Holiday Inn (1942)

At LAST!

My family and I have been watching Holiday Inn every Christmas Eve for the past twenty one years! All three kids know the songs by heart. To me, no film has the mixture of sentiment and elegance that this one has.

Our discussion all that time, however, has been "Why won't they colorize it?," along with speculation about what colors gowns and other clothing might be. (Okay, my son could care less.) Never has a film's subject matter and production called for colorization more.

We always figured that the unfortunate racial stereotypical material would keep it from ever being released in an improved version. (At one point Bing slaps some blackface makeup on Marjorie Reynolds for the "Abraham" number, which causes her to say "...and here I was hoping to be pretty!" Ouch.)

But at long last it's available in a colorized version, and it's like watching the film completely anew. Details I had never noticed before pop right off the screen in this one (the salads in the foreground of the kitchen shot, the greenery in the "You're Easy To Dance To" number, the log cabin table center-pieces in the Lincoln's birthday number, Fred's star-spangled 4th of July hankie) - it's really surprising what a difference the color makes in the details.

And I could swear the sound is improved, as well. I had never before heard a triangle being played in the Washington's Birthday number - but it's there now.

Only one disappointment: We had always thought Marjorie Reynolds' gown in the Valentine's Day number was a deep red or maroon, but here it's rendered as black (with a pink heart pin). Perhaps the documentation exists that indicates that was the actual color of the dress or maybe it was a judgement call from the fashion lady doing the color palette design - but we think it would look better as a deep red.

Whatever... this well-wrought release was a long time coming and perhaps it will cause this wonderful movie musical to finally achieve the fame it deserves. (It is far, far better than the later color "White Christmas.")

Get it, and as the Holiday Inn newspaper clipping says, "God Bless America!" December 1, 2008

I want to stay at HOLIDAY INN..

This a a great movie and I love it in Black and White but it was also not bad in color..I usually only like movie the way they were first printed..but I can understand why they would want to make this in color for all the people nowadays that won't watch a b/w film..love the music and dance numbers.. December 1, 2008

Good film with disturbing scenes.

I recently purchased and watched "Holiday Inn", an entertaining film (I agree with the product description which states that it is more entertaining than the remake, "White Christmas", which I also recently purchased and watched). It is not surprising that "Holiday Inn" is entertaining given the incomparable talents of its stars, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. The story is relatively fast-moving, light-hearted, and engaging. The musical numbers are rousing, and causes one to appreciate the talents of Irving Berlin. What I had forgotten and I must admit, was not prepared for, was the "black-faced" minstrel show featuring Bing Crosby and many supporting cast members. I had also forgotten just how painfully stereotypical was the role of "Mamie" played by African American actress, Louise Beavers. Anyone with even remote modern sensibilities will find Ms. Beavers' role, not to mention the minstrel show, at least a little unsettling. It's too bad that the demeaning racial caricatures detract from what is otherwise a wonderfully entertaining Holiday excursion. November 30, 2008

New life for a Hollywood CLASSIC!

Although I already had 'Holiday Inn' on DVD, I couldn't resist buying the 'colorized' version jut to experience it this way. I was not disappointed! If anything, the picture was even 'crisper' than the B&W version, and the coloring was realistic and natural. Bing & Fred are always a class act whether in color or Black & white, but it was great to see this perenial favorite as close as we'll ever get to how it would have looked if filmed this way. Hope Universal commissions more of Bing's [and Fred's] early films to be treated this way! Of course there are certain Bing Crosby films I'd love to see on DVD in any form, namely 'Sing You Sinners' [my personal favorite], and I think 'Holiday Inn' proves it's a worthwhile venture. On this occasion, Top Marks to Universal. November 28, 2008

"Holiday Inn (1942) ... Crosby & Astaire ... Paramount Pictures"

Paramount Pictures presents "HOLIDAY INN" (4 August 1942) (101 mins/B&W/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) -- Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire were the stars of Holiday Inn with support from Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale --- Produced and directed by Mark Sandrich, filming took place between November 1941 and February 1942. Holiday Inn had its premiere at the New York Paramount Theatre in August 1942. It was a runaway success both in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, proving to be the highest grossing film musical up to that time --- The big song had been expected to be "BE CAREFUL, IT'S MY HEART" --- While that song did very well, it was "WHITE CHRISTMAS" that topped the charts in October 1942 and stayed there for eleven weeks.

