Post by Rob W. Case on Dec 24, 2019 23:49:14 GMT -6
When we are still talking about movies long after they were originally released, it is because they continue to radiate a sort of power in that they still move us, have an impact in our lives, resonate with us in some way, and in all these things, leave a favorable impression that inspires us to share these things with other people. At Christmas time, there are movies that immediately come to the surface in our minds which we see as immortal classics. We see these same movies pop up year after year, decade after decade in some way, shape or form, whether it is in a special theatrical release, a home video display at the store, an airing (or multiple airings) on TV, or always at the forefront in promotional advertising during the holiday season in movie catalogs, websites that specialize in selling movies, and even streaming services that host these selections to make them more available to you to watch.
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is one of these movies. What makes this movie so hot at Christmastime is its music, its characters, its story, its warmth, and its soul. These components are what makes this movie such a classic. And this year, as we celebrate its 65th anniversary, it’s not difficult to see why it holds such a special place in our hearts.
The Music:
Every year at Christmas we hear on the radio, on the speakers in restaurants, grocery stores, and department stores, as well as on playlists at Christmas parties and so forth, the older, classic Christmas songs with Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Gene Autry, and many others. With Bing Crosby being a popular favorite especially around the holidays in the 1940’s, Paramount cast him in the starring role of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, with Fred Astaire in 1942. It is in the movie Holiday Inn that the song “White Christmas” was first introduced, and it was in this scene with Marjorie Reynolds.
In 1945 Decca Records released a compilation of Bing Crosby’s Christmas songs on an album titled “White Christmas,” and it became a hit. It became so much of a hit that it has become the single most best-selling Christmas album of all time. When it came time to do the film White Christmas, this project was going to be special in that not only would it include the song “White Christmas,” but the score and all of the songs of this picture would be written by Irving Berlin. And so, because of the love people had for Irving Berlin’s song White Christmas, as well as his musical contributions, there would be a great anticipation for the release of this film in movie theaters.
The Characters:
Bing Crosby, whose name gave unbelievable strength to the film (due to his popularity in radio, film, comedy—particularly his “Road to…” movies with Bob Hope, and in music records) starred as Bob Wallace. Fred Astaire was the first choice to play his partner Phil Davis, due to the success of pairing him up with Bing in Holiday Inn, but turned the part down after he read the script. Donald O' Connor (from Singin' in the Rain) was the second choice, but he fell ill. Danny Kaye, who had a popular radio program in the 40’s, was a comedian, singer, and dancer. He went on tour to entertain the troops during World War II, and starred in several pictures before he got the part of Phil Davis, Wallace’s second man in a singing pair in this movie. Rosemary Clooney rose to fame beginning with a sister act that she had with her sister Betty, sang on a radio station in Cincinnati Ohio, recorded a record for Columbia records, toured with Tony Pastor’s band for 3 years, and became more visible in radio and television appearances before hitting it big with White Christmas. Clooney was chosen to play Betty Haynes, one of two in a sister act that becomes sought after by Bob. Vera Ellen, a star of stage, screen, and television was best known for her dancing. She was tremendously disciplined, Rosemary Clooney would recall later on, and her prominence for this role would be earned by her footwork alongside famous Hollywood dancers like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and even appearing in the last Marx brothers film titled Love Happy. Vera Ellen played Betty’s sister Judy, and would become Phil Davis’s love interest. Vera Ellen’s voice was the only voice in this film that was dubbed over by Trudy Stevens, who also did some voice work for several other movies in the 1940’s and 50’s. The ensemble of these actors and the simple characters that they portrayed radiated a warmth and chemistry that seems very real, genuine, and heartwarming.
The Story:
The movie begins on Christmas Eve, 1944, somewhere in Europe, during World War II, where two entertainers by trade, Sergeant Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) a seasoned and experienced entertainer, and aspiring entertainer, Private first-class Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are performing a Christmas show for their fellow troops, who long to be home with their families at this time of year. After Wallace sings the song “White Christmas” a moment of quiet overcomes the 151st Division. Not knowing that their General, General Waverly (Dean Jagger) quietly arrived and sat in with the troops on Christmas Eve, Wallace makes an announcement that General Waverly will be leaving, and will be replaced with a new General fresh out of the Pentagon. Waverly makes his presence known, calls them out for holding a show in an “advanced area” without authorization, and tells them of their new general. Waverly allows the show to finish just before the planes start roaring over them and the bombs start dropping. Wallace almost gets killed, by a remaining wobbling wall from a destroyed building that collapses, and all of the bricks fall down, but Davis quickly saves him.
