Sadly, it doesn't feel so good that almost every member of the cast & crew of this film is no longer with us, but this work that they have left is very watchable. This film was shot in color & wide screen & it still looks plush & alive even now. The way to watch it is when Turner Classic films is running it in wide screen too.
This film is one of the only times Danny Kaye & Bing Crosby worked together & it is a shame it did not happen more. They are delightful in this film. Rosemary Clooney & Vera Ellen are too. This Paramount production was one of the most expensive they produced the year it was released & it was also number 1 in the box office.
While the story is very simplistic by today's standards & even when it was released in 1954, it doesn't matter. You put your brain away & enjoy this holiday film as a rare chance to see some veteran performers from the World War 2 era entertain you. There's lots of musical numbers & dancing from the era of the big musical. All of it is well staged, & the music is at the height previous to rock & roll era.
If your into old films, go back to the mid-1940's when Bing Crosby did the song "White Christmas" for the first time on film in Paramounts "Holiday Inn" as there are a couple of comparisons to note. First, Bing sings the song solo in the first film where in this 1954 version the entire ensemble (cast) sing it together. Second, the Holiday Inn is the same set used for the Pine Tree Inn in the second film. Paramount saved some money on sets there.
Funny, Crosby gets demoted too in a way. In the first film he actually owns the Holiday Inn where in this film, his former Major-general owns it. The scripts between the 2 are quite different too. Fred Astaire is in the first one in 1942 too. In a way, some folks consider this an inferior remake to Holiday Inn, but to me there are vast differences in the films. White Christmas fits the era it was made, as 1954 was a feel good era where every problem was always being solved.
An interesting thing about this film, it incorporates the power of the television media into the plot already in 1954. Most folks then did not realize how far that power would grow into todays national fixation where if something is on TV, too often people believe it as true. Back in 1954, people were still intelligent enough to know when something was not true on its media. That is why you don't care about a strong story line in this film. Everything is fake, but back then fake was fine with people, as long as it was harmless & entertaining.
This film is one of the only times Danny Kaye & Bing Crosby worked together & it is a shame it did not happen more. They are delightful in this film. Rosemary Clooney & Vera Ellen are too. This Paramount production was one of the most expensive they produced the year it was released & it was also number 1 in the box office.
While the story is very simplistic by today's standards & even when it was released in 1954, it doesn't matter. You put your brain away & enjoy this holiday film as a rare chance to see some veteran performers from the World War 2 era entertain you. There's lots of musical numbers & dancing from the era of the big musical. All of it is well staged, & the music is at the height previous to rock & roll era.
If your into old films, go back to the mid-1940's when Bing Crosby did the song "White Christmas" for the first time on film in Paramounts "Holiday Inn" as there are a couple of comparisons to note. First, Bing sings the song solo in the first film where in this 1954 version the entire ensemble (cast) sing it together. Second, the Holiday Inn is the same set used for the Pine Tree Inn in the second film. Paramount saved some money on sets there.
Funny, Crosby gets demoted too in a way. In the first film he actually owns the Holiday Inn where in this film, his former Major-general owns it. The scripts between the 2 are quite different too. Fred Astaire is in the first one in 1942 too. In a way, some folks consider this an inferior remake to Holiday Inn, but to me there are vast differences in the films. White Christmas fits the era it was made, as 1954 was a feel good era where every problem was always being solved.
An interesting thing about this film, it incorporates the power of the television media into the plot already in 1954. Most folks then did not realize how far that power would grow into todays national fixation where if something is on TV, too often people believe it as true. Back in 1954, people were still intelligent enough to know when something was not true on its media. That is why you don't care about a strong story line in this film. Everything is fake, but back then fake was fine with people, as long as it was harmless & entertaining.