White Christmas

Dir: Michael Curtiz

1954

***

Michael Curtiz's classic Christmas musical is a seasonal must in many a household and has been for some time. Not in mine though. My biggest gripe about 1954's White Christmas is that it has very little to do with Christmas at all. The whole production seems to have been thrown together as a loose accompaniment to the title song. The fact is, White Christmas as sung by Bing Crosby first appeared in 1942's Holiday Inn. Crosby didn't think much of the song and neither did anybody else, even though writer Irving Berlin was rather fond of it. The song steadily grew in popularity to the point where the studios knew that if attached to a new project, would be even more of a success. White Christmas starts off during the Second World War, somewhere in the battlefields, Christmas Eve 1944. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are putting on a show for the boys and for their beloved commanding officer who is being relieved of command, much to the surprise and bewilderment of the men. Later we see the two men become a success back home after the war is ended that sees them both as Broadway performers and big time producers. They then meet a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) and are tricked into performing with them, although they don't mind so much once they find out. The couples pair up and the film remains in 'will they, won't they' territory until the end, even though we all know that they inevitably 'will'. Hollywood being Hollywood, no couple can confirm their togetherness until first having a dispute, generally due to a misunderstanding or a throw away lie told towards the beginning of the film. The boys (ha) follow the girls to Vermont, where they find their old commanding officer has a big old empty ski lodge. Seeing as its empty (due to a lack of snow, snow snow) they decide to move their entire dance production there at a huge financial loss because girls and army. Everything else is just one big practice of various different routines that really have nothing to do with the story or indeed Christmas. It isn't until the final minutes of the film do we actually see the White Christmas and hear the song and by that point you will have worked out whether this film is for you or not. I like Danny Kaye, so I was happy. The dance scenes are impressive but I'm afraid I wasn't fond of the songs. However, I would argue that the film’s success lies on the fact that there is genuinely something for everyone to enjoy.