Okay, you wanted some Christmas Classics and you've got 'em. We started tonight with "Holiday Inn" (1942), starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds. Have you seen it? If not, then you've surely heard it's signature song "White Christmas", which as of this writing is still the biggest selling single in the history of recorded music. According to Wikipedia, Crosby's version alone has sold 50 million copies throughout the years. Add to that another 50 million from all the cover versions and you have the grand total of approximately 100 million copies sold. Yes, the song out-famouses the movie, which is why it later became the title for a take-off named "White Christmas", also starring Der Bingle, this time paired with Danny Kaye. That film was made in 1954, and is pretty good too, but as with most things in life, the original is best.
Crosby plays Jim Hardy, one third of a successful New York song and dance team. He's the singer, Astaire the dancer (naturally), Virginia Dale is the girl who comes between them. She is also a dancer in the act, which features the three performing simultaneously. Bing has had enough of show business, though, and is ready to retire to the farm he's just purchased in Connecticut. He's expecting Dale to come with him as they're engaged to be married, but what he doesn't know is that she and Fred Astaire have been in love the whole time. Astaire has convinced her to break it off with Bing, which she does. He's hurt by the deception but leaves for his farm anyway, envisioning a life of country leisure.
Unfortunately, he's disillusioned to discover that farming is hard work, as we are shown in a montage of Bing busting his butt. One night, thinking back on his showbiz career, he gets an idea - to turn his place into a nightclub that is only open on holidays. That way, he will only have to work fifteen days a year. He starts working on the concept, writing special music and creating a stage show for each holiday. Now if he can only find backing and the right performers to make it happen. For starters, he writes to Fred Astaire and Virginia Dale in New York to see if he can interest them. By coincidence, Astaire's manager is in a flower shop buying a bouquet for Miss Dale, who has turned out to be quite a prima donna ("she expects flowers on Lincoln's Birthday"!). While in the flower shop, a salesgirl (Marjorie Reynolds) introduces herself. She's recognised the well-known manager and is trying to pitch herself to him. "Ohh, Mr. Reed....I can sing, and dance, and...". He's heard it all before and doesn't have the time to listen to Reynolds' spiel, but she won't let him leave. Then he remembers he has Bing Crosby's new business card in his pocket, for the Holiday Inn, so he gives it to her, saying "I know this guy. Call him. Tell him Danny Reed sent you and I guarantee he'll give you a tryout".
Suddenly Reynolds is in Connecticut, arriving at the Holiday Inn, which looks right out of Currier and Ives. Bing is putting the finishing touches on the place. He's there all alone. He and Reynolds hit it off pretty well, so he takes her inside for an audition right there on the spot. "Let me play you something I just worked up", he says, in that "Sugar Bear" voice of his (buh-buh-ba-boo!). And of course the song is "White Christmas". Bing starts it off, Reynolds takes the second verse, and before it is over, all the nostalgia of Christmases Past come flooding back, and you find you're in need of a hankie.
Marjorie Reynolds passes her audition with flying colors. She will join Bing as his new partner, and they will be the featured performers in all of the holiday programs. Conversely, back in New York, both the act and the relationship of Fred Astaire and Virginia Dale has fallen apart. Dale has left to marry a millionaire in Dallas. Astaire gets hammered and shows up in Connecticut, also at the Inn. He's blind drunk when he gets there, and starts dancing with the first girl he sees, who happens to be Reynolds. They cause a sensation with the crowd. Danny Reed, Astaire's manager, also happens to be there, having followed Fred up from New York. He's excited to see that Fred has found a new partner, but when Fred wakes up the next morning with a terrible hangover, he can't even remember where he is, let alone the girl he danced with the previous night. His manager insists they find her, and this will set up the romantic tension that will drive the rest of the movie, set against a backdrop of light comedy and fantastic musical numbers.
The conflict boils down to this : Bing Crosby resents Fred Astaire's presence at Holiday Inn, because Astaire is trying to pull the same stunt he pulled in New York, trying to steal Bing's new girl out from under him. Yes, Bing asked him to be a performer, but that was when he was still with Virginia Dale. But now he's single again and Bing doesn't trust him. To make matters worse, Marjorie Reynolds has taken a shine to Astaire. He's a suave ladies man who's like lightning on his feet, whereas Der Bingle is a great singer but not as exciting.
Ahh, poor Bing. He just can't win, at least not until the great Louise Beavers (Bing's Maid) gives him a much needed pep talk. She tells Bing to go out and fight for his woman. "Tell her what she wants to hear, Mister Jimmy"! After that, Bing's got some fire in his belly. The battle for Reynolds' heart may not be over yet, especially when an unexpected guest shows up near the end.
You've probably seen "Holiday Inn", and if you have, none of the foregoing will be news to you. But if you haven't yet seen it, make it your Christmas "must-see" for this year. You still have three days; four if you count tonight. I think it's one of the very best of all the Christmas movies, definitely Top Five or maybe even Three (we'll have to make a list). The production numbers alone make it an all-time classic. "Holiday Inn" gets my highest rating, which is Two Gigantic Thumbs Up. Even Scrooge and The Grinch would agree. /////
That's all I know for the time being. It's now Sunday evening. We had good singin' in church, and I had a blast singing solo tenor on "Christmas Lullaby" by John Rutter. I practiced all week to try and nail it, and I hope I did. We'll be singing "Gesu Bambino" and "Rejoice" (by The Birthday Party) on Christmas Eve, plus a whole bunch of Carols. Come on over and join us at 6:30pm. See you later tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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