In my mind,Holiday Inn and Whilte Christmas will forever be linked. Not only do they  both star Bing Crosby, include the song “White Chrimstas” and take place in a big inn in the country, but they also involve lots of singing and dancing thanks to songs by Irving Berlin (again, just like HI). This time around, Crosby’s teamed with Danny Kaye and their love interests are Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen respectively. Crosby’s already a famous song and dance man in this one, but he went into the army to fight in WWII, where he met Kaye. Kaye saves Crosby’s life and convinces him to form a duo. Both become very successful and end up meeting the ladies because one of them forges a letter to them, claiming to be their brother, who served with the men in WWII. The guys fall for the girls and Kaye connives his way into following the girls to Vermont where they’re schedule to play an inn that just so happens to be owned and operated by their general from WWII. Since the weather has actually been pretty warm, no one’s going to Vermont, so the guys bring their act up there and end up doing a surprise party for the general. There’s also a lot of back and forth relationship stuff that would probably just confuse people who haven’t seen it.

Like all the other older Christmas movies I watch, I came to this one thanks to my parents and used to always get it confused with Holiday Inn. The plots are pretty similar, but I like that this one’s in color and the dance numbers are more upbeat. They even do a faster dance version of the Abraham Lincoln song (the one with the infamous blackface routine), plus a tongue-in-cheek Fosse-ish dance that pokes fun at the new-for-the-time style. There’s a lot of good humor and nice moments. The songs, for the most part are good, though I’m not a big fan of “Snow.” That’s just one small song though. Oh, also, Rosemary Clooney was quite the looker back in the day. I see where George gets his looks.