As Christmas fast approaches I decided it would be fun to watch a few seasonal films I hadn't seen yet. This was the first one and it's a wonderful film. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire have terrific chemistry and Irving Berlin's music is top notch. The plot centers around a crooner and a dance man competing for the love of a woman. The crooner, Crosby, owns an inn that has a show on every holiday of the year. The dance man, Astaire, needs a new partner and is eyeing Crosby's gal. Why is Crosby worried? Because Astaire stole his last fiancee. Over all a pleasant film well worth watching, during the holidays or not. I'll save the remake, White Christmas, for next year. Grade B+
Spoiler: But a warning: one holiday isn't so great. For Lincoln's birthday Crosby and company perform in black face and no matter how hard I tried to not let it it bother me it did. It's offensive. I wouldn't say it ruins the film but the scene dissolves away the magic from previous numbers and it took me awhile to get back into the story. Ironically the hit song that originates from this musical is "White Christmas"; it's like a punchline to a bad joke. I hope I don't think of minstrel shows every time I hear that hit song on the radio. As a historic document, this film shows how far we've come but it's still hard to believe such extreme racism once was so commonplace and accepted.
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