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Holiday Inn (film)
Encyclopedia
Holiday Inn is a 1942 American musical film starring Bing Crosby
and Fred Astaire
, with music by Irving Berlin
. The film has twelve songs written expressly for the film, the most notable being "White Christmas
". In addition the film features a brief use of "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning
", written in 1917 for the World War I musical Yip Yip Yaphank
(which was reprised on Broadway in 1942 under the title This Is the Army
) and a complete reuse of "Easter Parade
", written by Berlin for the 1933 Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer
. The film's choreography was by Danny Dare
.
signed an exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures
to write songs for a film musical based on his idea of an inn
that opened only on public holiday
s. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire were the stars of Holiday Inn with support from Marjorie Reynolds
and Virginia Dale. Produced and directed by Mark Sandrich, filming took place between November 1941 and February 1942. Holiday Inn had its premiere at the New York
Paramount Theatre in August 1942. It was a success in the U.S. and the U.K., the highest grossing film musical to that time. It was expected that "Be Careful, It's My Heart" would be the big song. While that song did very well, it was "White Christmas" that topped the charts in October 1942 and stayed there for eleven weeks. Another Berlin song, "Happy Holidays", is featured over the opening credits and within the film storyline.
" was conceived by Berlin on the set of the film Top Hat
in 1935. He hummed the melody to Astaire and the film's director Mark Sandrich
as a song possibility for a future Astaire-Ginger Rogers
vehicle. Astaire loved the tune, but Sandrich passed on it. Berlin's assignment for Paramount was to write a song about each of the major holidays of the year. He found that writing a song about Christmas
was the most challenging. When Crosby first heard Berlin play "White Christmas" in 1941 at the first rehearsals, he did not immediately recognize its full potential. Crosby simply said, "I don't think we have any problems with that one, Irving."
), Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire
) and Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale
), who form a musical act, are staples of the Manhattan
nightlife scene. On Christmas Eve
, Hardy prepares to give his last performance as part of the act before marrying Lila and retiring with her to a farm in Connecticut
. Lila, however, decides at the last minute that she is not ready to stop performing, and that she has fallen in love with Ted, and chooses to stay on as his dancing partner. Jim, while heartbroken, follows through with his plan and bids the act goodbye.
One Christmas Eve later, Jim is back in New York. Farm life has proven difficult (as shown in a montage of Jim trying to cope with the demands of the life he's chosen), requiring him to spend time in a sanatorium
to calm his nerves. While recuperating, Jim has dreamed up a new use for his farm. He plans to turn it into an entertainment venue called "Holiday Inn", which will only open on holidays. Ted and his agent Danny Reed (Walter Abel
) scoff at the plan, but wish him luck. Reed then leaves for a flight. Stopping off in the airport flower shop to order flowers for Lila from Ted, Reed is accosted by employee Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds
) who recognizes him as a talent agent and begs him for a chance in show business. He refers her to Holiday Inn and gives her a pass to Ted's club for the night. She sits at the performer's table where Jim also is sitting. He pretends that he has a big club and isn't sure he could use an act like Hanover and Dixon; she pretends to be a celebrity and friend of Ted's. They both watch Ted and Lila perform, then Linda escapes when the two performers come to Jim's table.
The next morning, Christmas Day, Linda arrives at Holiday Inn. She meets Jim, and both realize that they were fooling each other the previous evening. Jim is readying the place for New Year's Eve
. They take to one another immediately and Jim sings his new song, "White Christmas
", to Linda, a song he would have performed had the inn been open that night.
On New Year's Eve, Holiday Inn opens to a packed house. In New York, Ted learns that Lila is leaving him for a Texas millionaire. He drinks heavily and heads out to Holiday Inn to talk with Jim. Extremely drunk, Ted arrives just as the clock strikes twelve. Then, wandering aimlessly across the dance floor, Ted and Linda spot each other. She remembers him from Christmas Eve. They dance, with Ted bringing down the house despite his inebriated state. Danny Reed arrives just as the dance ends. He is ecstatic that Ted has found a new partner. However, Ted, who passed out at the end of the dance, remembers very little the next morning and is unaware of Linda's identity. Jim relates no information and hides Linda, as he is afraid that Ted will steal her away from the inn.
