in the first travel across the dusty American West, then sail around the Hawaiian Islands in the second. Bob Burns and Martha Raye accompany Crosby with a lot of laughs. His leading ladies are Frances Farmer in the first film and Shirley Ross in the second. Each movie features a cute animal: Cuddles the Bull and Walford the Pig, respectively.

Tiffany Brannan
Tiffany Brannan
Author
Tiffany Brannan is a 23-year-old opera singer, Hollywood historian, vintage fashion enthusiast, and journalist. Her classic film journey started in 2016 when she and her sister started the Pure Entertainment Preservation Society to reform the arts by reinstating the Motion Picture Production Code. Tiffany launched Cinballera Entertainment in June 2023 to produce original performances which combine opera, ballet, and old films in historic SoCal venues. Having written for The Epoch Times since 2019, she became the host of a YouTube channel, The Epoch Insights, in June 2024.
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