These traditions are going to be posted daily (from now until Christmas day) in no particular order:
#1 Watching White Christmas
My favorite clips:
And of course the finale which can be seen here.
I cannot remember the first time I watched this movie, I was very young. But it quickly became a tradition for my mom and me to watch together the Friday after Thanksgiving while we decorated the Christmas tree. I've seen it a hundred times and I could watch it a hundred more. It's just the best!
Info. from Wikipedia:
White Christmas is a 1954 jukebox musical movie starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas". The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and co-stars Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.
Filming took place between September and November 1953. The movie was the first to be filmed in the new VistaVision process and its lush Technicolor cinematography has ensured that it has had a long shelf life on TV, video and DVD. Released in 1954, it became the top grossing film of that year.
The movie was supposed to reunite Crosby and Fred Astaire for their third Irving Berlin extravaganza of song and dance—the first two being Holiday Inn (1942) and Blue Skies (1946). However, Astaire bowed out after reading the script. Donald O'Connor was selected to replace Astaire, but he, too, had to pass because of an illness. O'Connor was replaced by Danny Kaye. The choreography was done by Bob Fosse, although he was uncredited.[citation needed]
Vera-Ellen's singing was dubbed by Trudy Stevens, except in the song "Sisters," where Rosemary Clooney sang both parts[1].
The title song was first used in Holiday Inn, released in 1942, when it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep garnered this film an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Rosemary Clooney was not allowed to record her voice for the soundtrack album because it was being released by a record company (Decca) other than hers (Columbia). She was replaced on the soundtrack album by Peggy Lee.
Dancer Barrie Chase appears unbilled, as the character Doris Lenz ("Mutual, I'm sure!"). Future Academy Award winner George Chakiris also appears, and has a notable appearance in two musical numbers, but is unbilled. John Brascia is the lead dancer who appears opposite Vera-Ellen throughout the movie, particularly in the Mandy, Choreography, and Abraham numbers.
Academy Award-winning character actor Dean Jagger wore a toupee in the film. Also appearing were Mary Wickes, Anne Whitfield, Tony Butala, Bea Allen, Johnny Grant, and a large supporting cast.
2 comments:
I love love love this movie. My mom and I used to watch it during the holidays as well. We even got to go see it at TPAC a couple of years ago. Deborah on the other hand had it for sale at her yard sale- I'm pretty sure her mom grabbed it before it was whisked away for mere pennies. :) Gotta love how good Deb is at making money at yard sales though....maybe we'll watch it while were there for Thanksgiving to get us in the mood.
I love this movie! This is a family tradition of ours too. For some reason we skipped it last year and all.year.long I've been looking forward to it.
Post a Comment