Holiday Inn [1942]

Description

With music by Irving Berlin, songs by Bing Crosby and dancing by Fred Astaire, Holiday Inn is one of the most delightful and memorable musicals of all time. Crosby plays Jim Hardy, a song and dance man who leaves showbiz to open a Connecticut Inn. Astaire plays Ted Hanover, Hardy’s former partner and rival in love. And, of course there are girls (Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale), an agent (Walter Abel) and plenty of lavish song and dance routines with spectacular production numbers. It contains all your favourite Irving Berlin hit songs, including the one and only “White Christmas” .Disc 1: Black & White Version Special Features: A Couple of Song and Dance Men featurette, containing an interview with Ava Astaire-MacKenzie All Singing, All Dancing: Before & After Audio Commentary by film historian Ken Barnes with archive audio comments by Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and John Scott Trotte Cast and Crew Profiles Theatrical Trailer Production Notes Disc 2: New Colour Version Special Features: Colouring a Classic – learn how Holiday Inn was colour-designed using amazing new technology that transformed the black and white classic to colour with the help of Jan Mucklestone, personal sketch artist of famed costume designer Holiday Inn is a perennial, Christmas-season favourite from 1942 teamed Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as entertainers (and rival suitors of Marjorie Reynolds) running an inn that is only open on holidays. It’s a great excuse for lots of singing and dancing, seamlessly wrapped in a catchy story, and Astaire’s frequent director Mark Sandrich ( Top Hat, Shall We Dance?) doesn’t let us down. The Irving Berlin numbers (each one connected to a different holiday) are winners. Crosby’s warm performance of “White Christmas” is a movie touchstone. –Tom Keogh