Friday, December 23, 2011

White Christmas (1954)


WHITE CHRISTMAS
Michael Curtiz
1954 • 120 Minutes • 1.66:1 • United States
Paramount

Principal Cast:  Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen, Dean Jagger
Screenplay:  Norman Krasna, Norman Panama
Producer:  Robert Emmett Dolan
Music & Lyrics: Irving Berlin
Cinematography:  Loyal Griggs

Awards & Honors

Academy Awards
Nominee: Best Music, Original Song - Irving Berlin - For the song "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep"

The Essential Films

- We're booked for the holidays. 
- Vermont, huh? 
- Oh, Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow. 
- Yeah, you know something... Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow. 
- That's what I just said. 
- We seem to be getting a little mixed up. 
- Maybe it's the music. 
- Maybe it isn't only the music. 

12 years after "White Christmas" became a huge hit, Bing Crosby and Irving Berlin teamed up again and made it the title of another Christmastime musical.  This time around Danny Kaye replaces Fred Astaire as the dance man.  Kaye, while not as "legendary" as Fred Astaire, still did not disappoint as all his dance numbers with Vera Allen were a hell of a lot of fun to watch.  Rosemary Clooney played Crosby's love interest and will leave a great impression on you with her magnificent voice.  Crosby and Kaye play two old army buddies that teamed up as a song and dance duo turned producers after the war.  They are so over-worked that Phil (Kaye) is just getting plain sick and tired of constantly being around Bob (Crosby.)  He never misses an opportunity to play matchmaker with any pretty girl that walks into Bob's life just so that he can get some time away from his partner.  Enter the Betty & Judy Haynes, a pair of sisters hoping that Bob and Phil will give them a shot in one of their shows.  After the getting the girls out of a jam, the four entertainers head to Vermont for the holidays where Bob and Phil realize that the ski lodge they're staying at is being run by their old army general.  Seeing the sad state of affairs the lodge is in, Bob, Phil, Betty and Judy start planning a big Christmas spectacle to hopefully attract visitors.  The big closing number?  You guessed it.

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