Story line and plot, In the first of two films Crosby and Astaire did together the other being "Blue Skies" (1946), the characters are remarkably the same --- Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) is the elegant and charming show business professional who's ambitious for success --- Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) is the talented, but lazy partner who just wants a life of ease and comfort and not to work more than he has to --- Small wonder that their double act broke up --- But now enter a complication --- They both get interested in the same girl who in this film is Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) --- Plus Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale), who becomes Fred's dancing partner with some wonderful routines in fine fashion.

"BE CAREFUL IT'S MY HEART", the Valentine's Day song, sung by Crosby and danced to by Astaire and Reynolds --- Fred Astaire gave a tour de force performance, singing, and, of course, dancing his way through this delightful piece in rare form --- It is said that he worked so hard during rehearsals that he wasted away some 25 pounds by the time he filmed the firecracker number --- He might just as well have been weightless, because he defies gravity with his every move.

Under the production staff of:
Mark Sandrich - Director / Producer
Claude Binyon - Screenwriter
Elmer Rice - Screenwriter
Dave Abel - Cinematographer
Irving Berlin - Composer (Music Score)
Robert Emmett Dolan - Musical Direction/Supervision / Composer (Music Score)
Ellsworth Hoagland - Editor
Hans Dreier - Production Designer
Roland Anderson - Art Director
Edith Head - Costume Designer
Wally Westmore - Makeup
Charles C. Coleman, Jr. - First Assistant Director
Daniel Dare - Choreography

Scene Index
Disc One -- Irving Berlin's: Holiday Inn
1. Love Triangle (Main Titles) [4:39]
2. "I'll Capture Your Heart Singing" [5:43]
3. "Lazy" [8:26]
4. "You're Easy to Dance With" [3:40]
5. "White Christmas" [6:18]
6. "Happy Holiday/Holiday Inn" [3:09]
7. Let's Start the New Year Right" [6:19]
8. A New Partner [3:29]
9. In Disguise [3:30]
10. "Abraham" [5:46]
11. "Be Careful, It's My Heart" [6:38]
12. "I Can't Tell a Lie" [6:38]
13. "Easter Parade" [3:42]
14. "Song of Freedom" [3:11]
15. "Let's Say It With Firecrackers" [7:49]
16. "Plenty to Be Thankful For" [6:24]
17. Lights, Camera, Action [4:52]
18. Happy New Year (End Titles) [8:06]

the cast includes:
Bing Crosby ... Jim Hardy
Fred Astaire ... Ted Hanover
Marjorie Reynolds ... Linda Mason
Virginia Dale ... Lila Dixon
Walter Abel ... Danny Reed
Louise Beavers ... Mamie
Irving Bacon ... Gus
Marek Windheim ... François
James Bell ... Dunbar
John Gallaudet ... Parker
Shelby Bacon ... Vanderbilt

BIOS:
Bing Crosby (aka: Harry Lillis Crosby)
Date of Birth: 2 May 1903 - Tacoma, Washington
Date of Death: 14 October 1977 - Madrid, Spain

2. Fred Astaire (aka: Frederic Austerlitz Jr)
Date of Birth: 10 May 1899 - Omaha, Nebraska
Date of Death: 22 June 1987 - Los Angeles, California

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. A couple of song and dance men; An intimate retrospective of Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
on interview with Ava Astaire-McKenzie;
2 All singing - All dancing; Experience the making of the unforgettable song and dance numbers of Holiday Inn; ;
3. Audio commentary; Feature length audio commentary by film historian Ken Barnes with archive audio comments
by Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and John Scott Trotter.
4. Original theatrical trailer
5. Coloring a Classic: With the help of Jan Mucklestone personal sketch artist of Edith Head.
6. Music Soundtrack: 12 classic Irving Berlin tunes from the original soundtrack

Great job by Paramount Pictures and released by Universal ---The conversion of color is done by Legend Films, which has colorized a number of Shirley Temple films --- The results are remarkable. If you'd never seen a Technicolor film, you'd think "Holiday Inn" was shot in color --- looking forward to more high quality titles from their film market --- order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 101 mins on DVD ~ Paramount Pictures ~ (10/14/2008) November 25, 2008

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