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White Christmas [1954]

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Director:Michael Curtiz
Writer:Melvin Frank
Norman Krasna
Norman Panama
Composer:Joseph J. Lilley
Songs:Irving Berlin
Length:120 minutes
(2 hours 0 minute)
MPAA Rating:UR
Suggested Event Use:Christmas
Sorting Category:Holiday
IMDB Rating:7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating:72%
Amazon Rating:4.5/5 stars
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Classifications:
  • Comedy
  • Romance
  • Family
  • Kids
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Synopsis: Bob Wallace and Phil Davis are old army buddies who team up with a dynamite act. Later, they decide to give their old General the best Christmas present they can think of.


Reaction: Classic musical fare for the holidays. There are a few musical tangents away from the story, but not nearly at "Gotta Dance!" levels so it could be worse.


Personal Rating: 8/10

Select Cast and Crew
Michael Curtiz => Director
Melvin Frank => Writer
Norman Krasna => Writer
Norman Panama => Writer
Joseph J. Lilley => Composer
Irving Berlin => Songs
Anne Whitfield => Susan Waverly
Barrie Chase => Doris Lenz
Bing Crosby => Bob Wallace
Danny Kaye => Phil Davis
Dean Jagger => Major General Thomas F. Waverly
George Chakiris => Dancer in 'Mandy' and 'Love' numbers
John Brascia => John
Mary Wickes => Emma Allen
Rosemary Clooney => Betty Haynes
Vera-Ellen => Judy Haynes (as Vera Ellen)

Random Trivia For This Title:

  • The photo that Vera-Ellen shows to Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye of her brother, Bennie, is actually a photo of Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer.
  • The original idea was to reunite Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, as they had been successful in Holiday Inn. Astaire refused, as he had "retired" at the time, so the part was reworked for Donald O'Connor. O'Connor pulled out, and the part was reworked for Danny Kaye.
  • A myth persists that all of Vera-Ellen's costumes, down to her robe and sleepwear, were designed to cover her neck, which had been damaged by anorexia. This is untrue. Seeing her in the premiere footage for 1954's A Star Is Born, she is wearing a low cut gown and her neck is clearly visible.
  • The Vermont inn is the remodeled Connecticut inn set from the movie Holiday Inn which Bing Crosby also starred in singing songs written by Irving Berlin.
  • The {Sisters} comedy act that Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye perform was not originally in the script. They were clowning around on the set and the director thought it was so funny that it was written in.
  • Even though Betty was the elder of the Haynes sisters, Rosemary Clooney is actually seven years younger than Vera-Ellen in real life.
  • Vera-Ellen did not actually sing any of the songs for the movie. [?] Trudy Stevens sang all her songs (with the exception of the song {Sisters}, on which Rosemary Clooney sang both parts). Vera's own voice is heard singing only in the "arrival in Pine Tree" scene at the railroad station where the quartet reprises the opening lines of {Snow}.
  • For The song {Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army} there is a small section which say's "Jolson, Hope And Benny all for free" This is a reference to three wartime entertainers; [?] Al Jolson, Bob Hope and Jack Benny. The original words were "Crosby, Hope and Jolson all for free", with Bing Crosby in the film it would seem rather weird and it would most likely break the mood.
  • Danny Kaye was a last-minute replacement for the originally cast Donald O'Connor.
  • Third of three films to feature Bing Crosby singing {White Christmas}.