FIRST AND UNFORGETTABLE PICTURE IN VISTAVISION!

When two entertainers and WWII veterans (Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye) help a couple of charming sisters (Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen) out of a pickle, they all end up at a rural inn…

The most popular movie of 1954 shares some traits with Holiday Inn (1942), the musical that introduced Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”, but stands on its own two feet. There’s nothing exceptional about it; a thin story is unnecessarily drawn out, and many ingredients are mediocre. Still, it’s never boring and the music charms us throughout, with fun performances all around.

The ending is quite the Christmas pudding, glorious and nostalgic.

1954-U.S. 120 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Songs: Irving Berlin (“Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep”). Cast: Bing Crosby (Bob Wallace), Danny Kaye (Phil Davis), Rosemary Clooney (Betty Haynes), Vera-Ellen (Judy Haynes), Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes… Sig Ruman. 

Trivia: Later a Broadway musical. Fred Astaire was first considered for Kaye’s part; Donald O’Connor was subsequently cast, but had to bow out. George Chakiris can be seen as a dancer.