Holiday Inn (1942) - 10/7 (1 Viewer)

[telzall]

You have a good point, though. Rather than two versions of the same film (one of which is bogus), I'd rather have another classic with the same two stars and the same composer.

Agreed!! One of which is worse than bogus!

 

[Ejanss]

I like this better than White Christmas. Even though Danny Kaye does a great job in WC I would have liked to see Fred and Bing together again. I'll watch both versions of the movie.

White Christmas is but a pale, outdated shadow of HI.
Apart from Singin' in the Rain, I don't cotton much to 50's "scavenger" musicals that tried to piece together stories out of past composer hits, and put the big hit in the movie title...In the 40's, every musical was new. And they had nightclubs back then, not TV.
(And Fred Astaire was still a wiseass back then, not playing "daddy-figure" to Leslie Caron or Audrey Hepburn.)

Only time I saw Holiday Inn was on non-TCM commercial TV, where, of course, they had to cut the Lincoln's-birthday "Abraham" number...Even though that song also showed up in White Christmas as an instrumental.

 

[Matt Hough]

White Christmas is but a pale, outdated shadow of HI.
Apart from Singin' in the Rain, I don't cotton much to 50's "scavenger" musicals that tried to piece together stories out of past composer hits, and put the big hit in the movie title...In the 40's, every musical was new. And they had nightclubs back then, not TV.


Only time I saw Holiday Inn was on non-TCM commercial TV, where, of course, they had to cut the Lincoln's-birthday "Abraham" number...Even though that song also showed up in White Christmas as an instrumental.

Not every musical in the 1940s used new music. MGM and Warners had those all-star composer bios that used all of the composers' famous catalog of hits. And you certainly know that the Irving Berlin musicals of the 1940s like Easter Parade and Blue Skies were a mix of old AND new Berlin tunes. Even Holiday Inn recycled "Easter Parade" though all of the other songs were new to the film.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Not every musical in the 1940s used new music. MGM and Warners had those all-star composer bios that used all of the composers' famous catalog of hits. And you certainly know that the Irving Berlin musicals of the 1940s like Easter Parade and Blue Skies were a mix of old AND new Berlin tunes. Even Holiday Inn recycled "Easter Parade" though all of the other songs were new to the film.

Matt, you're absolutely correct and didn't Irving Berlin start his participation in this practice of writing film scores that mixed old and new songs with 20th's Alexander's Ragtime Band in 1938 way before the "scavenger" musicals of the 50's? Actually, it was a brilliant business move on Mr. Berlin's part as he found this method of recycling his old songs kept public interest high, so they kept buying the sheet music which put money in his pocket. Needless to say, he wrote some of the best songs in the American songbook and profit-wise or not they deserve to be heard for eternity.

 

[Matt Hough]

Irving Berlin was certainly the master of peddling his vast songbook to studios with the promise of new material if needed. And you're right, Joel, doing this kept many of his earliest songs like "Always" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" front and center through decade after decade which kept royalties rolling in for him and insuring that many of his songs weren't flash-in-the-pan hits but standards.

 

[AshJW]

Even if Holiday Inn is better than White Christmas (and it is), the lat(t)er is still a good picture.

I don't get this bashing on White Christmas.
Can't we be happy about the fact that both films will be on Blu?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Even if Holiday Inn is better than White Cristmas (and it is), the lat(t)er is still a good picture.

I don't get this bashing on White Cristmas.
Can't we be happy about the fact that both films will be on Blu?

Because that's what people do.......

 

[Bob_S.]

If you are referring to me (which I don't THINK you are). I do like White Christmas and have it on Blu. I just like Holiday Inn better.

 

[smithbrad]

I've seen White Christmas many times over the years, it is standard in our household to watch every Christmas. Just last year i picked up Holiday Inn and watched it for the first time. We all liked it very much but there are a few scene's I cringed at a bit and felt the need to discuss with my daughters before watching again. It shows its age in those scenes, but otherwise it is an excellent story.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I always found WHITE CHRISTMAS just a bit better than HOLIDAY INN because of the stronger female leads. Marjorie Reynolds is so bland to me and the other girl, whose name I don't even recall now, is not very likable and doesn't have much to do anyway. Whereas in WHITE CHRISTMAS we have the incredibly talented Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, who work very well together as sisters and as love interests for Bing and Danny. Add Dean Jagger and Mary Wickes to the mix, stir in some VistaVision and Technicolor, and WHITE CHRISTMAS wins the race for me.

 

[David_B_K]

I like both. White Christmas has all that great Technicolor, but Bing is a bit too laid back in it for me. Fortunately, Danny Kaye picks up a lot of the slack. And White Christmas has little to do with Christmas (or snow) until the end. I like how Holiday Inn actually features the holidays a bit more, and I think it has better songs over all. But Astaire's character is kind of a jerk, and Walter Abel is obnoxious. So, both films have plusses and minuses. I'd probably go with White Christmas by a nose. Some sort of combination of the two would make a really good film.

 

[moviebuff75]

WC is in my top ten favorite movies, but both are in my top ten favorite Christmas movies. HI features a world I would love to live in.

 

[John Hodson]

I've seen a HD broadcast of this and it's gorgeous; like It's A Wonderful Life, it really grieves me to own a 'crayoned in' version, but I'll certainly be getting this,

 

[classicmovieguy]

"White Christmas" always holds the edge for me, mainly because of Rosemary Clooney and those wonderful Vera-Ellen/Danny Kaye dance numbers.

 

[Todd J Moore]

I really like HI, but WC is my personal favorite Christmas movie. I got to see it on the big screen last year at an AMC and absolutely loved the experience plus the audience was actually respectful of what they were watching. Maybe that's a Philly thing since a lot of old movies that I've seen in NYC at the Film Forum the audience sniggers their way through whereas in Philly it seems that the people seeing those old movies WANT to see them. Anyhow, I'll pick up HI on Blu. It's worth it just for the Fourth of July sequence.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Now Available For Preorder
The link below will take you directly to the product on Amazon. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

 

[Konstantinos]

Hope 1 disc is enough for the 2 versions of the film + the extras!

 

[lukejosephchung]

Hope 1 disc is enough for the 2 versions of the film + the extras!

If it's a BD-50 pressing, it should be.

 

[David Weicker]

Pre-ordered using link.VERY happy for more Astaire on Blu

 

[Ejanss]

Because that's what people do.......

And because it's punishing the poor naive stupid-people who watch WC first because "Look, the song's in the title!"

I wouldn't mind the 50's movie itself (it's not much, but it's there), you just end up resenting the movie for its fan reputation.