The ABCs of entertainment: Astaire + Berlin + Crosby

Irving Berlin's tune "White Christmas" was, for more than 50 years, the biggest selling song of all time. That makes it all the more fascinating to go back and rediscover an often forgotten and overlooked Christmastime film, "Holiday Inn," in which the song made its debut. "Holiday Inn" may not be as fondly remembered as its remake, "White Christmas," but thanks to the collaboration of its three titan entertainers--Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Berlin--it's got too much talent to tank. Here's our recap of this movie, as discussed at CineVerse yesterday:

WHAT DID YOU FIND MEMORABLE, NOTEWORTHY OR UNEXPECTED ABOUT THIS PICTURE?

• This film features a rare teaming of two heavyweight talents of this era: Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, both top in their respective fields for singing and dancing. This was the first movie Astaire had to take second billing for. 
• It’s often shown at Christmastime, but Holiday Inn arguably isn’t much of a Christmas movie; it covers many other holidays and times of the year, and the plot doesn’t have much to do with Christmas. 
• Speaking of plot, there really isn’t much “story” here at all. The narrative seems more like a bare skeleton on which to hold up 14 different Irving Berlin tunes and watch Astaire and Crosby do their thing. 
• The movie plays like a wartime propaganda film, as was the case with many Hollywood movies released during World War II. We get a montage during one number that uses stock footage of FDR and military aircraft and naval ships meant to inspire patriotism and remind viewers of the serious context going on behind the scenes. 
• This film includes a very dated minstrel show sequence, in which white actors appear in blackface to perform. Today, this number can stop the movie cold and stand out like a racist anachronism. 
• It’s meta: Here, you have a movie within a movie, a song-and-dance show within a song-and-dance show. 

DOES THE “ABRAHAM” SONG, SHOWCASING WHITE CHARACTERS IN BLACKFACE, SPOIL THIS MOVIE FOR YOU? DO YOU THINK THAT THIS NUMBER SHOULD BE EDITED OUT OF THE FILM TODAY, AS SOME TV STATIONS DO, OR DO YOU BELIEVE IT SHOULD REMAIN INTACT, AND IF SO, WHY?

• It’s important to consider this sequence in context. Blackface characters and minstrel show numbers were common and acceptable in many Hollywood musicals and films from the silent era through the 1950s; examples include Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer, Swing Time, Everybody Sing, and more. 
• Some believe we shouldn’t gloss over our history, even the unpleasant parts or periods; instead, it’s better to know the truth, warts and all, and to use dated instances of racism and racial stereotyping as a lesson we can learn from or a teaching point to enlighten others about. 
• Reel Club blogger Kate Bellmore wrote: “Films are like allegories; they reveal messages about value systems from the historical moment they are created in. Films tap into culture, capturing everything from the fashion to the ideology of the people who make it. Holiday Inn reflects its time, and its time was full of racial injustice. The film does not intend to call attention to race, but it does because race is a part of 1940’s culture. The film does not try and suggest a pro-white mentality, but it does because that was the mentality of the 1940’s culture. At its surface, the film intended to be a holiday treat for audiences, with a little pro-Allie support sprinkled in; however, consistently situated between the taps dances and the fallings in love, is the unequal treatment between the races in America during the 1940s.” 

FILMS SIMILAR TO HOLIDAY INN:

• White Christmas, a 1950s remake 
• Blue Skies, which also features Bing singing “White Christmas” 
• Easter Parade, which also features that song 

OTHER MOVIES DIRECTED BY MARK SANDRICH

• Several all-time classic Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals, including: 
• Top Hat 
• The Gay Divorcee 
• Shall We Dance 
• Follow the Fleet 
• Carefree