The holiday song “White Christmas” is one of the most unforgettable songs of the holiday season. Bing Crosby made it iconic, but did he ever get sick of singing “White Christmas?”
Bing Crosby made ‘White Christmas’ a hit in 1942, but did he get sick of singing it?
The song “White Christmas” was made famous by Bing Crosby in the 1942 Christmas movie Holiday Inn. The “White Christmas” song was adapted twelve years later into a full-length film starring Crosby and Danny Kaye.
The song and film became Crosby’s calling card, despite many other hits synonymous with the singer throughout his career. But in a 1977 interview with Barbara Walters, Crosby revealed his real feelings about the holiday hit.
Walters asked Crosby, “Are you sick of ‘White Christmas?'” He replied, “No, no, I could never be sick of it. I just fear that people will be sick of it.”
Subsequently, Crosby...
Bing Crosby made ‘White Christmas’ a hit in 1942, but did he get sick of singing it?
The song “White Christmas” was made famous by Bing Crosby in the 1942 Christmas movie Holiday Inn. The “White Christmas” song was adapted twelve years later into a full-length film starring Crosby and Danny Kaye.
The song and film became Crosby’s calling card, despite many other hits synonymous with the singer throughout his career. But in a 1977 interview with Barbara Walters, Crosby revealed his real feelings about the holiday hit.
Walters asked Crosby, “Are you sick of ‘White Christmas?'” He replied, “No, no, I could never be sick of it. I just fear that people will be sick of it.”
Subsequently, Crosby...
- 12/24/2023
- by Lucille Barilla
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Bob The Barber”
By Raymond Benson
One of actor/comedian Bob Hope’s most cherished films is Monsieur Beaucaire, a 1946 remake of a Rudolph Valentino silent picture from 1924, both of which are based on a 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington. Hope’s version, directed by George Marshall, is certainly a loose adaptation because it turned what was a historical romantic drama into a flat-out comedy.
Woody Allen has been known to cite early Bob Hope movies as an inspiration for his onscreen persona in the director’s early “zany” comedies like Bananas and Sleeper. When one views something like Monsieur Beaucaire or My Favorite Blonde (1942), the comparison is strikingly apt. Hope creates a persona of nervous mannerisms, lack of self confidence masked by bravado, clumsy but endearing interaction with the opposite sex, and witty one-liners. Beaucaire exhibits Hope in fine form, producing a good...
“Bob The Barber”
By Raymond Benson
One of actor/comedian Bob Hope’s most cherished films is Monsieur Beaucaire, a 1946 remake of a Rudolph Valentino silent picture from 1924, both of which are based on a 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington. Hope’s version, directed by George Marshall, is certainly a loose adaptation because it turned what was a historical romantic drama into a flat-out comedy.
Woody Allen has been known to cite early Bob Hope movies as an inspiration for his onscreen persona in the director’s early “zany” comedies like Bananas and Sleeper. When one views something like Monsieur Beaucaire or My Favorite Blonde (1942), the comparison is strikingly apt. Hope creates a persona of nervous mannerisms, lack of self confidence masked by bravado, clumsy but endearing interaction with the opposite sex, and witty one-liners. Beaucaire exhibits Hope in fine form, producing a good...
- 1/15/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
With the Oscars coronating another winner for best original song, it’s an occasion to look back at 20 of the times when the golden guy got it most right with the tune he carried, from “Lullaby of Broadway” to “Lose Yourself.”
1: “White Christmas”
from “Holiday Inn” (1942), by Irving Berlin
It always feels strange watching the “Holiday Inn” scene where Bing Crosby, playing a songwriter, teaches this song to Marjorie Reynolds as something that had recently come off the top of his head, because implicit in the scene is the idea that “White Christmas” was written by a human, not God. The same could be said of its status of an Oscar winner, which never fails to surprise younger generations: Isn’t it from a hymnal of some sort? If it’s true that Berlin said at the time that it wasn’t just the best song he ever wrote...
1: “White Christmas”
from “Holiday Inn” (1942), by Irving Berlin
It always feels strange watching the “Holiday Inn” scene where Bing Crosby, playing a songwriter, teaches this song to Marjorie Reynolds as something that had recently come off the top of his head, because implicit in the scene is the idea that “White Christmas” was written by a human, not God. The same could be said of its status of an Oscar winner, which never fails to surprise younger generations: Isn’t it from a hymnal of some sort? If it’s true that Berlin said at the time that it wasn’t just the best song he ever wrote...
- 4/25/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Fritz Lang’s third wartime anti-Nazi film is an Alfred Hitchcock-type spy chase taken from a psychological novel by Graham Greene, with the psychology angle transferred mostly to physical threats — ticking clocks, a mystery cake, and German bombs in the Blitz. Ray Milland is cool and collected for a man just released from a mental asylum, and proves up to the task of defeating a Nazi conspiracy.
