White Christmas has been one of my favorite Christmas films since I discovered it a few years ago. It doesn’t matter to me that the musical number Wallace 7 Davis are rehearsing makes no sense, or that these couples fall in love in only a few days time, I just love this film. It has a magic about it that can only be attributed to the scope given it because of the era in which it was made.
This was a time where movie stars were truly stars, bigger than life and flawless. You watch White Christmas and you think of the decade it portrays, and how uncomplicated life must have been for our parents and grandparents; a time when the movies were grand, girls got dolled up every day, and men opened doors. It’s a film that’s big, bright and above all else – happy.
So this holiday I recommend pouring a cup of hot chocolate, starting a fire, and snuggling up with White Christmas.
Phil Davis: How can a guy *that* ugly have the nerve to have sisters?
Bob Wallace: Very brave parents.
Showing posts with label rosemary clooney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rosemary clooney. Show all posts
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
White Christmas
Bob Wallis & Phil Davis are old Army buddies that turned into a musical act after the war, one of the most successful and popular acts in the country. When Phil decides he wants Bob to get a girl so that Bob will be distracted and he can get a break from constant work the Haynes sisters seem like the perfect pair of girls to aid in Bob’s distraction. Judy Haynes and Phil team up to try and get Betty & Bob together and the boys follow the girls to Vermont where they find a lack of snow and their former General instead of the packed show and vacationers they are expecting. In order to save the General’s Vermont resort Phil & Bob hatch a plan to move their show to the resort under the guise of rehearsal and they incorporate the Haynes sisters into their act.
White Christmas is a Christmas classic and it deserves this distinction. I cannot go through a holiday season without watching the antics of Phil and Bob at least once. This is a pitch perfect film in casting, concept, and execution. The musical numbers a superb, the jokes funny and the chemistry palpable. This is the kind of movie that the American studio system of its day was known for, it is a grand, visual treat meant to entice viewers away from their televisions and into the theatre to experience a world they would want to be a part of.
For me one of the best things about White Christmas is the interaction between Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. As Bob & Phil the two are perfectly matched. Bing delivers his performance with the deadpan sentimentality of a crooner and experienced performer, and Danny Kaye combats Bin’s relaxed ease with a frenzy of humor, excitement and quirkiness that makes the pair a perfect odd couple and a treat to watch interact with one another. This is a pairing along the caliber of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, people that have perfect chemistry and know how to match one another in a way that plays incredibly well to an audience.
White Christmas is a film I think everyone should watch around the holidays. If this film can’t help get you into the holiday spirit, nothing can.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Norman Krasna & Norman Panama
Bob Wallace: Bing Crosby
Phil Davis: Danny Kaye
Betty Haynes: Rosemary Clooney
Judy Haynes: Vera Ellen
Major General Waverly: Dean Jagger
Emma Allen: Mary Wickes
Phil Davis: When what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, what's left to be gotten won't be
worth getting, whatever it is you've got left.
Bob Wallace: When I figure out what that means I'll come up with a crushing reply.
White Christmas is a Christmas classic and it deserves this distinction. I cannot go through a holiday season without watching the antics of Phil and Bob at least once. This is a pitch perfect film in casting, concept, and execution. The musical numbers a superb, the jokes funny and the chemistry palpable. This is the kind of movie that the American studio system of its day was known for, it is a grand, visual treat meant to entice viewers away from their televisions and into the theatre to experience a world they would want to be a part of.
For me one of the best things about White Christmas is the interaction between Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. As Bob & Phil the two are perfectly matched. Bing delivers his performance with the deadpan sentimentality of a crooner and experienced performer, and Danny Kaye combats Bin’s relaxed ease with a frenzy of humor, excitement and quirkiness that makes the pair a perfect odd couple and a treat to watch interact with one another. This is a pairing along the caliber of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, people that have perfect chemistry and know how to match one another in a way that plays incredibly well to an audience.
White Christmas is a film I think everyone should watch around the holidays. If this film can’t help get you into the holiday spirit, nothing can.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Norman Krasna & Norman Panama
Bob Wallace: Bing Crosby
Phil Davis: Danny Kaye
Betty Haynes: Rosemary Clooney
Judy Haynes: Vera Ellen
Major General Waverly: Dean Jagger
Emma Allen: Mary Wickes
Phil Davis: When what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, what's left to be gotten won't be
worth getting, whatever it is you've got left.
Bob Wallace: When I figure out what that means I'll come up with a crushing reply.
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