Dreaming of a White Christmas

A Christmas that always delivers -- Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
When I think about it, there are many movies I enjoy. There are several I might watch as many as five times. There are very few I enjoy watching on a yearly basis, but 1954's White Christmas is on that list. The movie is cornball and in many ways unoriginal but that is unimportant. White Christmas has catchy tunes, snazzy dance numbers and is now available in beautifully remastered widescreen digital format. When it was released in 1954, it was the first movie using Paramount's new VistaVision technology. The DVD version viewed on my 52" flat screen is colorful and very eye-grabbing.

What's not to like about this movie? Its four starring actors were at the top of their respective games. It features a music Hit Parade from Irving Berlin. It features innovative dancing choreographed by a then-unknown Bob Fosse. The dialog is campy and hilarious -- just like the actors speaking the lines. No part of the plot is very believable, but you have to suspend those types of critical thoughts. White Christmas is a movie that you watch while wrapping presents and drinking hot coco (or spiked eggnog). You look up periodically when Crosby & Kaye are doing middle-aged man drag in "Sisters" or Rosemary Clooney huffs out of town because of a misunderstanding with Bing's character (Bob Wallace).

Briefly, the movie is a romantic comedy in which then-26 Rosemary Clooney is the love interest of then-52 Bing Crosby. If you look not even closely, you'll notice that Bing's hair is dyed and he's wearing mascara to appear younger. Vera Ellen plays Rosemary Clooney's younger sister who uses her feminine wiles to ensnare the girl-phobic Danny Kaye character (Phil Davis) into matrimony. The foursome stages an impromptu show at a Vermont Lodge to help a beloved General recoup his financial losses. Dean Jagger plays the general; he was about the same age as Crosby but he was portrayed as much older-and-wiser. This movie has so much over-the-top overacting; it's fun with every viewing. Kaye is sinuous and agile; Clooney huffs and puffs with the best pouty behavior ever captured on film. All four actors sing and dance their hearts out. If ever you were to say, "That's entertainment" -- this is the movie you'd say it about. The 50's style is also fun to take in. It wasn't yet uncool to use bright colors -- can't think of the last movie I saw where someone wore turquoise-colored feathers.

The actors were all four dealing with personal issues and secret lives even as the movie was made. Vera Ellen had a life-long problem with anorexia -- she wore high collars to conceal a withered neck. Rosemary Clooney had a well-known battle with alcohol as well as a later, well-publicized recovery in AA. Danny Kaye is reputed to have had a long-term affair with Sir Laurence Olivier -- maybe the girl-phobia wasn't such an act. And Bing was revealed much later on to be "Daddy Dearest" by his son Gary in Going My Own Way. Gary's account was contradicted by brother Phillip but two other brothers, Lyndsay and Dennis, corroborated with Gary. Let he who is without "issues" cast the first stone -- the legacy of this bright musical outshines and overwhelms anything going on in the actors' personal lives.

Final note: my DVD has narrative comments by Rosemary shortly before she passed away a couple of years ago. She laughs at all the same implausibilties and has fun with the silly things; it's like watching it with your Mom, except this "Mom" actually had a starring role in the movie.

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