Tonight's Movie: Holiday Inn (1942)

"Let's Start the New Year Right" with a review of HOLIDAY INN (1942), the classic musical starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.

The score is comprised of old and new songs by Irving Berlin; most significantly, this film is where the song "White Christmas" originated.  It won the Academy Award as Best Song.

The plot is a bunch of fluff about Jim Hardy (Crosby) and Ted Hanover (Astaire), whose nightclub act splits up due to a romantic conflict over their colleague Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale).

Jim quits show business and buys a farm in the country but finds it rough going; after a year or so he decides to convert the farm to a roadside inn with entertainment which will be open only on holidays.

The inn is a hit and things are going great for Jim personally and professionally when he and inn employee Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) fall in love, but then Ted reappears in his life and Jim fears losing Linda to working with Ted in Hollywood...

Honestly some aspects of Claude Binyon's screenplay are frustrating, with virtually every character indulging in plotting and lies at various points, but those scenes are wrapped around so much magic that it doesn't really matter that much.

The magic begins with the song "Happy Holidays" over the opening credits; later there's a wonderful New Year's Eve reprise along with "Let's Start the New Year Right."

There are so many favorite moments, including Fred Astaire's "Let's Say It With Firecrackers" 4th of July dance; a charming Crosby rendition of the song "Easter Parade," with Reynolds looking incredibly fetching in a lovely bonnet; any scene with Louise Beavers, who plays Jim's housekeeper; and the final number on New Year's, fading out to a beautiful shot through a window.

Of course, most special of all is "White Christmas," initially sung by Bing and then dueted with Martha Mears, dubbing Reynolds. The bit where Bing hits the bells on the tree with his pipe gets me every time, as does the reappearance of the pipe on a "movie set" where Linda is singing the song near the end of the movie.

I'd also add that the sets and Edith Head costumes are all fabulous; the interior of the inn is glorious. A "virtual tour" of sorts is available in a decade-old post at Hooked on Houses.

Despite any plot annoyances, this is a very special 100 minutes with two of our greatest musical performers singing or dancing to classic songs by one of our greatest composers. I go back to it every few years and always love it. (If only I could say the same about the trio's 1946 reunion BLUE SKIES.)

HOLIDAY INN is available on various editions, including Blu-ray; I watched the Special Edition DVD I've had since 2006.

The DVD has a commentary by Ken Barnes who weaves in archival comments from Astaire and Crosby; I haven't heard it in a good 15 years but as I recall Barnes did a nice job tackling the now-controversial blackface number "Abraham," including a discussion of minstrel show history and Crosby's close relationships with Louis Armstrong and other black performers.

HOLIDAY INN was directed by Mark Sandrich, with Robert Allen handling some brief animated moments. It was filmed in black and white by David Abel.

The supporting cast includes Walter Abel, James Bell, John Gallaudet, Irving Bacon, and the Bob Crosby Orchestra. A hat check girl near the start of the film is Karin Booth, and a cigarette girl is Teala Loring, older sister of Debra Paget.

For a post with a brief biographical sketch of Marjorie Reynolds, please visit my August 2019 Western RoundUp column at Classic Movie Hub.

A look at Bing's '50s classic WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954), which also has a Berlin score, may be read here.

HOLIDAY INN is recommended viewing.

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