Posted by Lars Roth on September 10, 1998 at 02:08:23:
Several weeks (or maybe months) ago I read an interview with actress Coleen Gray (NIGHTMARE ALLEY with Ty Power, RED RIVER with Duke, STATE FAIR Dana Andrews version, KISS OF DEATH Victor Mature, Dick Widmark and RIDING HIGH with Bing) in the moviemag FILMFAX: She had this to say about Bing:
Bing was very relaxed, a little cool; not a gushy person. I noticed one day on the set, he was reading a book and I looked at the title. It was, 'NOTES TOWARD A DEFINITION OF CULTURE by T S Elliot. You know you don't think of Bing in those terms. The kindness and sweetness of this man was illustrated when we were to do the SUNSHINE CAKE routine, which was such a charming scene. It was a routine, involving a dance. I'm not a dancer. So I was coached by a man who shall remain nameless. He'd say 'You have to keep the arms down, the shoulders up, the fanny in, the bandy legs, and this and that, and now do it.' I'm working on this and that and get stuck, sort of. It didn't come naturally. So he says 'Oh, come on now damnit! You do it! You're making more money than I am, now do it!' Well I worked as hard as I could and, the day we shot the routine, I was still behind the scenes, trying to get this whole thing going, so, when it came time to do it, I became very apprehensive. I'm trying to smile and be funny and laugh and so forth, keeping my head up so that the tears would run down my nose rather than down my cheeks. Well, Bing saw this. He said 'Frank (Capra)? You know something, I don't feel quite relaxed in this. I think we need a little more rehearsal. Can we have some more rehearsal?' Capra said 'Of course' And so we rehearsed it some more, and that's all it took. I was so grateful to Bing for that and he made the routine such fun. You know, I hate to say it, but it was adorable'. (laughing)
I like these little nice stories since there are a lot of people who loves to tell stories about how 'nasty' he (Bing) was. Which I don't believe myself, however everybody must have his share of off-days when you are not feeling well and can be a bit grouchy and so forth. Some people seem to not understand it's impossible to be charming all the time. Stars are people too (which is understood by many of us). Well, now I have gotten that off my chest as well.