A Blog Full of Gifts From Me to You...

The Lady Eve offers a blogful of holiday cheer this year. Here's what's under the tree...

~ Two Icons Singing: Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra sing "White Christmas" on a December 1957 TV special...

~ A Festive Romp From the 1970s: Kenneth More and Albert Finney sing "I Like Life" in the 1970 film Scrooge...

~ From Disney's Fantasia (1940): "The Nutcracker Suite"...

~ Judy, Judy, Judy...No holiday would be complete without hearing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" at least once. Here's Judy singing to her children, Lorna and Joey, in 1963 on the 'Christmas Show' for her CBS TV program...

~ A Holiday Movie: The Mitchell Leisen directed, Preston Sturges penned, yuletide classic Remember the Night (1940), starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck - all one hour and 33 minutes of it...

Happy Holidays!

Kick your cares down the stairs...and come to Holiday Inn (1942)

Holiday Inn (1942) is famed as the film in which Bing Crosby first sang "White Christmas." I love its teaming of Crosby with Fred Astaire, their song and dance routines, the comedic rivalry between them, Irving Berlin's sensational music, the wintry New England scenery...everything about it.

In this video review, New YorkTimes critic A.O. Scott discusses Holiday Inn - with film clips. He does talk about the "Abraham" number...but doesn't suggest censoring it. Click to watch...



Scott's review started with a clip of a clever Fred Astaire routine, his New Year's Eve dance "under the influence" with Marjorie Reynolds...click below to watch the entire sequence...CLIP NO LONGER AVAILABLE...a good excuse to just watch the movie!



(I probably don't need to add: don't try this yourself!)