Bing's success in a series of short films for Mack Sennett and in the record stores and on the radio led to a major motion picture contract. Paramount signed Bing in 1932 to star in a feature-length motion picture, "The Big Broadcast," a musical comedy featuring many new radio stars in their first major motion pictures. Among Bing's co-stars were George Burns, Gracie Allen, Kate Smith, Cab Calloway, the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters, Donald Novis and Arthur Tracy. Bing introduced the song Please in the movie, which later inspired a Beatles hit song. Bing played himself in the movie, an irresponsible radio crooner with a proclivity to miss performances. Although Bing was the obvious star of the picture, he refused top billing. That honor went to Stuart Erwin, who portrayed a rich oil tycoon who rescues the station where Bing is employed when it became insolvent. Erwin was a veteran of several previous Paramount films. Paramount insisted that Bing suffer through the indignity of having his protruding ears glued to his head for the film. The film's strengths are the music and the special effects. Its weakness is the improbable love story that suggests you can win your girl's affection by giving her a black eye. Bing's best friend, Eddie Lang, performed in the film strumming his guitar while Bing crooned "Please." And Bing's pal from Spokane, Al Rinker, with whom Bing performed as part of a duo and a trio (The Rhythm Boys) for 5 years, makes an unbilled cameo in the picture. The Big Broadcast was filmed in the summer of 1932 and released in October. It was one of the few films that year that made a hefty profit for Paramount. The following year Paramount declared bankruptcy and had to be restructured. That didn't stop Paramount from signing Bing to a 5-picture committment for $300,000.

The Big Broadcast of 1932 was the first in a series of similar films made by Paramount. Bing appeared briefly to sing "I Wished on the Moon" in The Big Broadcast of 1936. The last of the series, The Big Broadcast of 1938, served as the vehicle for launching Bob Hope's movie career.

How many feature-length movies did Bing star in?

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