Entertaining Catholics: Bing Crosby, Religion and Cultural Pluralism in 1940s America
Bing Crosby and his character, Fr. O'Malley in the films Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) have functioned as the emblematic sentimental portrait of the Catholic priest within the historical memory of American Catholics. This however has entailed a misremembering of th...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
American Catholic Historical Society
2003
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| In: |
American catholic studies
Year: 2003, Volume: 114, Issue: 4, Pages: 1-19 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Bing Crosby and his character, Fr. O'Malley in the films Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) have functioned as the emblematic sentimental portrait of the Catholic priest within the historical memory of American Catholics. This however has entailed a misremembering of the films. For during the 1940s Crosby's O'Malley and the two films were heralded by Catholics as realistic representations of Catholics. A close examination of the films themselves suggests that they were deeply engaged in inserting Catholicism into the visual culture of American religion by locating Catholics at the very center of modern urban, pluralist America. Their commercial success and impact on popular imagination indicate the important role that Catholics have played in shaping popular culture in twentieth-century America. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8534 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American catholic studies
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