It seems as if the laidback, unambitious Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) is always competing with the edgy, decidely ambitious Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) for the same girl. Ted dances away with Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) the night Jim and Lila are supposed to get married, proving that Jim wasn't quite right when he claimed that "I'll Capture Your Heart Singing". Jim decides to set up the Holiday Inn, an inn that serves up a cracking night's entertainment (themed song and all) every time a holiday rolls around--which means that Jim gets to work 15 days out of the year and enjoy his farm and be "Lazy" the rest of the time. It isn't long before Jim meets Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds), a girl who sings *and* dances beautifully, and the two of them make Holiday Inn a bigger success than anyone could have expected. Jim and Linda share a quiet "White Christmas", but just as the quiet (and I must say rather repressed) Jim begins to make hopeful overtures to Linda, Ted gets dumped by Lila and, in a haze of drunkenness, turns up at the Holiday Inn... only to bump into Linda and dance with his perfect partner and not even remember her when he wakes up with a hangover the next day. Ted's agent (Walter Abel) keeps trying to find Linda, whose back is the only thing he recognises, even as Jim realises that Ted could be poised to steal his girl again. Rather than explain this to Linda, Jim embarks on some subterfuge, making Linda dance in blackface ("Abraham"), sabotaging their dance routines (the hilarious "I Can't Tell A Lie") and trying to keep Hollywood agents from seeing them together (forcing Ted to perform the spectacular "Let's Say It With Firecrackers"). But Linda discovers Jim's betrayal, and goes off to Hollywood with Ted to make a film based on Jim's Holiday Inn. Can Jim win Linda back, and prove that he really *can* capture her through singing... rather than have her won away by Ted's dancing? Will he, in the end, have "Plenty To Be Thankful For?".
HOLIDAY INN is quite simply the quintessential holiday movie, perfect for any occasion. It's tailored to be that way, after all, with beautiful Irving Berlin songs written for every holiday. My favourites would have to be the heartbreakingly lovely "Be Careful It's My Heart" for Valentine's Day, "Easter Parade" for Easter (later the theme song for a Fred Astaire/Judy Garland vehicle of the same name) and of course, "White Christmas"--that classic, beautiful Christmas serenade by none other than Bing Crosby. Crosby is on fine form and it's not hard to see why his voice alone could win droves of ladies to his side, even if his character as written was too repressed to be particularly attractive.
Undoubted added value would be several of Astaire's numbers... surely some of the most innovative and breathtaking dance sequences he's ever performed, in a lifetime of innovative and breathtaking dance sequences. First off is the number Ted performs with Linda while drunk--whether or not Astaire himself was drunk at the time (it's reputed that he needed 8 shots of bourbon to get the dance perfect), it's a perfectly-timed, subtly humourous number performed with great style. When he dances with Linda again after he's declared that "I Can't Tell A Lie", Astaire is as funny as he's ever been, with his immaculate execution and impeccable timing, as he clowns his way through Crosby's abrupt tempo changes. Then, of course, Astaire literally blows the stage up around him as he joyfully proclaims (and his character claims to improvise!) "Let's Say It With Firecrackers".
The singing and the dancing in HOLIDAY INN, if it isn't obvious by now, is top-notch. What's interesting is that the characters, perhaps unintentionally, display surprising depth and complexity. Not the ladies--Linda and Lila (the latter in particular) are sketchily drawn out and don't have much character of their own. It's Jim and Ted who intrigue: Jim, the guy who can't seem to express his love except through anger or music; Ted, the apparently brash fellow who has never failed to fall for every girl he's danced with and felt no qualms at nicking girls off Jim for his own benefit. Jim's general meanness, with only the very occasional chink in his armour when he opens his mouth to sing (and *that* voice comes out of it), makes him very much an archetypal romantic hero. He's *not* the guy you like on sight, nor is he an everyman--he's lazy, he's stealthy, he doesn't consult the lady when he does things... and yet you're rooting for him in the end. A lot of it comes down to the fact that Jim is being played by Bing Crosby. Crosby pulls off the menacing aspects of Jim wonderfully, and yet manages to give him a sensitive undertone that doesn't alienate the audience completely. You can capture my heart singing anyday, Bing!
