White Christmas (1954) on Netflix
Song-and-dance partners Bob Wallace and Phil Davis meet the Haynes sisters, Betty and Judy, and follow them to a Vermont inn run by their old general, where no snow means no guests.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.6/1057,278 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes76%
Trailer
Plot summary
During World War II, Captain Bob Wallace and Private Phil Davis entertain the 151st Division at a Christmas Eve show before Major General Thomas F. Waverly is reassigned. Phil pulls Bob clear of a collapsing wall and, while recovering, talks him into forming a double act. After the war the two are a famous song-and-dance team. In Florida they watch the Haynes Sisters perform and meet Betty and Judy; Phil hands the sisters his and Bob's train tickets when their landlord calls the police, and the four travel to Vermont together. The sisters are booked at a ski lodge in Pine Tree, where the men find the retired General Waverly running an empty inn, his savings sunk into it and no snow to draw guests. Bob and Phil plan a big show to fill it.
Cast
- Bea Allenas Dancer (uncredited)
- Glen Cargyleas Jeep Driver (uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
- Lorinne Crawfordas Rita (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about White Christmas (1954)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Just before shooting was to begin Donald O'Connor had to drop out because of illness and was replaced by Danny Kaye, who asked for and received a salary of $200,000 and 10% of the gross.
- Writers Norman Panama and Melvin Frank scrapped Norman Krasna's original script and rewrote it themselves for $5,000 a week each; Frank later called it the worst experience of his career and Panama described the process as eight torturous weeks.
- A photograph Vera-Ellen's character shows off as her brother 'Freckle-faced Haynes' is not really a relative at all, but a picture of actor Carl Switzer, best known as Alfalfa from the Our Gang comedies, dressed in an army jacket.
- The song 'Snow' began life as a rejected number called 'Free' written for the musical Call Me Madam; Irving Berlin kept the melody and reworked the lyrics to fit a Christmas movie after it was cut during out-of-town tryouts.
- Because there was no time for dance director Robert Alton to prepare Danny Kaye for all of the dance specialties, John Brascia was pressed into service as Vera-Ellen's dancing partner through much of the movie.
- Bing Crosby left the project for a time after the death of his wife, in order to spend more time with his sons.
