White Christmas (1954)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Norman Krasna (written by) &
Norman Panama (written by) ...

Release Date:

14 October 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

First and unforgettable picture in VISTAVISION

Plot:

A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.

Plot Keywords:

Song And Dance | General | Vermont | Army | Sister Act

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Bob Wallace
Danny Kaye	...	Phil Davis
Rosemary Clooney	...	Betty Haynes
Vera-Ellen	...	Judy Haynes (as Vera Ellen)
Dean Jagger	...	Major General Thomas F. Waverly
Mary Wickes	...	Emma Allen
John Brascia	...	John
Anne Whitfield	...	Susan Waverly

Also Known As:

Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Australia)

Runtime:

120 min | UK:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) | Perspecta Stereo (optical prints)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Norway:7 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The Vermont inn is the remodeled Connecticut inn set from the movie Holiday Inn (1942) which Bing Crosby also starred in singing songs written by Irving Berlin.

Goofs:

Continuity: Waverly comes to the stairs in the final scene and the women have stopped short of the stairs. The camera moves to the wide shot and comes back to the general and the women are stepping back again.

Quotes:

Phil Davis: Oh,I hope I can take back the electric blanket back.
Bob Wallace: Where's that?
Phil Davis: Under the underwear.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Colgate Comedy Hour: (#6.12)" (1955)

Soundtrack:

Choreography

If this isn't the all-time great Christmas movie, it's pretty close!

Sorry, Jimmy! My apologies, Alistair! My all-time favorite Christmas was, is, and always will be, "White Christmas." First of all, there's that wonderful Irving Berlin score. "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep" and "Sisters" have become standards, of course. But, towering above them all, is Bing Crosby's definitive performance of the beloved Christmas favorite that he practically owned. All the performances are top-drawer, what with Bing, Danny Kaye (In a role meant for Donald O'Connor), Rosie Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, and Mary Wickes, who, as you can see here, was playing nasty old things even when she was a nasty young thing!

Corny, syrupy, kitsch. Perhaps it is all of that, to some. But, to unashamed sentimentalists like me, "White Christmas" will always be THE all-time great Christmas movie, particularly when viewed by the whole family, on Christmas Day, in front of the fireplace.

God bless Bing, Berlin, and company, for making a lot of Holidays that much happier, including those of the Sorrentino family!