For the last several years I’ve made a big deal out of the first movie I watch in the new year. In my mind that first movie sets the stage for all the movies I will watch for the rest of the year. In some ways, it feels like it sets the stage for my entire life for the next 365 days.

It has become such a big deal in my mind that I spent a good 40 minutes this morning trying to decide what movie I should watch. A Hitchcock film seemed like a good idea but I’ve got a plan for Hitchcock this year and that may spoil it. Ditto Martin Scorsese.

I could watch a new to me movie but what if I didn’t like it? Would that spoil the rest of the year for me? I could watch an old favorite but would that mean I’ll just be recycling everything this year, that I won’t experience the pleasure of new things?

It got to the point of ridiculousness (and it is a pretty ridiculous thing to begin with). My ever-patient wife sat and watched me as I scrolled through app after app looking for something. When I scrolled past Anything Goes she made a little exclamation and that was enough for me.

As soon as I started it I felt a tinge of regret. Not because the movie was immediately bad or anything, but I was worried I might not like it and I’d just ruined my year.

Yeah, I’m an idiot.

The movie is a delight.

The film is based on a Broadway musical from 1934 with a book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse and music from Cole Porter. It is where the classic standards “Anything Goes,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and “You’re the Top” come from.

When I was in 9th grade my high school put on a production of the show. It might have been the first musical I ever watched. I don’t remember much about it but I do remember liking it. I’ve not seen any production since.

Made just two years after the Broadway debut this film is the first time the musical was turned into a movie, but it has been adapted several times since.

It mostly takes place on a cruise liner and consists of multiple mistaken identities. Bing Crosby plays Billy Crocker a man seeing his boss off on the cruise. He is not supposed to stay on the boat, but rather go back to the office and run things while the boss is away. But then he meets Hope Harcourt (a blonde Ida Lupino) who is beautiful and seems to be in a spot of trouble, so he stays.

He befriends a gangster who is posing as the Rev. Dr. Moon (Charles Ruggles), and this somehow causes the cops to think that Billy is the #1 most wanted gangster in America. Also on the boat is Reno Sweeney (Ethel Merman) a friend of Billy who is madly in love with him simply because he never made a pass at her.

A whole lot of silliness (and quite a bit of singing) ensues.

I was reading some contemporary reviews and they mostly panned the film which surprised me. As far as I can tell this seems to come from critics who loved the Broadway show and were upset over the changes, especially how the film used different actors than the musical. Surprisingly there were a lot of complaints about Bing Crosby. I guess his style of crooning didn’t fit this type of musical comedy. Or something.

I quite liked him. Admittedly this version of “You’re the Top” didn’t quite work, but everything else was aces.

I hope this bodes well for the rest of 2025. If not, it was still a great way to start my year in movies.