Directed by Michael Curtiz

Starring Bing Crosby Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen

White Christmas was the biggest box-office hit of 1954 and it’s not hard to see why. Watching the movie is like waking up Christmas morning to a stocking stuffed with goodies. It’s about as light and irresistible as whipped cream, and makes for great family viewing during the holiday season.

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye star as former war-buddies turned successful song-and-dance act, Wallace and Davis. While on the road, they chance to meet a sister-act, Judy and Betty Haynes (Vera Ellen and Rosemary Clooney), and on a lark follow them to Vermont in pursuit of snow, skiing, and a lodge that serves hot chocolate.

Turns out a heat-wave in Vermont has kept the snow off the mountains, and a “White Christmas” might be too much to hope for. When Wallace and Davis discover their former army general is the manager of a floundering inn, they decide to hunker down and put on a Christmas extravaganza to bring the grizzly old veteran’s business back-to-life. Singing and dancing ensue, along with romantic entanglements, misunderstandings, and plenty of Kaye-inspired hilarity. Will the two song-and-dance partners pair off? Will the general’s business make a miraculous turn-around? Will it be a White Christmas? If you don’t know the answers to those questions, you haven’t seen enough movies.

White Christmas is such an assortment of cliches that only the best in the biz could have made it not only watchable, but absolutely entertaining. In this movie’s case, producers could count their blessings instead of sheep: three effortlessly charming movie stars, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney; a legendary director behind the camera, Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, the Adventures of Robin Hood); instant-classic songs by Irving Berlin (including the canonical title song), a colorful supporting cast, eye-popping Technicolor camerawork, and eye-candy costumes by Edith Head (35-time Oscar nominee, an all-time record for costume designers). Heck, even Bob Fosse shows up for a few dance numbers. These ingredients combine to make a sumptuous feast of a film from an otherwise unpromising recipe.

The script, though predictable, has a breezy charm that perfectly suits the leads. Bob Wallace was a part clearly written for the laconic Bing Crosby and even incorporates some of Bing’s trademark zingers. When Kaye, who’s been trying to set Bing up with a dim-bulb broad, admits “So she didn’t go to college, she didn’t go to Smith,” Bing retorts,
“Go to Smith? She couldn’t even spell it.”

Danny Kaye is a great foil for laidback Crosby: all nervous twitches and anxious mannerisms, inspiring Bing to describe him as “a tall drink of charged water.” He also couldn’t be more likeable. He uses his gangly limbs, goggle eyes, and squeaky, prepubescent voice to great comic effect. The Haynes sisters are also charmers; Ms. Clooney (yes, she’s George’s aunt) has a rich, lovely voice and Vera-Ellen as the combative younger sister has killer legs and a kookiness that makes it believable she’d fall for Kaye’s antics. Great chemistry all around.

And then there’s the tunes written by a fellow named Irving Berlin. Not too shabby. A showstopping sequence featuring Kaye and Crosby lip-synching the “Sisters” song in drag is alone worth the price of a rental. Second best is a dance sequence where Kaye — in leotards, a beret, and mascara — leads a troupe of sour-faced dancers in a hilarious send-up of Martha Graham-style Modern Dance. Sample lyric, in reference to the pretentious practitioners of the art of Modern Dance:

Through they air they are flying

Like a duck that is dying

Instead of dance, it’s choreography

This is why White Christmas deserves its spot as a seasonal classic. It may not do anything original, but what it does do, it does extremely well. After all, milk & cookies may be predictable, but they are undeniably tasty. Check your cynicism at the door and you’ll find yourself humming the tunes and wishing Edith Head would design your New Year’s Eve outfit.

Posted by John Murphy on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 3:46 pm.