White Christmas (1954) — Sing-Along

“Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, along with VistaVision, keep the enteratinment going in this fancifully staged production, clicking well.” — Variety

SYNOPSIS

Few movies embody the pleasures of old-fashioned Hollywood showmanship quite like Michael Curtiz’s White Christmas, an irresistible package of Irving Berlin songs, movie-star charisma, lavish production numbers, and holiday nostalgia. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye star as a successful song-and-dance team who join performers Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen on a trip to snowless Vermont, where they discover that a struggling country inn is operated by their beloved former Army commander (Dean Jagger). Romance, mistaken intentions, and an elaborate plan to help their old general follow, providing the framework for numbers ranging from the cozy intimacy of “Snow” to the film’s immortal title song. Paramount chose the production to introduce VistaVision, its innovative widescreen process that ran 35mm film horizontally through the camera to produce a larger, finer-grained image, and the format gives Curtiz’s rich colors, expansive sets, and intricate choreography an appropriately sumptuous canvas. Yet its enduring appeal extends beyond technical polish or even its considerable craftsmanship: revisited year after year, White Christmas has become something closer to a seasonal ritual, an invitation to gather together and surrender for a few hours to the warmth of nostalgia.