Pocketful of Dreams

Started off a gorgeous, golden morning with more Bowery Boys as I had oatmeal with blueberries and slices of cantaloupe for breakfast. Angels In Disguise, one of the late-40s Bowery Boys titles, is probably my favorite. They did a couple of episodes that blended comedy and film noir-esque mystery, and while not all of them come off, this one works really well. Slip and Sach are copyboys at a local paper when they get the word that their friend Gabe who works at a cop and his partner were shot in a raid. Gabe survived, but his partner didn't. Slip tracks down the gang, who robs payrolls from factories...and is shocked to discover that the mastermind is a young intellectual who reads Spinoza and has a heart of ice. This guy is one of the most chilling villains in the entire series - he won't hesitate to have men who have made mistakes killed. Now the Boys have to clue Gabe and the rest of the New York police force in, without ending up in the morgue themselves!

Work was pretty quiet for a lot of the day, especially after the busy weekend. It was too nice for people to spend the day grocery shopping. I shelved candy for a lot of the afternoon. By the time the 4 PM rush hour was picking up steam, one of the college boys was coming in for me so I could go home.

When I got in, I made Zucchini-Honey Muffins while watching another Bing Crosby musical. Sing You Sinners takes us to a small town, where three very different brothers are living with their mother. The oldest (Fred MacMurray) wants to marry his sweetheart (Ellen Drew), but feels he can't leave his family without support. The second (Crosby) is a dream with big ideas who can't hold a job. The third (a very young Donald O'Connor) is just an average cocky kid. Though the three are excellent performers who can sing for their suppers, Crosby's always sure the next big thing is just around the corner. He moves to LA, where he buys a race horse with money won on the track. MacMurray isn't happy when he shows up and his brothers and mother are two steps to being on the street. They finally earn enough money as singers to race the horse, but a couple of crooks want O'Connor to throw the race. It'll take a lot of sibling power to prove that sometimes, the best way to do things isn't always the easy way.

This was surprisingly cute, by far the best of the Crosby movies I've done so far. It's actually a rather unusual role for Crosby - this may be the only movie I've ever seen him in where he doesn't get the girl (though he does try). Some nice songs, too, including "Small Fry" and "I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams." At times, it felt something like a musical Bowery Boys movie with fewer New York accents. Enjoyable stuff if you're a fan of Crosby or MacMurray or looking for a different and lower-key musical comedy.

Finished out the night with Chicken-Vegetable Soup for dinner and another horse story. Laverne and Shirley also dealt with a horse in the appropriately-titled third season episode "The Horse Show." Shirley saves her favorite dairy horse Buttercup from the glue factory, but has nowhere to keep him. He ends up with her and Laverne for a while, but the health inspector doesn't like that at all. They finally convince Carmine to help find a farm where Buttercup can quietly retire. Meanwhile, Lenny and Squiggy have it in their heads that they're cowboys, even though their idea of cowboy outfits are...interesting.