Paramount Pictures
Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes, John Brascia, Anne Whitfield, George Chakiris
Corporal Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are fighting in WWII in 1944 in Europe on the front lines. It’s Christmas Eve and they are putting on a show. A bomb drops and a wall caves and Phil saves Bob’s life, so as soon as the war is over, he uses that fact against him to urge him into working in show business together. Wallace and Davis turns into a multi-year Broadway hit. As the holidays arrive, they, as a favor to an old friend stop by a small club to see the Haynes Sisters (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen) and before you know it they’re off on a vacation trip to Vermont. Unfortunately there is no White Christmas in Vermont, and it turns out that the lodge was owned (and in financial trouble) by their old Major General Waverly (Dean Jagger). So the boys decide to bring their whole TV show to Vermont for a live Christmas Eve broadcast to help out their old commanding officer.
This is one of the most beloved of all Christmas movies. As the very first film shot in VistaVision, it was a beautiful and colorful spectacle in 1954, but the song and dance format certainly hold up through the years. Great music, great scenery, and a wonderful cast. The song White Christmas was not written for this movie. Irving Berlin wrote it for Holiday Inn in 1942. But the film was so popular, that this film was made to use the song and the title. The story is that Irving Berlin thought the song would never make it and wanted to cut it from Holiday Inn. He felt the song “Mr. Lincoln” was sure to be a smash hit.
There are so many stories and legends about the movie that it has filled up books. But all that isn’t important in the least. This is just one that you switch on and enjoy on a Christmas Afternoon or Evening and just relax and get into the spirit. If this doesn’t do it, nothing will. One of the top 3 or 4 Christmas films of all times!!!
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