Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: White Christmas (1954)

 

A simply wonderful musical. 

This film's storyline is incredibly simple. Two men (Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye) meet in the army and form a song in dance team. After leaving the army the two become major stars. One day they catch a sister act (Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen) and fall in love with these two girls and follow them to Vermont. In Vermont they meet their general (Dean Jagger) in the army. The general is running a struggling inn and the two men decide to put on a big Christmas Eve show at that inn to help him. All the while they have various romantic entanglements with the two sisters. 

Within this simple story is an incredible amount of charm. Everything about this film works beautifully. The most obvious praise to give this movie is the great musical numbers. All the songs used in this film were written by the great Irving Berlin and the songs chosen show off the songwriter's work to great advantage. There is not one song here that is not a delight to hear. Yet what is visually happening during these song numbers is just as delightful. Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen's wonderful dance numbers are a definitely highlight and make the two simply light up the screen during these scenes. Not only is their dancing amazing, but they also bring a wonderfully fun energy to each of these numbers that will even put a smile on the face of those who don't normally like musicals. Danny Kaye performing Choreography, especially puts a smile on my face every time I see it. His dancing there is equally parts comedic and impressive, showing off both his dancing and comedic talents to their fullest. The beautiful singing voices of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney don't hurt at all. The two are in great form and show off why both are such respected singers. To this day there is no one who can sing a Christmas song as well as Bing Crosby. His voice simply fits the season perfectly and when he croons the title song, one gets that unexplainably wonderful Christmas feeling. The final reprise of the title song may be one of the most perfect moments in Christmas movie history. The image of our four main stars in front of a giant Christmas tree decorated in wonderful Christmas outfits with a group of very talented kids dancing and a beautifully snowy backdrop simply feels as warm and cozy as a cup of hot chocolate at home on a Christmas Eve night.  Yet this movie is even delightful beyond just the musical numbers. The storyline may be simple and sentimental but it is the type of sentimentality that really works. We truly care about these characters and want to the romances work out and for the general to see how much he has meant to so many of his men. The humor is also fantastic and there are quite a few wonderfully funny moments. The banter between Bing and Danny Kaye's characters is especially fantastic and can still make audiences laugh to this day. However the biggest comedic highlight is the two main male characters doing their own kidding of the sisters' Sisters musical number. If you look at Bing Crosby's face during that scene, you can see Bing trying not to break into laughter. This film being directed by the legendary Michael Crutiz (Casablanca (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)), it is wonderfully paced, giving a warm nostalgic feel while never feeling too slow. 

To make a movie revolving around the song White Christmas was a natural idea. The song had been a major hit since it premiered in the movie, Holiday Inn (1942). In fact, that is in understatement. To this day Bing Crosby's version of the song is still considered to be the highest selling song of all time. In fact Bing Crosby had already reprised the song in another feature film, Blue Skies (1946). This movie was originally indented to not only reprise the most popular song from Holiday Inn but it was meant to be a reunion of the two stars of that film, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Both stars turned down the picture. Bing Crosby would change his mind though Fred Astaire did not. Fred's role was then given to Donald O'Connor (who would have been great in this movie). However Donald became very sick before production began so the role was given to Danny Kaye. Danny Kaye luckily was a wonderful choice for the role. Rosemary Clooney would later state that the Sisters number worked because she couldn't dance and Vera-Ellen couldn't sing, but together they could pull it off. Vera-Ellen's voice in this number is actually dubbed in by Rosemary Clooney.

This is simply a wonderful piece of old-fashioned entertainment that will simply put a smile on any movie fan's face. 

 The following is a 1955 article from TV Radio Mirror where Rosemary Clooney talks about Bing Crosby. If you have any trouble reading the following pages click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in.

Resources Used

Christmas in the Movies by Jeremy Arnold

https://mediahistoryproject.org/ 

The Merry Eatons

 Though Mary Eaton appeared in only a few films, she is immortalized in movie history as the leading lady in The Marx Brothers' first feature film, The Cocoanuts (1929). Before her brief movie career, she had a much more successful career on stage. On stage she appeared with Fred and Adele Astaire and in three editions of The Ziegfeld Follies. She had what is said to be a very impressive dance number in her Ziegfeld Follies appearances. 

Now to take a look at the life of this often-overlooked stage and movie star with a 1929 article from Screenland Magazine. This article mentions her getting engaged to Millard Webb, who directed her in the film, Glorifying the American Girl (1929), which featured many Ziegfeld Follies performers and was produced by Flo Ziegfeld, himself. Though they would separate Mary and Millard would remain married until his death in 1935. If you have any trouble reading the pages below, click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. 

Here she is singing Irving Berlin's When My Dreams Come True in The Marx Brothers movie, The Cocoanuts (1929).

 

Easter Songs From the Movies

With Easter just around the corner, I feel now is a good time to look at some Easter themed songs from classic movies. 

First up is the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. Though Gene is often more associated with his Christmas songs he did have a huge hit having to do with Easter, a fun little tune called Peter Cottontail. This song was written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, who wrote the famous Christmas song Frosty the Snowman. Because of Gene's success with Christmas songs the duo decided that he should be the one to record it. Gene recorded it in 1950 and it hit the number 3 spot on the country music chart. Gene would also sing the song in the feature film, The Hills of Utah (1951) and that is the version you will see here.  Next comes Judy Garland and Fred Astaire performing the classic Irving Berlin song, Easter Parade from the movie Easter Parade (1948). This song dated back to a 1933 Broadway play entitled Thousands Cheer. Before this movie version the song had already been used in at least two movies, Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) and Holiday Inn (1942). Last but not least is Doris Day and Jack Carson performing a tune called Freddie Get Ready. This scene combines live action and animation as our live action stars interact with animated characters, Bugs Bunny and Tweety. While the film's director was Michael Curtiz, this sequence was directed by Friz Freleng. This was appropriate as Friz was one of the most prolific Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. This movie also marked Doris Day's second film. So enjoy the music and have a great Easter. 








-Michael J. Ruhland