Ministry of Fear
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1944 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 86 min. / Street Date August 27, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £14.99
Starring: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Hillary Brooke, Percy Waram, Dan Duryea, Alan Napier, Erskine Sanford, Byron Foulger.
Cinematography: Henry Sharp
Film Editor: Victor Young
Original Music: Victor Young
Written by Seton I. Miller from the novel by Graham Greene
Produced by Seton I. Miller
Directed by Fritz Lang
Why do we go for certain Region B Blu-ray imports, even...
Ministry of Fear
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1944 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 86 min. / Street Date August 27, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £14.99
Starring: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Hillary Brooke, Percy Waram, Dan Duryea, Alan Napier, Erskine Sanford, Byron Foulger.
Cinematography: Henry Sharp
Film Editor: Victor Young
Original Music: Victor Young
Written by Seton I. Miller from the novel by Graham Greene
Produced by Seton I. Miller
Directed by Fritz Lang
Why do we go for certain Region B Blu-ray imports, even...
- 8/28/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films – in about 15 of which as a leading lady or star – in a movie career spanning three decades. Good for the relatively few who saw her on stage; bad for all those who have access to only a few performances of one of the most remarkable acting talents of the 20th century. This evening, TCM is showing three Vivien Leigh movies: Gone with the Wind (1939), 21 Days Together (1940), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Leigh won Best Actress Academy Awards for the first and the third title. The little-remembered film in-between is a TCM premiere. 'Gone with the Wind' Seemingly all...
- 8/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Bing Crosby once joked that a "jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully." But if it wasn't for Crosby's soothing rendition of the Irving Berlin classic, "White Christmas" probably wouldn't have gone on to become the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time. In the American Masters documentary Bing Crosby Rediscovered - which debuted earlier this month on PBS but will air again at 9 p.m. Et on Dec. 26 - director Robert Trachtenberg looks back at the indelible mark the song made on both history and the crooner's legacy. "Bing had no problem being best known for this...
- 12/25/2014
- by Lynette Rice, @lynetterice
- PEOPLE.com
Bing Crosby once joked that a "jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully." But if it wasn't for Crosby's soothing rendition of the Irving Berlin classic, "White Christmas" probably wouldn't have gone on to become the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time. In the American Masters documentary Bing Crosby Rediscovered - which debuted earlier this month on PBS but will air again at 9 p.m. Et on Dec. 26 - director Robert Trachtenberg looks back at the indelible mark the song made on both history and the crooner's legacy. "Bing had no problem being best known for this...
- 12/25/2014
- by Lynette Rice, @lynetterice
- PEOPLE.com
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy in ‘Gone with the Wind’: TCM schedule on August 20, 2013 (photo: Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel in ‘Gone with the Wind’) See previous post: “Hattie McDaniel: Oscar Winner Makes History.” 3:00 Am Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943). Director: David Butler. Cast: Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Eddie Cantor, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, John Garfield, Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan, Dinah Shore, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, George Tobias, Edward Everett Horton, S.Z. Sakall, Hattie McDaniel, Ruth Donnelly, Don Wilson, Spike Jones, Henry Armetta, Leah Baird, Willie Best, Monte Blue, James Burke, David Butler, Stanley Clements, William Desmond, Ralph Dunn, Frank Faylen, James Flavin, Creighton Hale, Sam Harris, Paul Harvey, Mark Hellinger, Brandon Hurst, Charles Irwin, Noble Johnson, Mike Mazurki, Fred Kelsey, Frank Mayo, Joyce Reynolds, Mary Treen, Doodles Weaver. Bw-127 mins. 5:15 Am Janie (1944). Director: Michael Curtiz. Cast: Joyce Reynolds, Robert Hutton,...
- 8/21/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ministry of Fear is a film that wouldn't work if not for insanity. The arc of the drama would be too haphazard, the explanations too unsatisfying, and the actions of its villains (to say nothing of its hero) too wildly irrational. But this is Europe in 1944, and irrationality is the order of the day. It's in the drone of planes overhead, the casual talk of blackout time, and the suspicious glances on the street. Because the world waiting for Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) when he gets out of the mental hospital has gone just as mad as him.
A wartime thriller from Fritz Lang (let's call it a noir), Ministry of Fear is generally regarded as one of the German director's more obscure American films, a status that will hopefully shift now that it has been released, and thus quasi-canonized, by the Criterion Collection. On the face of it, this...
A wartime thriller from Fritz Lang (let's call it a noir), Ministry of Fear is generally regarded as one of the German director's more obscure American films, a status that will hopefully shift now that it has been released, and thus quasi-canonized, by the Criterion Collection. On the face of it, this...
