Michael Curtiz does a good job directing this picture, but the script, music and performances just don't add up to much.
First off, this isn't a holiday movie at all. Other than the ending, there just isn't much holiday atmosphere to be found. Secondly, every five minutes another song or dance routine is thrown into the mix. With SO much music, it's only logical that there's gonna be some "padding" and this flick is loaded with lousy songs... "What Do You Do With A General", "Sisters", "Gee I Wish I Was Back in the Army". Ugh. The only worse piece of work by Irving Berlin was "Mr. President" in 1962 and that was truly horrid.
Then there is the right-wing, militaristic theme we see everywhere in this picture. Sure, you can't avoid it with a plot device like a retired general, but the flag waving would make even Fox News fans want to hurl red, white and blue.
Other things about this picture are disturbing... Vera Ellen's high neck-wear (to hide tell-tale signs of her bulimia) and her emaciated waist and legs, the ridiculous romance between a young and pretty Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby who was well into his 50's by this point. Bing's absurd hep-cat language. It's as if we're just supposed to ignore all this stuff because it's a big budget, technicolor songfest by happy, shiny people. Look at Bing's reaction shots and he looks like he's about to fall asleep. And watch him at the end of the film. He looks like a retired clown in that red outfit.
There ARE some bright spots. The title track is one of the best holiday songs ever and Bing acquits himself well. The dance sequence with Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen is done very well and Kaye doesn't get his due in this picture. But these things just can't make up for a movie that wants you to suspend disbelief, but can't pull it off. Once something gets rolling, the next three scenes fall far short. I cringe when I see Bing talking to his old army buddies about how great things were in the war, it's just so fake. No infantry man in the history of the planet ever walked, talked or felt that way about the hell of combat. Then there's Dean Jagger's haggard, old General routine, always falling into military jargon that sounds false and hollow. The way the old troops cozy up to him at the end of the picture is nauseating - not because there's anything wrong with those patriotic feelings, but because the script can't pull it off.
This movie just doesn't gel and you're really pulling for it to do so, but it just never comes. Star power alone isn't enough to make it work because this movie believes in its own falsehoods. It really DOES think its a great, classic musical. It really DOES think its funny and it really DOES believe that WE will believe the convoluted plot devices, laughable romantic scenes and terrible "dance" routines with Crosby-Kaye. Really? We're supposed to believe that a vaudeville team is the hottest act in show biz in the mid 50's? Elvis, Chuck Berry, Martin and Lewis and Little Richard might beg to differ. Look, really LOOK at how un-entertaining the showbiz schtick really is. Bing and Danny don't really entertain much at all.
Why this horrible movie is a classic is beyond me. I guess it's because it's "supposed to be". Not enough for me though. See "Holiday Inn", "Christmas In Connecticut" or the 1951 classic "Scrooge" with Alistar Sim in the title role if you want to see a real classic. "White Christmas" is crap.
First off, this isn't a holiday movie at all. Other than the ending, there just isn't much holiday atmosphere to be found. Secondly, every five minutes another song or dance routine is thrown into the mix. With SO much music, it's only logical that there's gonna be some "padding" and this flick is loaded with lousy songs... "What Do You Do With A General", "Sisters", "Gee I Wish I Was Back in the Army". Ugh. The only worse piece of work by Irving Berlin was "Mr. President" in 1962 and that was truly horrid.
Then there is the right-wing, militaristic theme we see everywhere in this picture. Sure, you can't avoid it with a plot device like a retired general, but the flag waving would make even Fox News fans want to hurl red, white and blue.
Other things about this picture are disturbing... Vera Ellen's high neck-wear (to hide tell-tale signs of her bulimia) and her emaciated waist and legs, the ridiculous romance between a young and pretty Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby who was well into his 50's by this point. Bing's absurd hep-cat language. It's as if we're just supposed to ignore all this stuff because it's a big budget, technicolor songfest by happy, shiny people. Look at Bing's reaction shots and he looks like he's about to fall asleep. And watch him at the end of the film. He looks like a retired clown in that red outfit.
There ARE some bright spots. The title track is one of the best holiday songs ever and Bing acquits himself well. The dance sequence with Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen is done very well and Kaye doesn't get his due in this picture. But these things just can't make up for a movie that wants you to suspend disbelief, but can't pull it off. Once something gets rolling, the next three scenes fall far short. I cringe when I see Bing talking to his old army buddies about how great things were in the war, it's just so fake. No infantry man in the history of the planet ever walked, talked or felt that way about the hell of combat. Then there's Dean Jagger's haggard, old General routine, always falling into military jargon that sounds false and hollow. The way the old troops cozy up to him at the end of the picture is nauseating - not because there's anything wrong with those patriotic feelings, but because the script can't pull it off.
This movie just doesn't gel and you're really pulling for it to do so, but it just never comes. Star power alone isn't enough to make it work because this movie believes in its own falsehoods. It really DOES think its a great, classic musical. It really DOES think its funny and it really DOES believe that WE will believe the convoluted plot devices, laughable romantic scenes and terrible "dance" routines with Crosby-Kaye. Really? We're supposed to believe that a vaudeville team is the hottest act in show biz in the mid 50's? Elvis, Chuck Berry, Martin and Lewis and Little Richard might beg to differ. Look, really LOOK at how un-entertaining the showbiz schtick really is. Bing and Danny don't really entertain much at all.
Why this horrible movie is a classic is beyond me. I guess it's because it's "supposed to be". Not enough for me though. See "Holiday Inn", "Christmas In Connecticut" or the 1951 classic "Scrooge" with Alistar Sim in the title role if you want to see a real classic. "White Christmas" is crap.