White Christmas movie storyline. After World War II, song and dance men Bob Wallace and Phil Davis form a successful partnership, eventually becoming top Broadway producers. Bob agrees to take in a nightclub act by the Haynes sisters, Betty and Judy, as a favor, so he thinks, for their brother who served with Bob and Phil in the war. Phil has always been trying to get Bob interested in a girl, usually one in the show, but when he realizes that Bob is smitten with Betty, he arranges to accompany them to their show at a small Vermont Inn.
Imagine their surprise when they learn that their old commanding officer, Major General Tom Waverley, is the owner. He’s sunk his savings and his pension into the venture but it has yet to snow and it looks like he’s on the verge of bankruptcy. They come up with a plan to help the General out, but a misunderstanding leads to a rift between Bob and Betty, leaving it to Phil and Judy to try and get them back together.
White Christmas is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, “White Christmas”, introduced by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn.
Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is notable for being the first to be released in VistaVision, a widescreen process developed by Paramount that entailed using twice the surface area of standard 35mm film; this large-area negative was also used to yield finer-grained standard-sized 35mm prints.
Berlin suggested a movie based on his song in 1948. Paramount put up the $2 million budget and only took 30% of the proceeds. Mel Frank and Norman Panama were hired to add material for Danny Kaye. They felt the whole script needed rewriting and Curtiz agreed. “”It was a torturous eight weeks of rewriting,” said Panama. Frank said “writing that movie was the worst experience of my life. Norman Krasna was a talented man but… it was the lousiest story I’d ever heard. It needed a brand new story, one that made sense.” They did the job at $5,000 a week.
Principal photography took place between September and December 1953. The film was the first to be shot using Paramount’s new VistaVision process, with color by Technicolor, and was one of the first to feature the Perspecta directional sound system at limited engagements.
White Christmas (1954)
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes, Johnny Grant, John Brascia, Anne Whitfield, Percy Helton, Stanford Jolley, Barrie Chase
Screenplay by: Norman Krasna, Norman Panama. Melvin Frank
Production Design by: Andrew J. Durkus, Curtis Mick
Cinematography by: Loyal Griggs
Film Editing by: Frank Bracht
Costume Design by: Edith Head
Set Decoration by: Sam Comer, Grace Gregory
Art Direction by: Roland Anderson, Hal Pereira
Music by: Gus Levene, Joseph J. Lilley, Van Cleave
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: October 14, 1954
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