As for Fred Astaire--although his role and character are technically secondary, I have to say that this is the first of his films that I've seen where he actually leaps right off the screen and grabs my attention as an actor and not a dancer. Don't get me wrong; he's always been good. But I've always been more interested in seeing him get to the *dancing*, dammit. All the non-sung words in between? Filler. I'm beginning to think I'll have to go back and watch all those other films again, because Astaire was excellent in HOLIDAY INN. It probably helped that he was playing a bit of a scoundrel, devil-may-care and cheeky as all get out. It's the little touches in his performance that make it so good: his annoyance in between hurried dance-steps for "I Can't Tell A Lie", his earnestness when he asks Linda if she really means to leave for Hollywood with him... and well, his ability to hold his own as a cad, sort of, and still play right into the hearts of the audience. He's evidently set up to be the villain of the piece, and yet it feels right when things don't end *completely* against him.
HOLIDAY INN isn't a brilliant film, but it's certainly a very good--probably even great--one, and it's hard to imagine that anyone could watch the ending credits flash on the screen without a smile lingering on your face and Crosby's voice and Astaire's twirls still in your head. Highly recommended for any holiday in the year... and any other time you might need a pick-me-up!
HOLIDAY INN is quite simply the quintessential holiday movie, perfect for any occasion. It's tailored to be that way, after all, with beautiful Irving Berlin songs written for every holiday. My favourites would have to be the heartbreakingly lovely "Be Careful It's My Heart" for Valentine's Day, "Easter Parade" for Easter (later the theme song for a Fred Astaire/Judy Garland vehicle of the same name) and of course, "White Christmas"--that classic, beautiful Christmas serenade by none other than Bing Crosby. Crosby is on fine form and it's not hard to see why his voice alone could win droves of ladies to his side, even if his character as written was too repressed to be particularly attractive.
Undoubted added value would be several of Astaire's numbers... surely some of the most innovative and breathtaking dance sequences he's ever performed, in a lifetime of innovative and breathtaking dance sequences. First off is the number Ted performs with Linda while drunk--whether or not Astaire himself was drunk at the time (it's reputed that he needed 8 shots of bourbon to get the dance perfect), it's a perfectly-timed, subtly humourous number performed with great style. When he dances with Linda again after he's declared that "I Can't Tell A Lie", Astaire is as funny as he's ever been, with his immaculate execution and impeccable timing, as he clowns his way through Crosby's abrupt tempo changes. Then, of course, Astaire literally blows the stage up around him as he joyfully proclaims (and his character claims to improvise!) "Let's Say It With Firecrackers".
The singing and the dancing in HOLIDAY INN, if it isn't obvious by now, is top-notch. What's interesting is that the characters, perhaps unintentionally, display surprising depth and complexity. Not the ladies--Linda and Lila (the latter in particular) are sketchily drawn out and don't have much character of their own. It's Jim and Ted who intrigue: Jim, the guy who can't seem to express his love except through anger or music; Ted, the apparently brash fellow who has never failed to fall for every girl he's danced with and felt no qualms at nicking girls off Jim for his own benefit. Jim's general meanness, with only the very occasional chink in his armour when he opens his mouth to sing (and *that* voice comes out of it), makes him very much an archetypal romantic hero. He's *not* the guy you like on sight, nor is he an everyman--he's lazy, he's stealthy, he doesn't consult the lady when he does things... and yet you're rooting for him in the end. A lot of it comes down to the fact that Jim is being played by Bing Crosby. Crosby pulls off the menacing aspects of Jim wonderfully, and yet manages to give him a sensitive undertone that doesn't alienate the audience completely. You can capture my heart singing anyday, Bing!
As for Fred Astaire--although his role and character are technically secondary, I have to say that this is the first of his films that I've seen where he actually leaps right off the screen and grabs my attention as an actor and not a dancer. Don't get me wrong; he's always been good. But I've always been more interested in seeing him get to the *dancing*, dammit. All the non-sung words in between? Filler. I'm beginning to think I'll have to go back and watch all those other films again, because Astaire was excellent in HOLIDAY INN. It probably helped that he was playing a bit of a scoundrel, devil-may-care and cheeky as all get out. It's the little touches in his performance that make it so good: his annoyance in between hurried dance-steps for "I Can't Tell A Lie", his earnestness when he asks Linda if she really means to leave for Hollywood with him... and well, his ability to hold his own as a cad, sort of, and still play right into the hearts of the audience. He's evidently set up to be the villain of the piece, and yet it feels right when things don't end *completely* against him.
HOLIDAY INN isn't a brilliant film, but it's certainly a very good--probably even great--one, and it's hard to imagine that anyone could watch the ending credits flash on the screen without a smile lingering on your face and Crosby's voice and Astaire's twirls still in your head. Highly recommended for any holiday in the year... and any other time you might need a pick-me-up!