White Christmas 1954

A silly sappy movie with great costumes and splashy color. This early 50’s floating bar of soap is about two World War II war time buddies played by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye who when the film blasts open are entertaining the troops on Christmas eve singing “White Christmas” of course, in a war torn rubble of a town somewhere in make believe Europe which was really one of the stages at Paramount. The set is appealing as a painting by a naive artist and as such I was charmed by this image of war and destruction. The two friends Bing and Danny are inseparable and when Danny saves Bing from falling rubble Bing is so grateful to him that he promises to get together with him after the war and form a song and dance act. They do and and in a montage sequences we see that the guys are a huge hit on the circuit.

The film blandly written by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank is so twisted in plot knots that it takes nearly 2 hours to straighten them all out and do we really care?  Into the mix comes a sister act, played by Vera-Ellen (her singing dubbed) perky and pretty and the great Rosemary Clooney who alone makes it worthwhile to see this confection, I mean when was the last time you saw Rosie Clooney in a movie. Late in the film she gets to do one solo number, “Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me” and it is a beaut. The boys get a look at Vera-Ellen and Clooney doing their number “Sisters” in their beautiful bright blue gowns with feathers and immediately want them to join their traveling show. If the movie ended with this number I would call it a classic. Only it doesn’t of course and the film spends a lot of time and trouble trying to make us believable in romances between Bing and Rosie and Danny and Vera-Ellen.

Their romances run hot and cold especially the one between Danny and Vera-Ellen because he has absolutely no interest in anything romantic with her, it’s so obvious. The music is by Irving Berlin and is rehashed from other movies and might remind some folks of a musical from 1942 “Holiday Inn” in which the song “White Christmas” was first introduced and won Berlin an Oscar for best song of the year. One song from “Christmas” “Count Your Blessing Instead of Sheep” would also get an Oscar nomination, the films only one but would lose to “Three Coins In The Fountain” both songs became big hits with the public with many popular singers taking them both on.

An Inn also figures big in “White Christmas” because the sisters are booked into a charming but cash straddled one in snowy Vermont, except there is no snow and no guests staying there which coincidence of coincidences is owed and run by Crosby and Kaye’s former commanding general played by Dean Jagger in a bad toupee and who we first met in the opening war torn scene. Dean runs or ruins the Inn with the help of his young granddaughter, where her parents are we never find out, and his feisty housekeeper played by the always-welcomed Mary Wickes.

The numbers are lively manly because of the lavish sets, costumes (love Danny Kaye’s matching grey suede shoes with his grey suit) and chorus boys including a very young and unknown George Chakiris a few years away from an Oscar, and an unknown to me fantastic dancer named John Brascia who made the dance numbers into something special and then disappeared. There is also a semi-drag number with an uncomfortable looking Bing and a very comfortable Danny gay doing a take on the “Sisters” number, which is startling to see. There is also a minstrel number but happily without blackface, but still awkward and unnecessary. A much worse blackface minstrel number was in “Holiday Inn” so we should be grateful that a sensitive someone at Paramount woke up and did us all a great favor in 1954. Directed by the legendary Michael Curtiz who worked in all genres and made many classics including Casablanca, Mildred Pierce and The Adventures of Robin Hood and his career was winding down by the time of White Christmas which opened at Radio City Music Hall and went on to become the highest grossing movie of the year. Go figure. Another odd thing is that the film opened at the Hall in October and was not their choice for their big Christmas show, another go figure. This was the first movie to be filmed in Paramount’s new VistaVision system  which enlarged the screen and made the color cinematography scream, the transfer now streaming and screaming on Netflix does it justice.