White Christmas

White Christmas , Paramount's belated followup to the 1942 hit Holiday Inn , was the studio's first VistaVision production. A veritable warehouse full of oldie-but-goodie Irving Berlin tunes are woven into the film's simplistic plotline, along with a handful of new songs, of which What Can You Do With a General? is the least memorable. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (replacing an ailing Donald O'Connor ) play nightclub entertainers Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, while Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen are cast as singing-sister act Betty and Judy. The foursome travel to Vermont to visit Bob and Phil's WW2 commanding officer, General Waverly ( Dean Jagger , who looks and sounds like Dwight D. Eisenhower!), who now runs a rustic old inn. Discovering that the General is in dire financial straits, the four entertainers secretly make plans to bail the old guy out with a big musical show, enlisting the aid of Bob and Phil's army buddies. Corny in the extreme, White Christmas evidently struck a responsive note with film fans; it was the high-grossing picture of 1954, and a decade later proved to be a ratings bonanza when it was given its network-TV premiere. Of the four stars, Crosby comes off best, especially when singing the title song at the beginning and end of the film; Kaye is a bit overshadowed this time out, though he's quite funny camping it up in a "drag" version of Irving Berlin 's Sisters. Still a big favorite on the videocassette circuit, White Christmas may not be the best Bing Crosby musical on the market, but it's certainly one of the most heartwarming. — Hal Erickson