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.
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.