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Directed by Michael Curtiz, White Christmas (1954) opens on Christmas Eve 1944, in war-torn Europe, as soldiers of the U.S. Army's 151st Division enjoy a show put on by song-and-dance men Captain Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye). After the war, and over the course of ten years, the duo make it big in nightclubs, radio, and then on Broadway, eventually becoming successful producers. On the same day that their new revue, Playing Around , opens in Florida, Bob and Phil receive a letter from their former mess sergeant asking them to look at an act his two sisters are doing. When they go to the club to watch the Haynes Sisters, Bob is instantly smitten with Betty (Rosemary Clooney), while Phil is attracted to Judy (Vera-Ellen).  When Phil deftly persuades Bob to follow the sisters for a Christmas booking at a ski lodge in Vermont, they discover that the inn is run by their former commanding officer, General Waverly (Tom Jagger). The general has invested a...

Directed by Mark Sandrich, Holiday Inn (1942) begins as crooner Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) prepares to leave show business to marry his partner, Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale), and retire with her to a farm in Connecticut. At the last minute, however, Lila confesses that she has fallen in love with the third member of their act, dancer Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire), and wants to continue performing with him. Although heartbroken, Jim goes through with his plan and bids the act goodbye. After a year of struggling with farm work and several months of recuperation in a sanitarium, Jim decides on a less exhausting occupation and turns his old barn into a country-style entertainment venue called «Holiday Inn,» which will only be open on public holidays. On Christmas Day, Jim hires Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) to star in his shows beginning with the upcoming New Year's Eve performance. On December 31, Holiday Inn opens to a packed house and Ted arrives with the news that Lila has left him fo...

Although I have already celebrated Grace Kelly's 86th birthday with an  article written for The Wonderful Grace Kelly Blogathon , I wanted to write about another one of her films today. So, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you what I believe was either the first or second Grace Kelly film I have seen, which also happens to be one of my personal favorites. Original release poster Directed  by Charles Walters, High Society (1956) revolves around the wedding plans of ice-cold socialite Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly), who is marrying her stiff suitor George Kittredge (John Lund) at her family's estate in Newport, Rhode Island. Tracy's ex-husband, millionaire songwriter C. K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby), is helding a jazz festival that same day, using his neighboring home as a rehearsal hall for special guest Louis Armstrong. When Tracy hears Dexter play the song he wrote especially for her, she goes to his home and accuses him of setting up the festival to disrup...

Theatrical release poster Directed by George Seaton, The Country Girl (1954) begins in a Broadway theater, where stage director Bernie Dodd (William Holden) convinces his reluctant producer, Phil Cook (Anthony Ross), to cast Frank Elgin (Bing Crosby) in their new musical show. Once a successful male lead, Frank now has a reputation as a troublesome alcoholic and lives in a rundown apartment with his wife Georgie (Grace Kelly), a dowdy but still youthful «country girl» who seems to have lost all her promise in life. Frank is hesitant about Bernie's offer at first, not entirely certain that he can handle the work, but Georgie advises him to take the role and do his «level best.» Frank eventually agrees, figuring that he can quit the show if things go wrong. During rehearsals, Frank has trouble concentrating and fears he will not be able to learn his lines in time for the Boston try-out. When Bernie asks him if he is having problems at home, Frank confesses that Georgie has ...