At the next performance, Lincoln's Birthday
, Ted and Danny return to search for Linda. Jim is ready for them and decides to run the night's big minstrel show
number "Abraham" with disguised performers, including Linda, in an effort to foil the search. While applying Linda's blackface
make-up, Jim asks if she will stay with him once she is not required to work on non-holidays. Linda takes this as a proposal. The scheme works, with Ted and Danny coming up empty. However, the pair will not give up and plan to be back for Valentine's Day
.
On Valentine's Day
, at rehearsal, Jim presents Linda with a Valentine, a new song called "Be Careful, It's My Heart". While he sings the song with his back to her, she begins dancing alone. Ted enters, spots Linda rehearsing and launches into an impromptu romantic dance with her. Now convinced that Linda was the girl from New Year's Eve
, Ted demands that Jim think up a number for them to perform on the next holiday. Jim has little choice but to concede.
Washington's Birthday
features Ted and Linda performing in elaborate eighteenth century period costumes. However, Jim attempts to sabotage their dance by changing the band's tune from a minuet
to jazz
every time the couple attempts to kiss. Afterward, Ted asks Linda to join him as his new dance partner. Linda refuses, saying she has promised to stay at the inn and that she and Jim are to be married. When Ted talks to Jim of the marriage, Jim is surprised but tries to play it off. Ted is unconvinced and tells Danny he will continue to pursue Linda.
At Easter
, romance continues to blossom between Jim and Linda as they travel home from church in a carriage. When they reach the inn, Ted is sitting on the porch waiting from them. Ted asks Jim if he can remain in his shows, claiming he wants to experience "the true happiness you people have found here at the inn". Linda is charmed, but Jim is suspicious.
These suspicions are confirmed on Independence Day
when Jim overhears Ted and Danny discussing an offer Ted has received. Hollywood representatives will attend the night's show and determine if Ted and Linda are suitable for motion pictures. Desperate, Jim bribes hired hand Gus (Irving Bacon
) to ensure that Linda does not arrive at the inn. Gus attempts to delay her by driving the inn's car into a swollen creek. As Linda tries to return to the inn, she is picked up by Lila, who left the millionaire after his tax problems were revealed. She tells Linda (who is pretending to be a waitress) about the studio tryout and that she (Lila) will be Ted's partner. Assumedly, Jim arranged for her to take Linda's place. Linda directs Lila into the same river. Back at the inn, Ted is forced to perform a solo dance. When Linda eventually makes her way to the inn, she finds that Ted has impressed the studio honchos with his improvised solo and the opportunity stands. Irritated with Jim for not trusting her to make her own decision, she takes the offer and leaves for Hollywood. The producers want to make a film about Holiday Inn, and Jim reluctantly agrees.
At Thanksgiving
, the inn is closed and Jim is deeply depressed. He barely touches the turkey dinner prepared by his housekeeper Mamie (Louise Beavers
). Jim is prepared to mail to Hollywood a recording of his new Thanksgiving song, but, before he does, he plays it on a record player and makes bitter negative comments over the positive ones in the recording. Mamie realizes just what is wrong and, ignoring decorum, implores him to travel to California
to win Linda back from Ted by telling her how he really feels.
He arrives at the studio on Christmas Eve, as Ted is preparing to leave with Linda after the final film shoot to get married. Jim confronts Ted in his dressing room, then locks him in it. Before Linda films the final scene for her movie, which features a recreation of Holiday Inn, Jim walks around the set with the director, who says it is the most exact recreation ever created of a place for a motion picture. Jim leaves his pipe on the set's piano and hides nearby. Linda enters the room and sits at the piano, performing "White Christmas". Startled by the pipe's appearance, she falters, then continues as Jim's voice joins her. He appears and she runs to him as the director hollers "Cut." Ted and Danny, having learned of Jim's plan, are too late to stop him.
The film ends with the New Year's Eve celebration at Holiday Inn. Jim and Linda are prepared to stay together and run the inn. Ted is reunited with Lila, who is ready and willing to perform with him again.
