Watched: 12/09/2025
Format: Amazon
Viewing: Unknown
Director: Michael Curtiz
I always wonder how contemporary audiences received the Michael Curtiz movie, White Christmas (1954), when it came out. It's not exactly The Best Years of Our Lives, but does speak to the post-war era as people moved on with their lives, from enlisted soldiers to retired Generals. But also is aware of the camaraderie forged among pairs of men in war, as well as that of whole battalions. And, the people who waited at home and their relation to the fighting men and women.
People may not be nostalgic for getting shot at constantly, but they do miss the people they knew who got them through.
The movie opens on the last December of the war as Bing Crosby - playing an analog of himself - performs alongside Danny Kaye, who is not famous back home. They' salute their outgoing General Waverly, knowing he actually cared about all of them.
Back home, Crosby and Kaye form a duo act that's highly successful. Crosby enjoys the grind, but doesn't do much to take risks - but Kaye pushes him into greater success. They go out to see an Army buddy's sisters (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen) perform to see how they can help them, and Crosby falls for Clooney immediately.
Soon, all four are headed for Vermont, where it turns out the girls have been hired by a retired General Waverly to perform at his inn. But the inn is empty as there's no snow. Crosby and Kaye bring their whole production team to the inn for rehearsals through the holidays, and romance and comedy ensue.
This movie came years after Holiday Inn, which has fallen out of favor thanks to a mix of being black and white and containing a blackface scene - something more common than you'd think up through the war. This movie has a salute to the Minstrel Shows, but never acknowledges blackface - and it raises the question of how Minstrel Shows actually fit into popular culture, which the movie treats as a throwback folks are nostalgic for. Unlike Holiday Inn, however, not a single Black person is actually seen in this movie.
Arriving a year after Kiss Me Kate, which featured a number by Bob Fosse, this movie has a whole number about making fun of what we'd now call Modern Dance as something hokey and faddish. Well, the number aged poorly, but it's an interesting bit.
Jamie always reminds me the part played by Danny Kaye is supposed to have been played by Donald O'Connor, one of the great dancers and comedians of mid-century cinema. He fell ill and was unable to appear in the movie, and Kaye couldn't keep up with Vera Ellen, so she's paired with nameless dancers for some of her big sequences.
Crosby and Clooney are an interesting pair - and the movie mostly has them at odds - with Clooney's character leaping to conclusions and getting angry about them. It kind of feels like whatever relationship is forged at the end of the film isn't going to last. But in the context of the film, sure. Everyone will live happily ever after.
It's not particularly my favorite Christmas movie, but it does go down as easily as some wassail. If you've seen it more than once, it's also good background stuff. It's beautifully shot, the music is solid, and it has a hum-dinger of a closing scene.
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