Last night Annie asked me if we had any Christmas movies we could watch. I pulled out my old favorite, "White Christmas," which I've always loved but have probably have seen too many times -- just as with "A Christmas Story" and "It's a Wonderful Life." Still, no Christmas is complete without seeing the first half or third of it.
Impressions after the 53rd viewing: Bing kind of phones it in, and looks completely middle aged and flabby in his tee-shirt, but, oh, that voice! The lush Rosemary Clooney is spilling out of her dress, but, oh, that voice... Danny Kaye is trying a little too hard, but he is adorable nonetheless. Vera-Ellen, I'm sorry to say, is almost unbearable to watch -- painfully thin, indeed anorexic/bulimic -- and in her big, fabulously cheesy/tacky dance scene in Florida with Kaye, she mugs shamelessly for the camera.
But Dean Jagger beats them all, as the gruff-with-a-heart-of-gold major general. What a great, great actor. I should look up what else he's been in.
Two of magical movie moments: when the four leads sing Irving Berlin's "Snow" while choo-chooing on the train up to Vermont ("It-won't-be-long-before-we'll-all-be-there-with snoooooohhhhhwww"), and...." I'll soon be there with snow (Danny Kaye goes chsh chsh chsh chsh in the background) .... I'll wash my hair with snow....And with a spade of snow/I'll build a man that's made of snow...I'd love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye/Go to sleep/And dream/Of snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!"
And then, the lovely, comforting song sung late at night over milk and sandwiches (sheesh, doesn't anyone drink in this picture?) by Bing and Rosemary: "When you're worried/and you can't sleep/Just count your blessings/instead of sheep/and you'll fall asleeeeeeep/counting your blesssssssinggssss."
Sigh.
Anyway, right around this time my 14-year old daughter got a little restless and informed me she was going to bail. This movie, in all its formulaic, schmatzy, late-period-Hollywood Technicolor glory, hadn't grabbed her, needless to say, "You can keep it playing in the background while I go on the computer," she told me.
Sigh.
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5 comments:
Hilarious!!!!!!!!
chz chz chz ...snooowwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!
I think you should put this in the paper as an example of life in your house.
In fact, I think your paper needs that as a column. Call it Life In My House.
I just visited again in hopes of finding yet another hilarious post. No new post, but great photo of the Bronte Sisters. Can I have a copy of that? I couldn't enlarge it, but it looks as though I am sneering at the bride. How appropriate, given that she forced me to wear that hideous nightmare excuse for a bridesmaid dress by Laura Ashley.
I am still pissed as hell, 20 years later.
I love that movie!!! Thanks for walking me through your own viewing of it.... I always cry when the Colonel (is he a Col? General??) is turned down by the Army. And I get more impatient each time with the stupid misunderstandings between the Bing and Vera-Ellen couple. Phhht.
my sister and i watch it every year. well, she does. i do if i'm at her house but we both know all the words to the songs and most of the dialogue.
thankfully she bought it and we can watch it anytime of the day now, because for years we stayed up to watch it on late night t.v. and i was really tired the next day.
One of my top 10 all-time favorite movies -I can't believe your daughter didn't get into it :-( I agree with all your assessments, but it's charming regardless!
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