East Side of Heaven

1939 "HANGING OUT with the STARS !"
6.5| 1h28m| NR| en
Details

A man finds himself the father, by proxy, of a ten-month-old baby and becomes involved in the turbulent lives of the child's family.

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Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
TheLittleSongbird If you are a fan of Bing Crosby fan you won't be disappointed by East Side of Heaven. The story is a touch protracted and I did wish Joan Blondell had more to do other than being a reactionary character, she seemed underused in the second half. East Side of Heaven is a nice film to look at, it isn't lavish but it is photographed with style and love and the costumes and sets are equally attractive. The music score is lush and catchy, and the songs don't disappoint either. Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb is colourfully staged and snappy and That Sly Old Gentleman and the beautiful ballad East Side of Heaven are classic Bing Crosby. The choreography is neither too simple or too complicated and it's elaborate without being overblown and when the film calls for a more understated touch it doesn't become laboured either. The dialogue is clever and snappy, the funniest moments coming from Mischa Auer and while East Side of Heaven drips with sentimentality it is also in an endearing and touching way, never forgetting to be entertaining either. Bing Crosby is charming and has no trouble being comfortable, he also sings a dream as he always did. Joan Blondell has allure and sassiness but she has had much better written roles. C Aubrey Smith ability to be gruff and classy as well as amusing comes naturally to him, but the most memorable performances come from Mischa Auer who's very funny and in some parts of the film hilarious and the absolutely adorable Baby Sandy. In conclusion, very entertaining and well done, won't disappoint Bing Crosby fans. 8/10 Bethany Cox
MartinHafer "East Side of Heaven" isn't a particularly deep or fancy film, but it is fun and is a nice little family film. It's so nice, it's almost worth giving this one an 8.Bing Crosby plays a struggling singer. He can't find a good job, so he first takes one as a singing telegram man and then as, oddly, a singing taxi driver. During the course of his job, he meets a desperate young lady and her obnoxious and very rich father-in-law (C. Aubry Smith). The old man is determined to take the child away--even though the mother is very competent. So, in desperation, she hides the cute kid with a friend--Bing and his roommate (Mischa Auer). The plot doesn't get a whole lot deeper than that, but it helped that Joan Blondell was on hand to play Bing's fiancée and that the baby was so freakin' adorable. All in all, fluff--but incredibly enjoyable, well written and well made fluff.By the way, this film is included on the same disc as Bing's "If I Had My Way"--a film that is even better! A wonderful DVD and one worth having in your collection.
mark.waltz Someone once said, "Never do movies with dogs or babies. You'll loose every time". That proves to be true for Bing Crosby and Joan Blondell in this 1939 Universal comedy with songs. They have the first half of the movie to dominate, but once Baby Sandy comes on, it's all over for these two. Crosby is a singing cab driver who finds that the estranged wife of a drunken pal has left a baby in his cab to prevent her father-in-law from taking custody of the child. Crosby must then hide the baby until the mother reclaims it and prevent a nasty reporter from exposing him. Joan Blondell plays his girlfriend and gives her usual peppy wide-eyed performance, but really is wasted here. Fresh from 9 years at Warner Brothers, she was obviously hoping for better things, but didn't get it in this movie. Crosby sings a few charming songs, and is basically the same as he is in pretty much every other movie he made up to that point.Surrounding these two stars are such familiar character actors as Mischa Auer (as Crosby's Russian roommate) and C. Aubrey Smith as the grouchy millionaire/father-in-law. All of them don't mean squat once Baby Sandy shows up on the screen. Even cuter than Baby LeRoy, this tot smiles and plays for the camera as if she had one starring at her at birth. It's obvious as to why Universal felt she could handle her own series. Without the presence of this adorably little girl, the film would be entirely too cloying to enjoy.
bkoganbing East Side of Heaven is one of two pictures Bing Crosby did for Universal. In exchange. I believe Paramount got the services of Allan Jones for The Great Victor Herbert and Honeymoon in Bali. Crosby's second film for Universal was If I Had My Way.This one for Universal was done on the same skimpy budget that Paramount normally gave 1930s Crosby vehicles. But loan outs are good to see because you get a chance to watch a leading star with players that are not from his home base. Crosby gets a spirited leading lady in Joan Blondell in their one and only film together. Similarly he has supporting players like Mischa Auer, Irene Hervey, C. Aubrey Smith and Jerome Cowan who are all very good and also never worked with Crosby again.Crosby is first a singing telegraph messenger and later a singing taxi driver who's going out with Joan Blondell and she's a switchboard operator at a radio station. Jerome Cowan who plays a Walter Winchell like columnist has eyes for her. An old friend of Bing's, Irene Hervey who married a wealthy heir, deposits her baby with Bing while she sorts out her marital problems caused by her meddling father-in-law, C. Aubrey Smith. The baby is believed kidnapped and the fun begins.Bing has four good songs to sing, written by Jimmy Monaco and Johnny Burke. Two of his patented philosophical numbers, Sing a Song of Sunbeams and Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb, a ballad East Side of Heaven and the hit of the movie That Sly Old Gentlemen sung to put Baby Sandy to sleep.The plot involving a potentially kidnapped baby was very relevant with the news of the Lindbergh baby fresh in everyone's mind. Fortunately all is righted at the end.IF you love Bing as I do, see this movie.