- 5/7/2013
- by Duncan Gray
- MUBI
Chicago – Slight on special features and not as instantly recognizable as some recent inductions into the Criterion Collection like “On the Waterfront” or “Badlands,” Fritz Lang’s “Ministry of Fear” could easily slip under the radar even for people who know and love the thriller. Lang is one of the most interesting filmmakers of his era, as he found ways to inject his seemingly traditional work with much-more-complex themes. Working in Hollywood during World War II, Lang made thrillers that were more than just thrillers. “Ministry of Fear” is one of his best.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
While it’s an entertaining thriller with top-notch production values and a surprisingly great performance from Ray Milland, part of the problem with the legacy of “Ministry of Fear” is the films with which it is easy to compare. Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” would touch on some of the same themes and is a vastly superior film,...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
While it’s an entertaining thriller with top-notch production values and a surprisingly great performance from Ray Milland, part of the problem with the legacy of “Ministry of Fear” is the films with which it is easy to compare. Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” would touch on some of the same themes and is a vastly superior film,...
- 3/25/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
And Then There Was… Badlands
By Raymond Benson
Terrence Malick fans will rejoice for the newly restored (and director approved, I might add—so apparently he’s not as reclusive as he’s been made out to be), marvelous release of the auteur’s first, and very low-budget, feature film. It was originally screened at festivals in 1973, and released to the public in early ’74. No punches pulled here—Badlands is a masterpiece, and its arrival immediately garnered a fan following for the enigmatic director who has made only five films in so many decades. But as producer Edward Pressman says in the exclusive video interview that The Criterion Collection included as one of several good extras, Badlands was not a success on its first release. Reviews were mixed—as would be the case for any Malick film—and the public didn’t go see it. Pressman also had to fight...
By Raymond Benson
Terrence Malick fans will rejoice for the newly restored (and director approved, I might add—so apparently he’s not as reclusive as he’s been made out to be), marvelous release of the auteur’s first, and very low-budget, feature film. It was originally screened at festivals in 1973, and released to the public in early ’74. No punches pulled here—Badlands is a masterpiece, and its arrival immediately garnered a fan following for the enigmatic director who has made only five films in so many decades. But as producer Edward Pressman says in the exclusive video interview that The Criterion Collection included as one of several good extras, Badlands was not a success on its first release. Reviews were mixed—as would be the case for any Malick film—and the public didn’t go see it. Pressman also had to fight...
- 3/21/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Fritz Lang aficionados can rejoice this month with Criterion’s release of his 1944 title, Ministry of Fear, the first time it sees a DVD transfer. Long regarded as a minor entry in Lang’s prestigious filmography, the last of a successive trio of anti-Nazi themed films from the German émigré is finally available for rediscovery. Though it may never escape its current status in the pantheon of its director’s legacy, it certainly stands out as an oddly constructed creature, a fussy war time noir whose sinister narrative is occluded by a stagnant paranoia that stirs the proceedings into a twisty nightmare.
Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) has just been released from Embridge Asylum in England while World War II rages on. He’s been put away for two years and insistently plans on traveling directly to London, even though it’s being bombed continuously. On the way there, he innocently stops at a village fair,...
Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) has just been released from Embridge Asylum in England while World War II rages on. He’s been put away for two years and insistently plans on traveling directly to London, even though it’s being bombed continuously. On the way there, he innocently stops at a village fair,...
- 3/19/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 12, 2013
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Criterion
Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds star in Ministry of Fear.
The 1944 crime drama film-noir Ministry of Fear is a Fritz Lang (Metropolis) adaptation of a 1943 novel by Graham Greene.
En route to London after being released from a mental institution, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland, Dial M For Murder) stops at a seemingly innocent village fair, after which he finds himself caught in the web of a sinister underworld with possible Nazi connections.
Lang was among the most illustrious of the European émigré filmmakers working in Hollywood during World War II, of course, and Ministry of Fear is one of his finest American productions, an unpredictable thriller suffused with dread and paranoia—with style to spare.
The Criterion Blu-ray and DVD editions of Ministry of Fear contain the following bonus features:
• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the...
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Criterion
Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds star in Ministry of Fear.
The 1944 crime drama film-noir Ministry of Fear is a Fritz Lang (Metropolis) adaptation of a 1943 novel by Graham Greene.
En route to London after being released from a mental institution, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland, Dial M For Murder) stops at a seemingly innocent village fair, after which he finds himself caught in the web of a sinister underworld with possible Nazi connections.
Lang was among the most illustrious of the European émigré filmmakers working in Hollywood during World War II, of course, and Ministry of Fear is one of his finest American productions, an unpredictable thriller suffused with dread and paranoia—with style to spare.
The Criterion Blu-ray and DVD editions of Ministry of Fear contain the following bonus features:
• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the...
- 12/28/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Director: Charles Barton.
