My Top 9 Favorite Christmas Movies: White Christmas (1954)

In the blind hope to bring back the dynamic duo from 1942's "Holiday Inn," Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, "White Christmas" would end up becoming an unexpected entity and bumpy ride all on its own. Astaire terminated his contract with Paramount leaving in favor of making "Daddy Long Legs" with 20th Century Fox. Crosby's wife, singer Dixie Lee, passed away the year before of cancer, leaving Bing wanting to spend a little more time as a father around the same time Astaire left. But Crosby had returned to Paramount in late January 1953 to the news Astaire would be replaced by Donald O'Connor ("Singin' in the Rain"). That didn't last long as O'Connor fell ill and would be replaced by comedian Danny Kaye. Kaye would cost Paramount "200,000 plus ten percent of the gross." ("White Christmas (1954) - Articles - TCM.com")

Kaye turned out to be the best choice in creating the role of entertainer Private Phil Davis bringing many laughs to the set. Simply horsing around with the usually wooden Crosby singing and dancing to "Sisters" found its way into the plot as a distraction while the Haynes Sisters make their escape from the Florida club. The giggles during this little scene is completely sincere as both men can barely hold it together complete with Kaye hitting Crosby with the fan and their pants rolled up.

As previous soldiers, Captain Bob Wallace saved Davis from an explosion at their army camp over in Europe with the latter feeling as if he owes his superior from that point on. They end up a famous entertainment duo turned Broadway producers after the war and finding themselves having to check out what they believe an old soldier buddy's sisters who have a singing act together (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen). It is instant chemistry between Bob and Betty with Davis ecstatic he can get the overbearing stiff off of his hands for awhile. It is further serendipity when they find out the sisters are heading up to the Columbia Inn in Vermont which is owned by their former commander Major General Waverly (Dean Jagger). Intrigued and without their sleeping rooms on the train with Davis offering them to the sisters, the boys find themselves helping the man they used to serve with a "let's make a show" arc for the rest of the film as Bob and Betty's relationship grows then falters to only to grow all over again.

While the plot may be a little thin compared to "Holiday Inn" and covering it up with hit Irving Berlin tunes ("Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me," "Choreography," "Mandy" among many others), this film is one to suspend one's dimension of reality to a fault. Even Berlin, the man himself, felt the film had the feel of a Broadway musical. "Usually there's little enthusiasm once you get over the first week of a picture. But the change in this setup has resulted in an excitement that I am sure will be reflected in the finished job. In any event, as of today I feel great and very much like an opening in Philadelphia with a show," Berlin explained in a letter to friend and columnist Irving Hoffman. (White Christmas (1954) - Articles - TCM.com)

Berlin got his wish posthumously in 2004 when "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" premiered in San Francisco and toured the country until its last performance 10 years later in London. While it wasn't the most successful Broadway musical, the film raked in 12 million in theaters and now has a life of its own during the holidays on the cable channel AMC. While it originally didn't serve up many fantastic reviews, despite an Academy Award nomination for Irving Berlin's "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," The New York Times did praise "the colors on the big screen [as] rich and luminous, the images [as] clear and sharp, and rapid movements are got without blurring" as a compliment to the use of VistaVision and Technicolor. But much like "It's a Wonderful Life," "White Christmas" has become well-loved by the people and over time, by the critics.