[Reel-Reviews] White Christmas (1 star)

Well the post-Xmas excesses have finally worn off (!) and I’m getting round to updating the site with three films we watched over the festive season.


I hadn’t seen this is musical-disguised-as-an-excuse-for-Bing-Crosby-to-sing-White-Christmas-yet-again for about a decade when we slumped down in front of it on Boxing Day evening. And now I remember why I’d avoided it for so long. It’s really a hardly-disguised Holiday Inn remake – sure, it’s fun and it’s got some good tunes in the early part (esp Sisters). But from the moment the two young are-they-aren’t-they couples arrive in Vermont, they’ve pretty much lost me.

Danny Kaye apes his way through the whole film, Bing Crosby is a one trick pony, and neither of the girls is that convincing. And as a first use for Paramount’s VistaVision, then cutting-edge widescreen technology, it’s a bit frustrating, mainly because so much of it was filmed in a studio.

Forget this – and watch It’s a Wonderful Life every time instead.


IMDB listing and technorati tag: white christmas