Did you know Bells Of St Mary's deal came first then McCarey agreed to Going My Way? (1 Viewer)

[RobertMG]

Going My Way and the Bells Of St Marys but researching the film the deal was set with RKO for St Marys but to get Crosby McCarey had to make Going My Way first! According to a 1945 NYT news item, David O. Selznick was paid $175,000 to lend Ingrid Bergman to RKO. As part of the deal, Selznick also acquired the screen rights to Little Women (see below) and A Bill of Divorcement (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.0338). This was the first effort of Rainbow Productions, Inc., an independent production company owned by Leo McCarey, Bing Crosby, B. G. DeSylva, David Butler and Hal Roach, Jr. According to a 1944 news item in NYT, in 1942, McCarey, who was at the time under contract to RKO, outlined the story to Crosby, who was intrigued but unavailable because of his contract with Paramount. Crosby was freed to make the picture when DeSylva, then an executive producer at Paramount, agreed to lend Crosby to RKO in exchange for a commitment with McCarey, who then wrote and directed Going My Way for Paramount (see below). Crosby first played the role of "Father O'Malley" in Going My Way, which was released prior to The Bells of St. Mary's and won an Academy Award for his performance in Going My Way. The HR review adds that McCarey based Bergman's character on his aunt, Sister Mary Benedict of the Immaculate Heart Convent in Hollywood, CA.