“White Christmas” (1954)
White Christmas was part of my recent holiday-dvd-buying binge, and I thought it would be a good New Year’s Eve movie. It was, as long as I could stay awake. I had to finish the last hour on New Year’s Night. It’s good, but has too many musical and dance numbers crammed in. Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby are a delight to listen to, Danny Kaye is occasionally funny, Vera-Ellen–whose physique is eerily Barbie-esque–is fun to watch dance. But the plot, about Crosby and Kaye putting on a show to benefit their old army general, drags on, and several of the Irving Berlin songs are duds. Not, of course, the title song, but the out-of-tune “Snow,” the weird one about the general, and all three (or four? argh.) renditions of “Sisters” could all have been cut to good effect. Mostly charming and funny, but next time I may skip some scenes.