White Christmas (1954)
Retro Review #15: There’s not a ton of snow or Christmas here, but this film honors veterans and is a solid musical romcom well worth the watch.
White Christmas (1954)
+ Feature film, 2h🎖️⭐
A >
Grade: A > (12.0) / HOF: 40
EQ 👍? | 📖? 👥? 📽️? 🎼? (Coming soon upon re-review)
DW 😎🕶️🚫?.? | 🌚? 🌝? (Coming soon upon re-review)
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R 💻⬆️⬇️? 👀⬆️⬇️? 🛐⬆️⬇️? (Coming soon upon re-review)
After Christmas in Connecticut, we went to upstate New York for Christmas in Bedford Falls, and now we’re back to New England for Christmas in Vermont, aka White Christmas.
Although I’ve heard songs from the soundtrack before, including some that struck me as odd to find on a Christmas album, I knew little about the movie.
Sure, it’s a Christmas classic, making eight of ten “Best Christmas Movies” lists I consulted. But I’ve managed to miss it until now, having spent much of my life avoiding most pre-1980s films due to lack of good viewing options.
In White Christmas, Bing Crosby plays a Broadway star who served in World War Two, and then when it winds down, unexpected events conspire to change his post-war plans upon his return home.
Bing can sing!
As a baritone/bass myself, I've long been partial to his vocals, which started mostly baritone for a couple of decades, settling into a bass range in the 1950s when this soundtrack was recorded.
Lead actress Rosemary Clooney is a fantastic singer in her own right. Crosby co-star Danny Kaye is not bad either and an exceptional dancer. We will try not hold it against all of them that they sing and dance better than they act. The fourth member of the quartet of main characters is portrayed by Vera-Ellen. I’d never heard of her before, but I’m impressed by her acting and dancing, and I thought her singing is good enough, only to discover while researching this review that she is just lip-synching! A variety of professional singers provide the vocals dubbed in for the actress!
First and foremost, White Christmas is a classic Hollywood musical. It’s about show biz even more than about Christmas. As such, expect lots of songs and dazzling choreography in lavish production numbers. Personally, musicals are a mixed bag for me. If I love all the songs, you’ve already won me over. I’m not especially into watching people dance, but can appreciate great dancing and visually creative choreography. I admit I am a sucker for good tap dancing, and enjoyed a bit of that in this film.
On the other hand, musicals start to lose me when they are overfilled with “fillers”—musical numbers that you watch while the story is on pause. I prefer songs that are intertwined with the story. A musical about show business is prone to lots of fillers, as we look in on rehearsals and performances for the on-screen audiences. That hurt this film for me, but it might not for those who just really love musicals. And it also hurt that I only really loved a few of the songs, all written by Irving Berlin, liking half at most.
I’d have no quarrel with anyone who graded this film anywhere between B+ and A+, depending on personal taste about musicals in general and this one in particular. You’d have to really hate musicals to grade it worse!
As to other key aspects of the film, on the positive side, this is a Technicolor film, using Paramount’s brand new VistaVision process. Since color was still not the default choice in film, and was still an expensive proposition, they paid attention to it, and the costumes and sets really pop, looking superb in high def.
The plot of the movie takes a little while to get going and is always on the simple side. But the two romantic story threads are both cute. And the movie finishes up by delivering a powerful message, making White Christmas worthy of being considered a movie to watch on Veterans Day, not just on Christmas.
Onwards!
+ viewed 2024-12-06, HDX7, 1.85v, 1M
+ 🎈⛄🎄🎅🎶🪖🚂🥰💘🥸🤩
+ ✅❌? NR (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ 😡? 😵💫+? 🤬+? 🤭+? 🫣+? (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ 👀 (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ ✝️ (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ ✡️ (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ 🗽 (Coming soon upon re-review)
Originally posted to text group 2024-12-07
Last updated 2025-04-04
Please do not include spoilers in the comments.
Spoilers are permitted in the Chat for this work.