White Christmas (1954) owes its existence to another movie or, more precisely, a song from another movie. The film takes its title from the hit song "White Christmas"from the movie Holiday Inn (1942). According to columnist Erskine Johnson in the December 21 1954 issue of the Los Angeles Mirror, Irving Berlin wrote the melody for what would become "White Christmas" in August and then shelved it until he was signed to compose the songs for Holiday Inn. According to Irving Berlin in the December 14 1954 issue of the Los Angeles Examiner, he wrote "White Christmas" for a revue he was considered producing, changed his mind, and then shelved it until it was used in Holiday Inn (1942).
Bing Crosby performed the song well before the release of Holiday Inn, first performing it on Christmas Day on The Kraft Music Hall. He later recorded the song on May 18 1942 at Radio Recorders, Inc. in Los Angeles with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers. It was released on July 30 1942 as part of a set of six 78 rpm discs titled Song Hits from Holiday Inn. Neither Irving Berlin nor Bing Crosby initially had high hopes for the song. In fact, it was generally believed that "Be Careful, It's My Heart (the Valentine's Day song from Holiday Inn) would be the big hit from the movie. Despite this, "White Christmas" started to take off. It reached the top spot on Your Hit Parade in October 1943. It spent eleven weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard charts. In the end it proved to be the biggest selling single of all time.
Such success did not go unnoticed, and it was as early as 1948 thar composer Irving Berlin suggested a movie based on the song "White Christmas." Paramount, which had produced and distributed Holiday Inn, liked the idea and the studio was preparing White Christmas (1954) as early as 1949. The plan in the beginning was reunite the stars of Holiday Inn (Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire) for another musical with songs by Irving Berlin. From Holiday Inn Irving Berlin took the idea of an inn as a setting for White Christmas (1954). For other inspiration Irving Berlin drew upon an unproduced musical, Stars on My Shoulders, that he had written with Norman Krasna.
Paramount's hopes for a Holiday Inn reunion would be dashed. Fred Astaire turned down the film. The role of Phil Davis (which would have been played by Fred Astaire) then went to Donald O'Connor. It was not long before production was set to begin, that Donald O'Conner fell ill and had to quit the film. He was then replaced by Danny Kaye. Initially Bing Crosby turned down the role of Bob Wallace in White Christmas as well, as he was mourning the death of his wife Dixie Lee, although he relented after only a few weeks. It was Bing Crosby who suggested singer Rosemary Clooney for the role of Betty Haynes. She had already had several hits, including "Come On-a My House" and "Half as Much." It was choreographer Bob Alton who suggested Vera-Ellen be cast. She had already demonstrated her talent as a dancer in movies from The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) to On the Town (1949).
The opening titles announces White Christmas (1954) as the first film shot in VistaVision, a widescreen format that Paramount had developed. VistaVision was not an anamorphic process like CinemaScope and some other widescreen formats, but instead used a flat widescreen system. Paramount would follow White Christmas with several more films shot in VistaVision, including Artists and Models (1955), The Court Jester (1956), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Vertigo (1958), and others. Vistavision would decline in the late fifties and Paramount's last movie shot in VistaVision would be One-Eye Jacks (1961).
White Christmas (1954) premiered at Radio City Musical Hall on October 14 1954 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It opened in Los Angeles on October 27 1954 and went into wide release in November. It became the highest grossing movie of 1954. Made for $2 million, it made $12 million at the box office. It also became the highest grossing musical at the time. When it was re-released in 1961 it also performed very well.
For the most part White Christmas (1954) received mixed reviews. There were several positive reviews. Kate Cameron in the New York Daily News called it, "...first class entertainment." Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times also gave White Christmas (1954) a good review, referring to it as a "great, big, physically glittering, two-hour Technicolor musical that sounds like a dream production with a dream cast." Harrison's Reports gave White Christmas a more mixed review, noting that it was",,a pleasing entertainment," while at the same time noting there were "...spots where it becomes quite slow and boresome." The notorious New York Times critic Bosley Crowther gave White Christmas (1954) an overly negative review, writing, ""s. Director Michael Curtiz has made his picture look good. It is too bad that it doesn't hit the eardrums and the funnybone with equal force."
Of course, White Christmas (1954) would eventually find its way to television. It made its television premiere on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies on December 19 1964. For the remainder of the Sixties it became a nearly annual event on NBC's movie anthologies. Afterwards White Christmas would enter syndication and would air on many local television stations every holiday season. It has since aired on such cable channels as the Family Channel, WGN, and AMC (which still airs it). White Christmas was first released on VHS in 1986 and then first released on DVD in 2000. It is currently widely available on streaming.
The continued popularity of White Christmas (1954) would result in a stage version of the film, which premiered at the Muny in St. Louis in 2000. It retains Irving Berlin's songs, with a book by David Ives and Paul Blake.
Some have called White Christmas (1954) a remake of Holiday Inn (1942), although I do not think that is necessarily the case. Among the few things White Christmas has in common with Holiday Inn are an inn as a setting, songs written by Irving Berlin, and star Bing Crosby. Sadly, one thing that White Christmas (1954) has in common with Holiday Inn is a degree of racism. Holiday Inn features the notorious "Abraham" segment, performed by Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds in blackface. White Christmas (1954) lacks anything that blatant, although it includes what is known as "the Minstrel Number," including the songs ""I'd Rather see a Minstrel Show" and "Mister. Bones." While the number is not performed in blackface, expressing nostalgia for minstrel shows is culturally insensitive nonetheless. Of course, it must be kept in mind that both Holiday Inn (1942) and White Christmas (1954) are very much movies of their times.
Regardless, White Christmas (1954) remains one of the highest grossing films of all time and has come to be regarded as a Christmas classic. It may not have as high a profile as such holiday classics as It's a Wonderful Life (1946) or Miracle on 34th Street (1947), but it remains a beloved Yuletide movie for many.
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