Ellen Crosby Popular Books

Ellen Crosby Biography & Facts

White Christmas is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, "White Christmas", introduced by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is notable for being the first to be released in VistaVision, a widescreen process developed by Paramount that entailed using twice the surface area of standard 35mm film; this large-area negative was also used to yield finer-grained standard-sized 35mm prints. Plot On Christmas Eve in Europe in 1944, at the height of World War II, former Broadway star Captain Bob Wallace and aspiring performer Private Phil Davis entertain the 151st division with a soldier's show. The men have just received word their beloved Major General Thomas F. Waverly has been relieved of his command. Waverly arrives and delivers an emotional farewell. The men send him off with a rousing chorus of "The Old Man". After Waverly departs, enemy bombers attack the area. Phil pulls Bob away from a collapsing wall and is wounded by debris. Bob asks how he can pay back Phil for saving his life, and Phil suggests they become a duo act. Bob is not fond of the idea, but feels obliged to agree. After the war, the two are successful, first as performers, then as producers, launching a hit musical, Playing Around. They receive a letter supposedly from their old sergeant asking them to view his sisters' act. They watch Betty and Judy sing at a Florida nightclub. Phil, who likes to play matchmaker, notices Bob is interested in Betty. After the performance, the four meet, and Phil and Judy hit it off. Betty and Bob, however, argue about Bob's cynicism, and that it was actually Judy who wrote the letter. Finding out from Judy that the girls' landlord is falsely suing them for a damaged rug, and threatens to call the police to get his money, Phil gives them tickets he and Bob had purchased to spend Christmas in New York City. Bob and Phil improvise a performance to buy the girls time, then flee to the train, where they now have to sit up in the Club Car, much to Bob's chagrin. The girls convince Phil and Bob to forgo New York and spend Christmas with them in Pine Tree, Vermont, where they are booked as performers. In Vermont, they find all the tourists have left due to no snow and unseasonably warm weather. They arrive at the empty Columbia Inn and are aghast to discover that General Waverly, who is the landlord of the hotel, has sunk his life savings into it and is on the verge of bankruptcy. Phil and Bob decide to invite some of the cast of Playing Around to Pine Tree to stage a show to draw in the guests, and include Betty and Judy in the show. Betty and Bob's romance starts to bloom. Later, Waverly receives a humiliating rejection letter to his request to rejoin the army. Bob determines to prove to the General he is not forgotten, and calls up Ed Harrison, another old Army buddy who now has his own TV variety show, for help. Ed suggests they mention the General on the show and make a big scene of his misfortune and Bob's kindness, which would be free advertising for Bob and Phil. Bob strongly rejects the idea. Unfortunately, the housekeeper eavesdrops on the other phone for the first half of the conversation and does not hear Bob's rejection. She relays Ed's idea to Betty, who suddenly becomes cold towards a baffled Bob. Phil and Judy stage a phony engagement, thinking Betty is trying to avoid romance because she does not want to leave Judy unprotected. However, this backfires when Betty accepts a gig in New York and leaves. Phil and Judy admit the truth to Bob, who becomes enraged and hurries to New York to tell Betty. They partially reconcile, but Bob meets up with Harrison before he has a chance to find out what was really bothering her. Betty sees Bob go on Harrison's show and invite the entire 151st division to secretly join him at Pine Tree to surprise General Waverly. Realizing she was mistaken, Betty returns to Vermont in time to be in the show. On Christmas Eve, the soldiers surprise General Waverly at the show with another rousing chorus of "The Old Man", bringing him to tears. During the performance, Betty and Bob become engaged, and Judy and Phil decide to go through with their own engagement. As everyone sings "White Christmas", a thick snowfall at last blankets Vermont. Cast Production Irving Berlin suggested a movie based on his song in 1948. Paramount put up the $2 million budget and only took 30% of the proceeds. Mel Frank and Norman Panama were hired to add material for Danny Kaye. They felt the whole script needed rewriting, and Curtiz agreed. "It was a torturous eight weeks of rewriting", said Panama. Frank said "writing that movie was the worst experience of my life. Norman Krasna was a talented man but ... it was the lousiest story I'd ever heard. It needed a brand new story, one that made sense." They did the job at $5,000 a week. Principal photography took place between September and December 1953. The film was the first to be shot using Paramount's new VistaVision process, with color by Technicolor, and was one of the first to feature the Perspecta directional sound system at limited engagements. Casting White Christmas was intended to reunite Crosby and Fred Astaire for their third Irving Berlin showcase musical. Crosby and Astaire had previously co-starred in Holiday Inn (1942) – where the song "White Christmas" first appeared – and Blue Skies (1946). Astaire declined the project after reading the script and asked to be released from his contract with Paramount. Crosby also left the project shortly thereafter, to spend more time with his sons after the death of his wife, Dixie Lee. Near the end of January 1953, Crosby returned to the project, and Donald O'Connor was signed to replace Astaire. Just before shooting was to begin, O'Connor had to drop out due to illness and was replaced by Danny Kaye, who asked for and received a salary of $200,000 and 10% of the gross. Financially, the film was a partnership between Crosby, Irving Berlin and Paramount, who after giving Kaye a share, retained 30% each. Within the film, a number of soon-to-be famous performers appear. Dancer Barrie Chase appears unbilled, as the character Doris Lenz ("Mutual, I'm sure!"). Future Oscar winner George Chakiris also appears as one of the stone-faced black-clad dancers surrounding Rosemary Clooney in "Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me". John Brascia leads the dance troupe and appears opposite Vera-Ellen throughout much of the movie, particularly in the "Mandy, “Choreography" and “Abraham” numbers. The photo Vera-Ellen shows of her brother Benny (the one Phil refers to as "Freckle-faced Haynes, the dog-faced boy") is actually a photo of Carl Switzer, who played Alfalfa in the Our Gang film series, in an army field jacket and h.... Discover the Ellen Crosby popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ellen Crosby books.