Holiday Inn

Jim:  "Lila's back in New York.  I got a letter from her yesterday."

Ted:  "What happened to her millionaire?"

Jim:  "Slight mistake there.  He didn't own millions, he owed them."

Ted:  "Poor girl.  Always straying to greener pastures and finding spinach."

Bing Crosby sings "White Christmas" courtesy http://basementrejects.com/review/holiday-inn-1942/

Holiday Inn is actually the prequel to the movie White Christmas.  The film stars Bing Crosby as Jim Hardy and Fred Astaire as his partner Ted Hanover and Virginia Dale as Lila.  The trio runs a musical act in New York City.  On Christmas Eve, Jim plans to retire from the act and move to a Connecticut farm with his fiancee, Lila.  However, at the last minute Lila says she has fallen in loved with Ted.  Jim pursues his plan despite Lila's bombshell.

https://reneelouise21.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/

After a year, Jim returns to New York City saying that he has struggled to make ends meet as a farmer and wants to turn his barn into a "holiday inn".  He is searching for talent to fill his inn.  On Christmas Day singer Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) shows up at the inn.  Smitten by her, Jim plays his new tune "White Christmas".  In the meantime, Ted is crushed when Lila announces she is leaving him for a Texas millionaire.  He meets Linda and discovers that he too is falling in love with the singer.  The ensuing year unrolls at the inn with shows staged at the following holidays:

• Lincoln's Birthday (Ted is searching for Linda, but Jim disguises her in his act)
• Valentine's Day (Jim serenades Linda with "Be Careful It's My Heart")
• Washington's Birthday (Ted asks Linda to be his new dance partner)
• Easter (Irving Berlin's Easter Parade is performed)
• Independence Day (Ted & Linda are offered a deal in Hollywood)
• Thanksgiving (irritated that Jim has tried to interfere with her Hollywood offer, she takes the job despite his wishes;  Jim, depressed, can't touch his Thanksgiving dinner; Jim's maid implores him to travel to California to win Linda back)
• Christmas Eve (Jim revives his rendition of White Christmas, accompanied by Linda; they live happily ever after at Holiday Inn)

http://www.cornel1801.com/videosong/Holiday-Inn-Happy-Holiday/moviesong.html

Irving Berlin's "White Christmas"

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten

and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow.

Last night my husband, daughter and I were treated to a Christmas concert at my son's school, Hamilton District Christian High.  For a small school, they have some big talent.  A quarter of the student body was up on stage singing,  harmonizing, playing and even dancing up a storm.  We were treated to a classic rendition of I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas featuring an introductory solo by my son, Thomas.  He did Bing Crosby proud! 

Even though I watch the movie White Christmas every year, I didn't realize that the song has an introductory verse, one not performed in the film. 

The sun is shining, the grass is green

The orange and palm trees sway.

There's never been such a day

In Beverly Hills, L.A.

But it's December the twenty-forth --

And I'm longing to be up North.

I decided to research the history of the song.  According to the Guinness Book of World Records, I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas is the best selling single of all time, selling 100 million copies over the past several decades.  Legend has it that, in 1940, composer Irving Berlin was staying at the La Quinta Hotel in California when he was inspired to write the song.  That would explain the introduction which talks about Beverly Hills and L.A.  Apparently, Berlin made it a habit of staying up late at night and composing tunes. 

Bing Crosby's rendition of I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas was first recorded on NBC's radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day in 1941.  A second version was recorded by Decca Records in 1942, again with Bing Crosby.  That was the year that Crosby sang the song in the film Holiday Inn.  Surprisingly, though, it was Be Careful It's My Heart that overshadowed White Christmas at first.  The song did resonate with listeners, however, and within a short time, it sat at #1 on the Billboard charts, returning to the position in 1945 and again in 1946.

Twelve years after Holiday Inn premiered, White Christmas made its debut on the silver screen, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen.  Thanks in large part to the Irving Berlin score, White Christmas, featuring the song I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, became the highest grossing film of 1954.  Just as the song had resonated with listeners, the movie resonated with the audience. 

Since the original recording, the song has been recorded by over 500 singers.  Some have included the introductory verse including Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter and Bette Midler.  Many people still prefer Bing Crosby's version.  Ironically, Crosby gives all the credit to Irving Berlin.  "A jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully," claimed the crooner. 

Note:  A play was written in the early 2000's which is being performed at the Dunfield Theatre in Cambridge, Ontario this month. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Christmas_(song)

http://www.metrolyrics.com/white-christmas-lyrics-bing-crosby.html

White Christmas Rakes in the Green

Here are ten facts you may not know about the movie "White Christmas".

1.  The song "White Christmas", though made famous by the movie, was first performed by Bing Crosby thirteen years earlier on the radio show "Kraft Music Hall".

2.  Danny Kaye's role was intended for dancer/actor Fred Astaire who declined it.

3.  A 25 year age gap existed between Bing Crosby (51) and his love interest in the movie, Rosemary Clooney (26).

4.  Vera Ellen only danced in the movie.  Her dubbed songs were actually sung by Rosemary Clooney and Trudy Stevens.

5.  The Haynes sisters' brother, Freckle Face Haynes never appears in any scenes.  The audience does see his photograph, however, which is a picture of actor Carl "Alfafa" Switzer.

6.  Vera Ellen danced with the New York City Rockettes at the tender age of 18.

7.  "White Christmas" features beautiful costumes designed by Edith Head.

8.  "White Christmas" was by the far the biggest box office bonanza of 1954, raking in $12 million.

9.  The Vermont inn featured in the movie was the refurbished inn from another Bing Crosby film, Holiday Inn.

10.  Prominent dancer George Charkiris, who dances with the Haynes sisters, later went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in West Side Story.

Source:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/katieheaney/15-things-you-didnt-know-about-white-christmas#.vbAmOpNGk.

For more information, read my post "White Christmas" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/12/white-christmas.html.

"White Christmas" still courtesy blogspot.com.