Writers: Val Burton, Walter DeLeon and Bradford Ropes.
Cast: Marjorie Reynolds, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Abbott and Costello is a comedic team that brought about a resurrection for Universal Studios. Their films from 1948 to 1953 brought back the monsters from the Golden Age of Hollywood legend and it made for some very good laughs. For the most part, these films were a modest success. The most widely recognized is Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but the list does not end there.
However, the least recognized of these films is a product that does not involve them meeting anyone other than themselves in a twist of a Buddhist tradition. Bad karma finally caught up on Cuthbert Greenway (Bud Abbott), and he has to right what his ancestor did wrong.
Perhaps that's one of the ironies of why The Time of Their Lives is still enduring today. The script...
Writers: Val Burton, Walter DeLeon and Bradford Ropes.
Cast: Marjorie Reynolds, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Abbott and Costello is a comedic team that brought about a resurrection for Universal Studios. Their films from 1948 to 1953 brought back the monsters from the Golden Age of Hollywood legend and it made for some very good laughs. For the most part, these films were a modest success. The most widely recognized is Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but the list does not end there.
However, the least recognized of these films is a product that does not involve them meeting anyone other than themselves in a twist of a Buddhist tradition. Bad karma finally caught up on Cuthbert Greenway (Bud Abbott), and he has to right what his ancestor did wrong.
Perhaps that's one of the ironies of why The Time of Their Lives is still enduring today. The script...
- 10/26/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Ed Sum)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
A Garfield Christmas (Comfort & Joy)
ABC Family, 7 Am Et
Garfield travels with Jon and Odie to the countryside to celebrate Christmas with Jon's farm family.
Eloise at Christmastime (Sugarplum Romance)
Disney, 12 Pm Et
Eloise can't resist and interferes as the Plaza Hotel prepares for a romantic Christmas Eve wedding.
Santa Baby (Family Dramedy)
ABC Family, 6 Pm Et
When Santa (George Wendt) becomes ill, his estranged daughter (Jenny McCarthy), a high-powered consultant, returns to tinker with tradition.
Holiday Inn (Classic Cheer)
AMC, 10:45 Pm Et
A singer (Bing Crosby) and a dancer (Fred Astaire) battle for a performer's (Marjorie Reynolds) affections at a New England inn, open only for the holidays.
What else is showing this season? See the complete Holiday TV Movie Guide: The 12 Flavors of Christmas.
And if you're wondering what to buy the movie lovers on your shopping list, check out our Holiday Gifts store.
Next Showing:
Link...
ABC Family, 7 Am Et
Garfield travels with Jon and Odie to the countryside to celebrate Christmas with Jon's farm family.
Eloise at Christmastime (Sugarplum Romance)
Disney, 12 Pm Et
Eloise can't resist and interferes as the Plaza Hotel prepares for a romantic Christmas Eve wedding.
Santa Baby (Family Dramedy)
ABC Family, 6 Pm Et
When Santa (George Wendt) becomes ill, his estranged daughter (Jenny McCarthy), a high-powered consultant, returns to tinker with tradition.
Holiday Inn (Classic Cheer)
AMC, 10:45 Pm Et
A singer (Bing Crosby) and a dancer (Fred Astaire) battle for a performer's (Marjorie Reynolds) affections at a New England inn, open only for the holidays.
What else is showing this season? See the complete Holiday TV Movie Guide: The 12 Flavors of Christmas.
And if you're wondering what to buy the movie lovers on your shopping list, check out our Holiday Gifts store.
Next Showing:
Link...
- 12/13/2009
- by reelz reelz
- Reelzchannel.com
Cinematical Seven The Ghosts That Always WANT Something Watching 'Ghost Town' gives you that haunted feeling. It's not like someone's watching you; instead, you're watching something you've seen before. Strip away its particular trappings -- Ricky Gervais' sublime performance as a bitchy dentist, Tea Leoni's neurotic turn as a widowed Egyptologist -- and 'Ghost Town' belongs to an offbeat but popular genre: needy ghosts, and the living who help them. In honor of David Koepp's comedy, we count down others films of its ilk, from best to worst. -- By Raven Snook
Dreamworks
7. 'Heart and Souls' (1993)
Robert Downey Jr. has the misfortune of being born at the exact moment that four folks with unfinished business die in a bus crash. When he grows up, he's forced into fixing their messes. As he helps the quartet of quirky characters (played by Charles Grodin,...
Dreamworks
7. 'Heart and Souls' (1993)
Robert Downey Jr. has the misfortune of being born at the exact moment that four folks with unfinished business die in a bus crash. When he grows up, he's forced into fixing their messes. As he helps the quartet of quirky characters (played by Charles Grodin,...
- 9/20/2008
- by Raven Snook
- Cinematical
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