After the war, Wallace and Davis make it big on tour, hitting the nightclub circuit, radio, and Broadway promoting their new musical gig titled Playing Around, and even end up on TV. They become producers and as their fame increases, they receive a letter in the name of "Freckle-Faced Haynes, the dog-faced boy," a mess sergeant during the war, who asks Wallace and Davis to check out his sister’s musical act. And they do.
Bob Wallace takes an interest towards Betty Haynes (Rosemary Clooney), while Phil Davis is interested in Betty’s younger sister, Judy (Vera Ellen). Little do Wallace and Davis know that the letter by Benny was actually written by Judy, who took a gamble and exploited their brother’s army credentials and affiliation with them to get them to attend their act and hopefully open some doors. And it works! Wallace and Davis team up with the Haynes sisters, but the sisters have a gig that they have to honor in Pine Tree Vermont at an Inn, whereas Wallace and Davis have a show to do in New York City. Wallace and Davis decide to accompany the Haynes sisters at the inn in Vermont for a couple of days before their show in New York City and find that its runned by their former General during the war, General Waverly. Struggling financially, and trying desperately to keep the former General’s inn operating, Wallace and Davis plan something extravagant and work feverishly on this plan to help lift Waverly’s situation from its inevitable fate and in the process, wish him a merry Christmas. But of course, a series of difficulties and setbacks arise which make this plan and their standing with the sister act a challenge.
The Songs:
All of the songs in this movie are very memorable. For me it makes the movie go fast, because the story moves nicely to the next song on the “playlist” so to speak. The most notable ones for this movie are as follows……
“Snow”
“Count Your Blessings”
“Gee, I Wish I was Back in the Army”
“White Christmas”
…. And that’s for starters.
Its Warmth & Its Soul:
What makes this movie so warm is the way Wallace and Davis regard their former General, who after working his whole life, gets sort of “spit out” by a system that benefitted greatly from his contributions to the missions he was assigned, but is of no further use to it. In other words, this movie is a great example of exhibiting great moral regard for someone who is down, depressed, and struggling, making sacrifices, and doing everything they can to lift up their spirits and wish them a Merry Christmas. That story, that message, along with the terrific songs and music of this movie, made me a fan the first time I saw it.
My Personal Memories of White Christmas:
For years my Grandma would host Christmas Eve at her house. One year, in the late 80’s, she acquired an audio cassette tape with the music of Bing Crosby on it. Enamored by records and cassettes, she let me play the tape on a tape recorder she had in the house. I distinctly remember hearing Bing Crosby and Carol Richards singing “Silver Bells”, and I was lost in the mood, the Christmas spirit, and the happy memories that her Christmas Eve Parties (which I looked forward to each and every year) left with me. Then, as a person who loved collecting tapes and taping stuff off of TV, I remember seeing White Christmas in movie catalogs and TV Guides. But it wasn’t until it aired on TV, on WFLD, FOX 32 out of Chicago that I first saw it on my little portable black and white TV. It wouldn’t be long before I taped it, then over the years I would buy it on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and even was fortunate to see it in a Classic Cinemas movie theater to a packed house, and many applause at the end. This movie would become one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies that has always been connected to happy memories.
The First Film in Vista-Vision:
In 1954 Paramount Pictures introduced Vista-Vision, a new, wider film format which would expand the size of the screen, as the film frames in the negatives were bigger and wider than films shot in the standard format. Over the many decades, this would allow for more “room” and elements to work with in lieu of high definition and frame by frame scans to make high definition of older films possible. But when it was first introduced, it was introduced as a sort of widescreen format which would capture more detail in the actors and contents being filmed, as well as more screenshot, showing off more of the beauty of the sets in each frame. Because of the anticipation of this film, they decided to try out the new format with this film. And this is how movie theaters across the country broke the news to audiences.
