Welcome to the Movie Club! This week’s movie is Michael Curtiz’s musical rom-com White Christmas!
White Christmas stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, who play a pair of soldiers that form a musical duo following the war. After becoming enamored with a pair of sisters, played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, they follow them to Vermont and decide to stay for Christmas at an inn owned by their former General. After learning about how the absence of snow in the area is causing the inn to lose business, they plan to cheer the General up by staging a show with their former unit in attendance.
Released in theatres on October 14th, 1954, White Christmas was a massive success, earning $30 million dollars in the box office (the equivalent of around $351 million in 2024), making it the highest grossing film of the year1. While it is considered a Christmas classic now, reviews at the time seem to have been a bit mixed, with some critics finding it to be a bit too sentimental and shallow, despite appreciating its production values and star power.
- The film was shot on VistaVision, a higher resolution, widescreen variant of 35mm that has a bit of an interesting history. Considered a bit of a precursor to modern formats like IMAX it became obsolete towards the end of the 50s (although it is still used for special effects processing), but it has had a minor revival lately as it was also used for The Brutalist and is being used for Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming The Battle of Baktan Cross.
- This is not the first time that Irving Berlin’s song White Christmas was used for a film, as its first usage was actually in Holiday Inn, which was released 12 years earlier in 1942 and won it an Oscar for Best Original Song.
- Vera Ellen did not do her own singing, and was actually dubbed by Trudy Stevens, the wife of jazz saxophonist Dick Stabile.
What did you think? Share your thoughts below!
Up Next: The Christmas season continues with another classic rom-com! Our next film is Peter Godfrey’s Christmas in Connecticut! Unfortunately it is not streaming anywhere, but there are many rental options. Check out the trailer and where it’s playing below:
USA
- Stream: Nothing!
- Rent or Buy: Amazon, Apple TV, Microsoft Store, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Canada
- Stream: Nothing!
- Rent or Buy: Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon, YouTube
UK
- Stream: Nothing!
- Rent or Buy: Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon, YouTube