, which was released in 1954 and starred Crosby, Danny Kaye
, Rosemary Clooney
and Vera-Ellen
. It was a loose remake of Holiday Inn, with a plotline again involving an inn, but otherwise different from the earlier film. Fred Astaire was offered the second lead in the new film, but after reading the script, he declined. The role was then offered to Donald O'Connor
, but he was injured before filming began. Danny Kaye
took the role.
A colorized version of “Holiday Inn” was released by Universal on October 14, 2008. The colorization was done by Legend Films
. The colorization company used Edith Head
’s sketch artist, Jan Muckelstone as a color design consultant for costume authenticity.
Many segments of the film are preceded by shots of a calendar with a visual symbol of the given holiday. For November, an animated turkey is shown running back and forth between the third and fourth Thursdays, finally shrugging its shoulders in confusion. This is a satirical reference to the "Franksgiving
" controversy sparked in 1939 and 1940 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt
tried to expand the Christmas shopping season by declaring Thanksgiving a week earlier than his predecessors. The dispute led to the date of Thanksgiving being established by law rather than by presidential declaration.
The Holiday Inn
hotels were named after the film.
, starring Crosby and Astaire with Dinah Shore
.
Beginning in the 1980s, some broadcasts of the movie have cut out the "Abraham" musical number entirely, undoubtedly because of its depiction of a blackface
minstrel show incorporating what is now considered by some to be offensively stereotyped mannerisms and dialect. Turner Classic Movies
has left the "Abraham" number intact during their screenings of Holiday Inn both for historical purposes, and because it is TCM's policy to show most films uncut.
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
, with music by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
. The film has twelve songs written expressly for the film, the most notable being "White Christmas
White Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
". In addition the film features a brief use of "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning
Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning
"Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 that gives a comic perspective on military life. Berlin composed the song as an expression of protest against the indignities of Army routine shortly after being drafted into the United States Army in 1918...
", written in 1917 for the World War I musical Yip Yip Yaphank
Yip Yip Yaphank
Yip Yip Yaphank is the name of musical revue composed and produced by Irving Berlin in 1918 while he was a recruit during World War I in the United States Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York.-From idea to the stage:...
(which was reprised on Broadway in 1942 under the title This Is the Army
This Is the Army
This Is the Army is a 1943 American wartime motion picture produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz, and a wartime musical designed to boost morale in the U.S. during World War II, directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone...
) and a complete reuse of "Easter Parade
Easter Parade (song)
"Easter Parade" is a popular song that was written by Irving Berlin and was published in 1933. The lyrics describe the singer's involvement in an American cultural event called the Easter parade....
", written by Berlin for the 1933 Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer
As Thousands Cheer
As Thousands Cheer is a revue with a book by Moss Hart and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, first performed in 1933. The revue contained satirical sketches and witty or poignant musical numbers, several of which became standards, including "Heat Wave", "Easter Parade" and "Harlem on my Mind." ...
. The film's choreography was by Danny Dare
Danny Dare
Danny Dare was an American choreographer, actor, director, writer, and producer of the stage, screen, and film....
.
Production timeline
In May 1940, Irving BerlinIrving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
signed an exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
to write songs for a film musical based on his idea of an inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
that opened only on public holiday
Public holiday
A public holiday, national holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year....
s. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire were the stars of Holiday Inn with support from Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 70 films.Born Marjorie Goodspeed, in Buhl, Idaho, as her parents made the cross-country trip from Maine to settle in California, she was featured as a child actressin silent films such as Scaramouche...
and Virginia Dale. Produced and directed by Mark Sandrich, filming took place between November 1941 and February 1942. Holiday Inn had its premiere at the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Paramount Theatre in August 1942. It was a success in the U.S. and the U.K., the highest grossing film musical to that time. It was expected that "Be Careful, It's My Heart" would be the big song. While that song did very well, it was "White Christmas" that topped the charts in October 1942 and stayed there for eleven weeks. Another Berlin song, "Happy Holidays", is featured over the opening credits and within the film storyline.
