Post by morrisondylanfan on Dec 19, 2019 14:21:53 GMT
The good:
- Gorgeous color!
- Bing Crosby was one of the great voices of the 20th century, and the title song a mega-hit of those long, pre-rock decades.
- Some impressive dance numbers, particularly those featuring...
- Vera-Ellen, anorexic and said to have the smallest waist in Hollywood. Her long legs are of proportions normally found only in glamor illustrations.
- WW2 nostalgia, just nine years later. The opening scene has a painted "Vermont" in a bombed out building; the final scene has a painted bombed out ruin in the real Vermont.
The bad:
- None of the principle four are romantic lead material.
- Apart from the title song, little of Irving Berlin's score is very memorable.
- A paper-thin plot, traditional in musicals. The "keep the General from watching TV" skit is feeble.
The weird:
- What a boring act the famous "Wallace & Davis" have!
- Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye do a mock-gay routine with extra mincing.
- They do a Minstrel Show without blackface.
- They lampoon Martha Graham and modern dance in "Choreography".
- When the big show moves to the lodge, where does everyone stay? Any room for paying guests?
- How do they fit such gargantuan sets into that little dining room? (Busby Berkeley would do the same thing).
- It's not really a Christmas film.
Edith Head costumes. First VistaVision film.
Available on a lovely Blu-ray.
