It was 1942, and Bing was singing "White Christmas" to
Marjorie Reynolds, in Holiday Inn...
which OF COURSE inspired the name of theee hotel chain.
Originally, the song of the moment was thought to be
"Be Careful, It's My Heart," but "White Christmas" overwhelmed it.
Starring was Bing, Fred, Marjorie Reynolds (at left),
and Virginia Dale...
love the look, Der Bingle.
The foursome...in a plot devised by Irving Berlin.
Do you know he couldn't read music?...and he had a special piano,
which would allow him to "pull a lever" and be in
another key, despite consistantly playing on the same
black keys (and ONLY the black keys)!
White Christmas (the movie) hit in 1954...
with a slightly (okay, like a lot!) different plot.
But who cared, now that you had Bing, Danny, Rosemary and Vera!
Vera, whose singing was dubbed by Trudy Stevens and Rosemary...
so when singing "Sisters," Rosemary was actually singing with herself.
"Snow" was written back in 1950 for Call Me Madame,
in which it was called "Free," but it was dropped during previews.
"Count Your Blessings"....where liverwurst makes you dream...of liverwurst.
This song was written specifically for
the later movie, by Mr. Berlin.
Iconic!
Fred Astaire was originally slated for the role of
Phil Davis, as the producers hoped to maintain the
Bing-Fred star pairing of Holiday Inn,
but when he said no, and Donald O'Connor (Phil #2)
bowed out due to sickness,
Danny Kaye stepped in. Can you even imagine another "Sister"?
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