White Christmas

This movie is one of my favorite Christmas movies. I didn’t discover it until a few years ago but since then I’ve watched it every Christmas without fail. It’s a cute little romance story set in a surprisingly warm Pine Tree Vermont in December staring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

Our main characters, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis met in World War II. Bob already had a solo voice act before the war but after Phil saved his live, injuring his arm in the process, his solo became a duet. Now that the two have become wildly famous, Davis has taken it upon himself to secure Bob’s happiness and find him a wife, his ulterior motive being a little time all to himself. Enter Betty and Judy Haynes, sisters of an old army pal of Bob and Phil. Betty is the ‘mother hen’ older sister and Judy is the manipulative scamp. If it’s for their greater good, she’ll do it without hesitation. When Bob takes notice of Betty, Phil instantly decides to sent them up, whatever it takes. This leads them straight to Vermont and a snowless ski lodge run by Bob and Phil’s former army General.

Enter the plot. General Waverly, his granddaughter and his house keeper run this ski lodge. The problem is there’s no snow. No snow means no skiing, no skiing means no business and no business means no money. They’d already hired the Haynes sisters to perform for their guests which now don’t exist. Our four main characters decide to help out the old General by bringing the whole Wallace and Davis show up to the lodge. Bob soon learns, however that this isn’t quite enough to lift General Waverly’s spirits and decides to doing something extra special for the old man.

I like this movie for two main reasons. The first is the romance. This is not your typical romance. Bob and Betty don’t hate each other but they’re not exactly friendly either. They spend the movie going back and forth between getting along perfectly and squabbling about something. Usually it’s Betty getting offended or misled about Bob’s intentions and pushing him away. Poor Bob. Naturally, Phil and Judy can’t be left out. Initially they get along very well but the romantic spark is rather downplayed by their schemes to get Bob and Betty together. I’m not entirely sure how it is that Phil is the one who gets the girls when he acts rather awkward in reply to Judy’s advances. Bob and Betty’s relationship feels extremely natural, despite their friends pushing them towards it. Even after they kiss for the first time it’s not a huge change for them. They just keep going as they had before, pretending it was no big deal.

The other reason I love this movie is the music. Yes, White Christmas is a musical. Again, though, it feels natural. A lot of the time the music is in context. Bob and Phil are professional performers, with their own TV show and everything. Betty and Judy are more armature but they have a lot of talent and also perform for a living. So with a few exceptions the song and dance numbers happen during a show or rehearsal. Even those few songs that occur outside of the show feel natural because we know this is what they do. It just seems right for Phil to sing to Judy as they dance, and for Bob to serenade Betty during their late night chance meeting.

So if you haven’t seen it, go watch it. If you have, watch it again. It’s a good movie.