White Christmas (1954) is a favorite Christmas musical for so many people. This is another classic that doesn’t really need a review. Being over 60 years old, I think it’s time for an annotation for younger viewers. Here’s my take on some of the sayings and culture in White Christmas that might need some explanation….
Bing Crosby
Lisa’s Home Bijou: Holiday Inn
Film Festival: The Holidays One of America’s most-beloved Christmas songs is White Christmas. Written by Irving Berlin during World War II, it served as a reminder of home and hearth for many GIs. Bing Crosby introduces the song in the musical, Holiday Inn (1942), a film that is about a lot more than just Christmas….
Lisa’s Home Bijou: “Birth of the Blues”
Film Festival: Summertime Blues ONE OF THE HOMES OF JAZZ AND THE BLUES is Basin Street in New Orleans, the setting for this 1941 musical starring Bing Crosby and Mary Martin. Let’s get one thing straight to begin with: Bing Crosby did not invent the blues. With apologies to real New Orleans bluesmen like Louis Armstrong, Buddy Bolden, and Jelly Roll…