As part of the holiday block party celebrations this week, the good folks at the historic Jones Theater have pitched in with a one-time showing of the Christmas classic White Christmas on Saturday, November 29 at 5 p.m.
In an attempt to place a âclassicâ movie in its historical 1954 context, we begin our 2025 preview with a lengthy quote from Bosley Crowther, a beloved curmudgeon who wrote for the New York Times back in the day. These are excerpts from his very critical and negative October 15, 1954 review:
âIt was twelve years ago that Bing Crosby was in a place and a film called Holiday Inn, wherein he sang a little number tagged âWhite Christmas,â writtenâas was all the music in that pictureâby Irving Berlin. The occasion was happily historic, for a reason we scarcely need recall: âWhite Christmasâ and Mr. Crosby became like âGod Bless Americaâ and Kate Smithâso much so, indeed, that the notion of starring Mr. Crosby in a film that would have the title White Christmas was broached as long as six years ago. Various obstructions beset it, but the purpose was ultimately achieved. White Christmas with Mr. Crosby, opened yesterday at the [Radio City] Music Hall. Whatâs more, it is in Technicolor and VistaVision, which is Paramountâs new wide-screen device, and it has Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen in addition to its focal star. A new batch of Irving Berlin numbers comprises its musical score. Paramount, to put it simply, has done White Christmas up brown. But, oddly enough, the confection is not so tasty as one might suppose. The flavoring is largely in the line-up and not in the output of the cooks. Everyone works hard at the business of singing, dancing and cracking jokes, but the stuff that they work with is minor. It doesnât have the old inspiration and spark. For one thing, the credited scriptwriters⌠have shown very little imagination in putting together what is sometimes called the âbookââŚ
âIt is a routine accumulation of standard romance and sentiment, blessed by a few funny set-ups that are usually grabbed with most effect by Mr. Kaye. And the music of Mr. Berlin is a good bit less than inspired. Outside of the old âWhite Christmas,â which is sung at the beginning and the end, there are only a couple of numbers that have a measure of charmâŚThree numbers are given over to the admiration of generals and Army life, which seems not alone an extravagance but a reckless audacity. Even the sweetness of Dean Jagger as the old general does not justify the expense. âSomeoneâs nostalgia for the war years and the U.S.O. tours has taken the show awry. Fortunately, the use of VistaVision has made it possible to endow White Christmas with a fine pictorial quality. The colors on the big screen are rich and luminous, the images are clear and sharp, and rapid movements are got without blurring⌠Director Michael Curtiz has made his picture look good. It is too bad that it doesnât hit the eardrums and the funny bone with equal force.â
In 1954, White Christmas turned Crowther and other negative critics on their ear; it became the yearâs most popular box office hit and most popular musical film. At the Academy Awards, it was recognized in a nomination of âCount Your Blessingsâ for Best Song, âWhite Christmasâ already having gotten the Oscar for Best Song in 1942. âThree Coins in a Fountainâ took Best Song, and was sung at the ceremony by Frank Sinatra; the film On the Waterfront, starring Marlon Brandon, swept the majority of Oscars that year, although in what was considered a major upset at the time, Grace Kelly was awarded Best Actress award for her performance in The Country Girl, over Judy Garland, considered a shoe in for starring in A Star is Born.
Enough of nostalgia, letâs fast forward 71 years to the here-and-now reality that White Christmas is perennially listed in the top 100 films of all time, is viewed by hundreds of thousands if not millions of households over the winter holidays, has been successfully promoted by Paramount since 1960, and comes to Main Street, Westcliffe this coming Saturday. âClassicâ films that render life-as-it-was in their production time are caught in the trap of viewing them from life-as-it-is realities, in this case 2025 and economic and political scenarios that could not have been foreseen those many decades ago.
We like what Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer Monica Hesse had to say about this dilemma in the Washington Post seven years ago. She wrote a lengthy essay in the year Paramount reintroduced White Christmas to the big screen, particularly addressing the tendency either to defend and protect this classic film from its âdated, cringy stuffâ and simply enjoy it as background noise while gift wrapping, or to boycott it for this same âstuff.â Acknowledging that White Christmas is âa bit of a weird movie to have achieved such stature in the Christmas pantheon,â she homes in on the tension of enjoy vs avoid.
âHereâs a reminder,â she wrote, âthat itâs possible to love something deeplyâ obsessively, evenâand, because you love it so much, to wish that it were better. To point out its flaws and demand its improvement. Itâs true of old movies, itâs true of historical figures, itâs true of culture, itâs true of America.â
And then too, to denouncers on the other side, remember âthere was hope. Everyone could come together to save the hotel and the kind old general. It would snow at the end.â During which, she wishes us good luck in not tearing up.
Hey, step into ordinary American wrestling with our once-upon-a-time values and our here-and-now values by spicing up your holiday prep on Main Street with a late afternoon two hour immersion in White Christmas. (It is so old it is not rated!) Doors open at the historic Jones 30 minutes before the 5 p.m. screen time, a free admission. Youâll think Bing Crosby is crooning to you and your family alone while you find your way to your seat.
Enjoy!
â W.A. Ewing