As for the movie, it was not only a success, and the biggest film of 1954, it has been an enduring classic each year around the holiday season since that first release. And when you see it, it is not hard to see why. It is truly a treasure and one I am proud to call one of my all-time favorites.
The film is Not Rated, and runs 2 hours.
To view a trailer for the movie, please click on the “Play” button below.
White Christmas is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and on multiple streaming services.
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is one of these movies. What makes this movie so hot at Christmastime is its music, its characters, its story, its warmth, and its soul. These components are what makes this movie such a classic. And this year, as we celebrate its 65th anniversary, it’s not difficult to see why it holds such a special place in our hearts.
The Music:
Every year at Christmas we hear on the radio, on the speakers in restaurants, grocery stores, and department stores, as well as on playlists at Christmas parties and so forth, the older, classic Christmas songs with Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Gene Autry, and many others. With Bing Crosby being a popular favorite especially around the holidays in the 1940’s, Paramount cast him in the starring role of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, with Fred Astaire in 1942. It is in the movie Holiday Inn that the song “White Christmas” was first introduced, and it was in this scene with Marjorie Reynolds.
In 1945 Decca Records released a compilation of Bing Crosby’s Christmas songs on an album titled “White Christmas,” and it became a hit. It became so much of a hit that it has become the single most best-selling Christmas album of all time. When it came time to do the film White Christmas, this project was going to be special in that not only would it include the song “White Christmas,” but the score and all of the songs of this picture would be written by Irving Berlin. And so, because of the love people had for Irving Berlin’s song White Christmas, as well as his musical contributions, there would be a great anticipation for the release of this film in movie theaters.
The Characters:
Bing Crosby, whose name gave unbelievable strength to the film (due to his popularity in radio, film, comedy—particularly his “Road to…” movies with Bob Hope, and in music records) starred as Bob Wallace. Fred Astaire was the first choice to play his partner Phil Davis, due to the success of pairing him up with Bing in Holiday Inn, but turned the part down after he read the script. Donald O' Connor (from Singin' in the Rain) was the second choice, but he fell ill. Danny Kaye, who had a popular radio program in the 40’s, was a comedian, singer, and dancer. He went on tour to entertain the troops during World War II, and starred in several pictures before he got the part of Phil Davis, Wallace’s second man in a singing pair in this movie. Rosemary Clooney rose to fame beginning with a sister act that she had with her sister Betty, sang on a radio station in Cincinnati Ohio, recorded a record for Columbia records, toured with Tony Pastor’s band for 3 years, and became more visible in radio and television appearances before hitting it big with White Christmas. Clooney was chosen to play Betty Haynes, one of two in a sister act that becomes sought after by Bob. Vera Ellen, a star of stage, screen, and television was best known for her dancing. She was tremendously disciplined, Rosemary Clooney would recall later on, and her prominence for this role would be earned by her footwork alongside famous Hollywood dancers like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and even appearing in the last Marx brothers film titled Love Happy. Vera Ellen played Betty’s sister Judy, and would become Phil Davis’s love interest. Vera Ellen’s voice was the only voice in this film that was dubbed over by Trudy Stevens, who also did some voice work for several other movies in the 1940’s and 50’s. The ensemble of these actors and the simple characters that they portrayed radiated a warmth and chemistry that seems very real, genuine, and heartwarming.
The Story:
The movie begins on Christmas Eve, 1944, somewhere in Europe, during World War II, where two entertainers by trade, Sergeant Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) a seasoned and experienced entertainer, and aspiring entertainer, Private first-class Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are performing a Christmas show for their fellow troops, who long to be home with their families at this time of year. After Wallace sings the song “White Christmas” a moment of quiet overcomes the 151st Division. Not knowing that their General, General Waverly (Dean Jagger) quietly arrived and sat in with the troops on Christmas Eve, Wallace makes an announcement that General Waverly will be leaving, and will be replaced with a new General fresh out of the Pentagon. Waverly makes his presence known, calls them out for holding a show in an “advanced area” without authorization, and tells them of their new general. Waverly allows the show to finish just before the planes start roaring over them and the bombs start dropping. Wallace almost gets killed, by a remaining wobbling wall from a destroyed building that collapses, and all of the bricks fall down, but Davis quickly saves him.
