White Christmas - Movie Review

Vera-Ellen and Donaldson in White Christmas (1954)

A Nostalgic Journey with 'White Christmas'

  • 13

Post World War II, ‘White Christmas’ was created to portray the story of entertainer Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, accompanied by the Haynes sisters to preserve a Vermont inn. As they try to put together a large Christmas performance, love interests and crossed signals are at the forefront as everyone else enjoys music and dancing. Everything is interwoven up to the friendship with the added flavor of romance, and then touched with holiday feeling as they assist their former commander who is now the proprietor of the lodge.

The musical is filled with friendship, romance, and give-fourquing mood as they assist their former commander, now the owner of the lodge, during christmas time. The mood is lighthearted and sentimental and always flip-side between comedy, sweetheart, and musicality. My two cents are that everyone experienced watching the movie because it is a warm and fuzzy type of film that reminds us all that despite all the darkness that exists in the world, it’s the happiness of the season that ties us all together.

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are so good as Bob and Phil: they are funny with great chemistry on the screen. Both lead ladies, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen as the Haynes sisters, and do have great chemistry for the romantic scenes as well as the musical numbers. Dean Jagger should be credited for his portrayal of General Waverly: he is touching, believable, makes one feel compassion toward the character. This vision makes charm and timeless factor of the film intact and cherished as the asset of Christmas celebration.

Indeed, music of this film is important with songs of Irving Berlin in it. Songs as ‘White Christmas’ or ‘Sisters’ are unalloyed, thus contributing to the depth and light in the film. A large part of the film’s appeal and perhaps its longevity is the soundtrack.

The visual representation of the 1920s in the film is done well through use of colour and location to record elaborate as well as personal dancing and musical scenes. Setting is beneficial for holiday theming and enhances the movie’s appeal; an understated but strong aspect of production design is the accurate costuming and the sets that establish an accurately representative realistic time period. Although there are no grand stunt scenes of the inn turning into a warm holiday emblem of itself the transitions and setting of musical numbers smoothly flow from one scene to another.

Another strength of the film is in the use of editing to create seamless transitions between musical sequences and the actual plot progress as well as to create a consistent rhythm of pacing. Virtuous combination of musical numbers and dance numbers, thus , maintains the tempo, which is quite necessary for a film’s continuity.

The dialogues are well written too and are both funny and caring reflecting the relationships between the characters. Switching between song and dance, romantic entanglement and comedy, the film is bolstered by a strong story that showcases themes of human affection and camaraderie through the dialogues.

Some audiences may find the film ‘White Christmas’ uniquely unoriginal, primarily because of the repetitiveness of the plot in the narrative. While the ending of the plot seems to be quite satisfying, there are not many twists involved. Nevertheless, its cheerfulness and holiday ambiance easily cover up such flaws.

What is more, watching ‘White Christmas’ is like seeing the worlds of musical cinema of the 50’s - 60-s. It reminds of the feelings which usually accompany the warm atmosphere of home celebrations; therefore, it gives the viewers a kind of positive nostalgia. A must to watch for those who want to make it a plain and fantastic Christmas.