Holiday Inn (1942)

I love this movie so much

Memorable, crazy movie

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Of course that was after they made a stage version of its remake, "White Christmas", well a partial remake of it. For reasons beyond my understanding, "White Christmas" is more well known and a holiday perennial, even though this film introduced the Oscar winning song by Bing Crosby and has a much better plot. I find "White Christmas" too gimmicky and dated, even in 1950's terms, and highly overrated. The plot line surrounding a country inn open only at the holidays was keeping in touch with the patriotic morale at the time, and in updating the remake with post war ideals it seemed pretentious and colorless in spite of all that garish Technicolor.The Broadway version took out certain elements that cleared up any "politically incorrect" issues, mostly by getting rid of the black housekeeper, Louise Beavers, singing about "happy darkies" in the production number about Abraham Lincoln and turned her into a feisty (white) female "Miss Fix-It". The basic story remained but turned Fred Astaire's character into an even more smooth womanizing playboy while making Crosby's character more of a homebody with the desire of show business still in his heart. The stage version was recently broadcast on PBS so comparisons are inevitable. Having seen the stage version in the front row, I found myself grinning broadly, and in revisiting the film for the first time in many years, realized that I was doing exactly the same thing with the film.The singing and dancing team of Astaire and Crosby (along with Marjorie Reynolds) are happy until Reynolds chooses Astaire over Crosby, leaving Crosby to make his holiday inn plans without her. Like a bad penny, Astaire turns up again, making a play for Crosby's new partner, Virginia Dale, creating issues as he becomes involved in the inn's increasing popularity. It's more of a serious plot than most original movie musicals of the time, but thanks to the intersection send great Berlin standards (and plenty of new material as well), even the blackfaced "Abraham" which really celebrates the end of slavery even with the tactless stereotypes popularized in minstrel shows. The success of this lead to a second Astaire/Crosby pairing ("Blue Skies") but other than more of that great Irving Berlin American songbook, it was quite a disappointment.

What's not to like about this movie? "Holiday Inn" fits in many film genres -- comedy, musical, romance, drama and Christmas. It's one of the best efforts of Hollywood to make a musical revue with a plot. It succeeds marvelously in that and gives us some of the best song and dance routines of the day. The film is a showcase of Irving Berlin music, dancing by the greatest dancer of the silver screen (Fred Astaire), and singing by the top male singer of the early decades of filmdom (Bing Crosby). Crosby and Astaire together are a sure fire combination for entertainment. Crosby plays Jim Hardy and Astaire plays Ted Hanover. While they dominate the film, a small supporting cast fills in the details, mostly in the plot aspects. Virginia Dale and Marjorie Reynolds are the romance interests of both Jim and Ted, as Lila Dixon and Linda Mason, respectively. They both dance very well with Astaire. Linda has some songs with Jim, but her voice is dubbed by Martha Mears. Walter Abel as Danny Reed, Louise Beavers as Mamie and Irving Bacon as Gus are nice window dressing in the plot mostly with comedy. Astaire has two first time and exceptional dance numbers in this film. The first is the firecracker dance and the second is a soused Ted Hanover who gives a funny but superb drunken dance. Work on the film began before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and with its release to be early in the war, the studio added a patriotic number with some films clips. Of course, Irving Berlin's music holds sway with this great piece of entertainment. The master composer wrote a dozen songs that were used for this film. Some were originals (i.e., "Happy Holiday" and "White Christmas"), and others were reprisals (i.e., "Easter Parade"). Most were recorded separately before being used in the film. If for no other reason, "Holiday Inn" will be remembered as the movie that brought "White Christmas" to a worldwide audience. Crosby sang Berlin's "White Christmas" for its first ever performance on the radio broadcast of the Kraft Music Hall show of Christmas Day, 1941. He subsequently was the first to record the song, on May 29, 1942, for Decca Records. After "Holiday Inn" came out in August 1942, the song got worldwide attention. It was wildly popular among American GIs and others serving during World War II.The history of that single song is interesting. No one at first thought of it as a sure-fire top hit song. Berlin and Crosby liked it, but they and the people at Paramount thought that the hit number of "Holiday Inn" would be, "Be Careful, It's My Heart." According to the Guinness World Records, Bing Crosby's rendition of "White Christmas" is the best-selling single song of all time. It had more than 100 million sold (by 2010). All versions of the song, including Crosby's, have sold more than 150 million copies. Guinness states that there are more than 500 versions of the song recorded in various languages. Besides Bing Crosby, many other top singers have recorded "White Christmas" over time. They include: Frank Sinatra in 1944, Perry Como in 1947, Elvis Presley in 1957, Johnny Mathis in 1958, Andy Williams in 1963, Doris Day in 1964, Barbra Streisand in 1967, Tony Bennett in 1968, John Denver in 1975, Willie Nelson in 1979, Dolly Parton in 1984, Neil Diamond in 1992, Linda Ronstadt in 2000, Bette Midler in 2003, Dionne Warwick in 2004, and Ray Stevens in 2009, "Holiday Inn" is a wonderful movie that the whole family should enjoy.

I was expecting more; this film has Fred Astaire and.... well, that's about it.Bing Crosby was just another lucky recipient of the Hollywood Dream, a person who could not act or dance, just sing.... I guess - I've never been a fan of his. I also don't know why so many people get "offended" by the blackface number. Who the hell cares? Remade in 1954 as 'White Christmas' with Danny Kaye, whom I have always loved. Danny makes Bing look like the chump he was. That film is ultimately the better film. I heard that this one was the one to see, but I know now that I own the 'good version' on video. Maybe I'll go watch it to wash this one out of my mind.OK as a time-killer. Don't let the blackface song bug you. The two little colored kids are cute.

Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby), Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire), and Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) have a popular act. Lila decides to not marry Jim and follow Ted in an act. Jim is blindsided and retires to a farm in Connecticut. He's a horrible farmer. One year later, Jim decides to turn the farm into an entertainment venue called "Holiday Inn" open only on holidays. Ted and his agent Danny Reed (Walter Abel) are not impressed. Flower shop girl Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) recognizes talent agent Reed and he passes her off to Holiday Inn. Jim has a new song "White Christmas" and the Christmas show is a big hit. Meanwhile Lila leaves Ted for wealthy Texan. A drunken despondent Ted shows up at Holiday Inn and dances with Linda. They are an immediate hit as a new duo but Ted doesn't remember. Ted continues to come back to search for the mystery girl and Jim is unwilling to lose another partner to Ted.Let's get the blackface out of the way first. It's racist in today's world but it served a purpose for the plot. And back in the day, it wasn't racist. This movie is a fun comedy by two of the best song and dance men in the business. It has some great Irving Berlin standards and the romance is good.