Anything Goes

Anything Goes is a 1956 American musical film directed by Robert Lewis and starring Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, Jeanmaire, and Mitzi Gaynor. Adapted from the 1934 stage play Anything Goes by Cole Porter, Guy Bolton, and P.G. Wodehouse, the film is about two entertainers scheduled to appear in a Broadway show together who travel to Paris, where each discovers the perfect leading lady for the female role—each promising the role to the girl they selected without informing the other. On the return voyage, with each man having brought his leading lady along, the Atlantic becomes a stormy crossing when each man must tell his discovery that she might not get the role. The book was drastically rewritten for this second film version, which was also released by Paramount. Although this version again stars Bing Crosby (whose character was once more renamed), Donald O'Connor, and comedian Phil Harris in a cameo appearance, the film almost completely excises the rest of the original characters in favor of a new plot. The film features almost no similarities to the play or the stage production, apart from some songs and the title.