After the war, Wallace and Davis make it big on tour, hitting the nightclub circuit, radio, and Broadway promoting their new musical gig titled Playing Around, and even end up on TV. They become producers and as their fame increases, they receive a letter in the name of "Freckle-Faced Haynes, the dog-faced boy," a mess sergeant during the war, who asks Wallace and Davis to check out his sister’s musical act. And they do.
Bob Wallace takes an interest towards Betty Haynes (Rosemary Clooney), while Phil Davis is interested in Betty’s younger sister, Judy (Vera Ellen). Little do Wallace and Davis know that the letter by Benny was actually written by Judy, who took a gamble and exploited their brother’s army credentials and affiliation with them to get them to attend their act and hopefully open some doors. And it works! Wallace and Davis team up with the Haynes sisters, but the sisters have a gig that they have to honor in Pine Tree Vermont at an Inn, whereas Wallace and Davis have a show to do in New York City. Wallace and Davis decide to accompany the Haynes sisters at the inn in Vermont for a couple of days before their show in New York City and find that its runned by their former General during the war, General Waverly. Struggling financially, and trying desperately to keep the former General’s inn operating, Wallace and Davis plan something extravagant and work feverishly on this plan to help lift Waverly’s situation from its inevitable fate and in the process, wish him a merry Christmas. But of course, a series of difficulties and setbacks arise which make this plan and their standing with the sister act a challenge.
The Songs:
All of the songs in this movie are very memorable. For me it makes the movie go fast, because the story moves nicely to the next song on the “playlist” so to speak. The most notable ones for this movie are as follows……
“Snow”
“Count Your Blessings”
“Gee, I Wish I was Back in the Army”
“White Christmas”
…. And that’s for starters.
Its Warmth & Its Soul:
What makes this movie so warm is the way Wallace and Davis regard their former General, who after working his whole life, gets sort of “spit out” by a system that benefitted greatly from his contributions to the missions he was assigned, but is of no further use to it. In other words, this movie is a great example of exhibiting great moral regard for someone who is down, depressed, and struggling, making sacrifices, and doing everything they can to lift up their spirits and wish them a Merry Christmas. That story, that message, along with the terrific songs and music of this movie, made me a fan the first time I saw it.
My Personal Memories of White Christmas:
For years my Grandma would host Christmas Eve at her house. One year, in the late 80’s, she acquired an audio cassette tape with the music of Bing Crosby on it. Enamored by records and cassettes, she let me play the tape on a tape recorder she had in the house. I distinctly remember hearing Bing Crosby and Carol Richards singing “Silver Bells”, and I was lost in the mood, the Christmas spirit, and the happy memories that her Christmas Eve Parties (which I looked forward to each and every year) left with me. Then, as a person who loved collecting tapes and taping stuff off of TV, I remember seeing White Christmas in movie catalogs and TV Guides. But it wasn’t until it aired on TV, on WFLD, FOX 32 out of Chicago that I first saw it on my little portable black and white TV. It wouldn’t be long before I taped it, then over the years I would buy it on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and even was fortunate to see it in a Classic Cinemas movie theater to a packed house, and many applause at the end. This movie would become one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies that has always been connected to happy memories.
The First Film in Vista-Vision:
In 1954 Paramount Pictures introduced Vista-Vision, a new, wider film format which would expand the size of the screen, as the film frames in the negatives were bigger and wider than films shot in the standard format. Over the many decades, this would allow for more “room” and elements to work with in lieu of high definition and frame by frame scans to make high definition of older films possible. But when it was first introduced, it was introduced as a sort of widescreen format which would capture more detail in the actors and contents being filmed, as well as more screenshot, showing off more of the beauty of the sets in each frame. Because of the anticipation of this film, they decided to try out the new format with this film. And this is how movie theaters across the country broke the news to audiences.
As for the movie, it was not only a success, and the biggest film of 1954, it has been an enduring classic each year around the holiday season since that first release. And when you see it, it is not hard to see why. It is truly a treasure and one I am proud to call one of my all-time favorites.
The film is Not Rated, and runs 2 hours.
To view a trailer for the movie, please click on the “Play” button below.
White Christmas is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and on multiple streaming services.