white christmas

December 25 movie: White Christmas. Not exactly a remake of Holiday Inn, in fact not a remake at all. But they both have Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas." I think I prefer Holiday Inn because it has Fred Astaire. But White Christmas has Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen singing "Sisters." Which I hear Pinky does an excellent version of, and maybe if we pester her enough she will sing it for us. Vera Ellen, by the way, is amazingly athletic. Her legs are so muscular they could belong to a fitness model today. I had to wonder if those legs were considered attractive at the time: I thought in the 50s people preferred a softer, more curvy look. Ellen is all sinew and muscle. She also wears a horribly tight girdle that pinches her waist into a waspy shape that I found a bit painful to look at, which may have been an attempt to give her lean, athletic frame some approximation of an hourglass figure.

Anyway, enough about Vera Ellen's body. The movie is fun, silly and implausible with lots of great singing and dancing. Which is all you can ask for in a musical. I especially appreciated "Choreography," the dance number where Danny Kaye makes fun of Martha Graham and Gene Kelly.

This is the second year in a row we've watched White Christmas on Christmas Day. Last year was at the late lamented Madstone Theater; this year on commercial television with Georg's folks. I wonder if this is our new Christmas tradition.