Darlings, I swear, until I saw "Going My Way" as a child, I did not know Rise Stevens from anything!!!!!!!!!!! I have to wonder how many gay little boys became Vicious Opera queens, due to her appearance in this film, where Father Chuck O'Malley (Bing Crosby,in his Oscaar-winning role) takes a bunch of white (this was the 1940's, after all, girls!!!!!!) street toughs to the opera to see her perform "Carmen," her signature role.
It's a wonder I did not become one of those Opera Queens!!!!!!!!! I was so impressed by her voice, and the way she swayed those hips, I can't believe I did not try and imitate this. But I was more seduced by Crosby's sound, with "Swinging On A Star," which proved, in retrospect, I was headed toward the Path of Musical Theater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still those "Carmen" sequences with Rise are some of the best moments in "Going My Way." Even my parents knew who she was; when she came on screen, they recognized her instantly!!!!!!!!!!
At 99, almost 100 (which she would have reached on June 11--darn!!!!!!!!) Rise has gone to that Dressing Room In The Sky, waiting for her cue, to clench that rose, and sing before the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a marvelous sound the Celestial Divinities are in for now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, the next time you watch "Going My Way," in between getting all teary and misty eyed over Barry Fitzgerald and the "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra" ending. take notice of Rise!!!!!!!!! She was one of the first to bring opera to the minions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And bred an entire generation of Vicious Queens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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