Holiday Inn (1942) B&W Paramount/Comedy-Musical RT: 100 minutes No MPAA Rating (a scene of drunkenness) Director: Mark Sandrich Screenplay: Elmer Rice Music: Irving Berlin Cinematography: David Abel Release date: August 4, 1942 (US) Starring: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale, Walter Abel, Louise Beavers, Irving Bacon. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
It could be argued that Holiday Inn is a Christmas movie even though the action takes places on other holidays throughout the year. Its primary setting is the “Holiday Inn”, an entertainment venue that’s only open on holidays. That means the employees only have to work approximately 15 days out of the entire year. Pretty sweet work if you can get it!
Since Holiday Inn begins and ends around the holiday season, I’m going to go ahead and classify it as a Christmas movie. Overall, it’s a pretty good albeit inconsequential comedy-musical starring crooner Bing Crosby and dancer Fred Astaire. First off, the two performers have some pretty good chemistry between them. That’s always a risk when casting two big names in a major motion picture. If the chemistry just isn’t there, it torpedoes the entire movie. For every successful pairing like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, there are always a few that fail miserably. Remember Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton in Rhinestone (1984)? How about Robin Williams and Billy Crystal in Father’s Day (1997)? Thankfully, the filmmakers got lucky with Crosby and Astaire.
Given it’s a musical comedy, the plot will surely be a no-brainer. Holiday Inn doesn’t disappoint on that count. It’s a pretty typical story as far as these things go, but it’s also entertaining and features some decent musical numbers. It’s a light-hearted affair which is perfect for a movie that seeks to entertain its audience and nothing more. It may be predictable, but it’s still an enjoyable little movie that doesn’t demand too much from the viewer.
As the movie opens, Jim Hardy (Crosby) is preparing to leave show business and settle down on a Connecticut farm with partner Lila Dixon (Dale). It’s Christmas Eve and Jim has just given his last performance when he learns that Lila has fallen in love with Ted Hanover (Astaire), the other member of their act. She decides she wants to remain with the act, so Jim heads to Connecticut alone.
One year later, Jim has converted the farm into the Holiday Inn, an idea that Ted and his agent Danny Reed (Abel) think will fail. While in New York, he meets a flower shop employee named Linda Mason (Reynolds) who wants to get into show business. He doesn’t realize Danny has referred her to the Holiday Inn until she shows up on Christmas Day looking for a job as a performer. Romantic sparks start to fly as soon as they sing a duet of White Christmas.
The inn opens to a packed house on New Year’s Eve, but trouble looms on the horizon. Lila has dumped Ted for a Texas millionaire. He decides to visit Jim. A very drunk Ted arrives at midnight and dances with Linda in front of the impressed guests. It looks as though Ted has found a new dance partner, but he can’t remember anything about her due to his inebriated state. Jim doesn’t want to lose Linda, so he does everything he can to hide her from Ted and Danny. The two men start showing up at the inn on holidays in hopes of tracking down the mystery woman, but Jim is determined not to let them steal her away from him. This leads to all sorts of amusing complications and situations as Jim attempts to keep the woman he loves under wraps.
Like I said, Holiday Inn is a fairly typical story. The mere presence of two great performers like Crosby and Astaire make the whole enterprise worth a look. Who doesn’t like to see Fred Astaire dance? He really knew how to cut a rug. Crosby had a great voice that matched his gentle understated way. They both do a phenomenal job in Holiday Inn even though their performances are hardly a stretch. They’re both doing what they do best. That’s really all they need to do. True, Ted is a bit of a heel; you just want him to leave Jim and Linda alone. But then you wouldn’t have much of a story. Reynolds is positively charming as Linda and has a pleasing voice as well.
Now I’d like to address something that some viewers might find offensive and that’s the racial stereotyping in the movie. In the Lincoln’s Birthday sequence, Crosby and Reynolds perform the song “Abraham” in blackface. This sequence has been cut from most prints of the movie, most notably the one that airs on the AMC (American Movie Classics) channel every now and then. I can see where African-Americans would find this insulting, but you have to remember that Holiday Inn was made in the 40s and this type of entertainment (called a “minstrel show”) was considered acceptable. I’m not saying it’s right; I’m merely pointing out its historical context. As such, I support leaving this sequence in the movie for its historical value. Additionally, Louise Beavers turns in a great supporting performance as Mamie, the housekeeper who imparts a few words of wisdom to Jim during a dark time. How this character is depicted in Holiday Inn is no worse than anything in Gone with the Wind or Song of the South.
That being said, Holiday Inn is a nice little movie that can really be watched anytime during the year, but I’ll stand by my opening statement about it being a Christmas movie. It has some really good musical numbers and I just love the salute to the armed forces in the Fourth of July segment. Apparently, this number was extended after the attack on Pearl Harbor while the movie was shooting. It’s a nice little romantic musical comedy and an ideal viewing choice for when the grandparents come to visit.
