Holiday films. White Christmas.

Let me start by saying this isn't one of my holiday favorites, although I did watch it again, yesterday. It has some great Irving Berlin songs, of course (it's generally billed as "Irving Berlin's White Christmas"), some incredible dance scenes (Bob Fosse was the uncredited choreographer and appeared, uncredited as well, in several numbers), and is the first movie to be filmed in VistaVision(!), but, ultimately, it's a piece of schmaltzy fluff - and 90% percent of the film doesn't even deal with Christmas.
Here's what I find interesting about "White Christmas": I thought I had seen it years ago as "Holiday Inn." I did, it turns out. "Holiday Inn" starred some of the same cast members, Bing Crosby included (although Fred Astaire had the co-lead in that one), and for the most part, followed the same story line. There was a song from "Holiday Inn" that took the country by storm. In fact, it became the biggest selling Christmas song in history. That song was - wait for it - "White Christmas." The song was so popular that Hollywood decided, a few years later, to remake the film, calling it - what else - "White Christmas." Fred Astaire was asked to reprise his role, but he declined. Next, Donald O'Conner was considered. He couldn't do it. So they wound up with Danny Kaye. Of course, now it's hard to imagine anyone else in that role.
Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen co-starred as a talented sister act. While Vera-Ellen was actually seven years older than Rosemary, she played the part of the younger sister. Everyone in the film sang their own parts, except for Vera-Ellen, who lip-synced. Oddly enough, when it came time to record the cast album, Clooney's contract wouldn't allow her to participate in the project. Peggy Lee was brought in to sing her parts.
Unfortunately, there is an ugly minstrel scene in the film. How various folks dealt with this on video releases is an interesting story in itself. When Ted Turner colorized his version, he supposedly consulted experts to bring out, as closely as possible, the tones that Edith Head used in her amazing costumes, but, I believe, cut the entire minstrel scene. My version, while adequately colorized (if you go for that kind of thing...), kept the minstrel scene and used the colorization to tone down the black face. Look closely, the guys are rather tan, compared to the ladies... It's hard to imagine that entire scene cut from the film. It's a big number, with some of the most incredible dancing in the movie.
There is now a stage adaptation of the movie that has been quite popular. It's currently playing at one of the local theaters in town, in fact.
Again, not one of my favorites, but worth a viewing. Enjoy.