For its major musical of the 1954 season, the $4 million White Christmas, Paramount has done just above everything short of casting John Wayne as the Santa Claus and getting the Marx Brothers to play reindeer. First they hired Tunesmith Irving Berlin to supplement his classic wartime title song with a batch of new numbers to bolster the simple, sentimental plot. Then they put a sure-fire quartet, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, in the starring roles. Further, the film is photographed in VistaVision, Paramount's new wide-screen process which can project an enormous image with remarkable clarity. The results are cumulatively impressive and should make successful light musical fare, featuring at least one new Berlin hit, The Best Things Happen When You're Dancing, and an engaging new torch song. Best dance numbers are a Danny Kaye spoof on modern choreography and a huge splashy minstrel show production numver, three scenes of which are shown here. The dancing scenes alone should give Paramount its greenest Christmas in years.
_________________________
images and info provided by the LIFE Magazine / LIFE Magazine International / LIFE Magazine Atlantic ARCHIVE from the Zetu Harrys Collection
.jpg)
){kind=link}
Social Plugin