White Christmas
The song that would become "White ChristmasWhite Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
" was conceived by Berlin on the set of the film Top Hat
Top Hat
Top Hat is a 1935 screwball comedy musical film in which Fred Astaire plays an American dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick . He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont to win her affection...
in 1935. He hummed the melody to Astaire and the film's director Mark Sandrich
Mark Sandrich
Mark Sandrich was a Jewish American film director, writer and producer.Sandrich was an engineering student at Columbia University when he began in the film business by accident. While visiting a friend on a film set, he saw that the director had a problem in setting up a shot; Sandrich offered...
as a song possibility for a future Astaire-Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
vehicle. Astaire loved the tune, but Sandrich passed on it. Berlin's assignment for Paramount was to write a song about each of the major holidays of the year. He found that writing a song about Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
was the most challenging. When Crosby first heard Berlin play "White Christmas" in 1941 at the first rehearsals, he did not immediately recognize its full potential. Crosby simply said, "I don't think we have any problems with that one, Irving."
Plot summary
Jim Hardy (Bing CrosbyBing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
), Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
) and Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale
Virginia Dale
Virginia Dale was an American film actress.She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She appeared in a number of movies in the 1930s and 1940s, including Holiday Inn, and became particularly associated with musicals. She left the movie business for almost three decades before returning to the...
), who form a musical act, are staples of the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
nightlife scene. On Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, Hardy prepares to give his last performance as part of the act before marrying Lila and retiring with her to a farm in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. Lila, however, decides at the last minute that she is not ready to stop performing, and that she has fallen in love with Ted, and chooses to stay on as his dancing partner. Jim, while heartbroken, follows through with his plan and bids the act goodbye.
One Christmas Eve later, Jim is back in New York. Farm life has proven difficult (as shown in a montage of Jim trying to cope with the demands of the life he's chosen), requiring him to spend time in a sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
to calm his nerves. While recuperating, Jim has dreamed up a new use for his farm. He plans to turn it into an entertainment venue called "Holiday Inn", which will only open on holidays. Ted and his agent Danny Reed (Walter Abel
Walter Abel
Walter Abel was an American stage and film character actor. His eyes were brown and his height was five foot ten inches....
) scoff at the plan, but wish him luck. Reed then leaves for a flight. Stopping off in the airport flower shop to order flowers for Lila from Ted, Reed is accosted by employee Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 70 films.Born Marjorie Goodspeed, in Buhl, Idaho, as her parents made the cross-country trip from Maine to settle in California, she was featured as a child actressin silent films such as Scaramouche...
) who recognizes him as a talent agent and begs him for a chance in show business. He refers her to Holiday Inn and gives her a pass to Ted's club for the night. She sits at the performer's table where Jim also is sitting. He pretends that he has a big club and isn't sure he could use an act like Hanover and Dixon; she pretends to be a celebrity and friend of Ted's. They both watch Ted and Lila perform, then Linda escapes when the two performers come to Jim's table.
The next morning, Christmas Day, Linda arrives at Holiday Inn. She meets Jim, and both realize that they were fooling each other the previous evening. Jim is readying the place for New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
. They take to one another immediately and Jim sings his new song, "White Christmas
White Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
", to Linda, a song he would have performed had the inn been open that night.
On New Year's Eve, Holiday Inn opens to a packed house. In New York, Ted learns that Lila is leaving him for a Texas millionaire. He drinks heavily and heads out to Holiday Inn to talk with Jim. Extremely drunk, Ted arrives just as the clock strikes twelve. Then, wandering aimlessly across the dance floor, Ted and Linda spot each other. She remembers him from Christmas Eve. They dance, with Ted bringing down the house despite his inebriated state. Danny Reed arrives just as the dance ends. He is ecstatic that Ted has found a new partner. However, Ted, who passed out at the end of the dance, remembers very little the next morning and is unaware of Linda's identity. Jim relates no information and hides Linda, as he is afraid that Ted will steal her away from the inn.
At the next performance, Lincoln's Birthday
Lincoln's Birthday
Lincoln's Birthday is a legal holiday in some U.S. states including California, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Indiana. It is observed on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth on February 12, 1809....
, Ted and Danny return to search for Linda. Jim is ready for them and decides to run the night's big minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
number "Abraham" with disguised performers, including Linda, in an effort to foil the search. While applying Linda's blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
make-up, Jim asks if she will stay with him once she is not required to work on non-holidays. Linda takes this as a proposal. The scheme works, with Ted and Danny coming up empty. However, the pair will not give up and plan to be back for Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
.
On Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
, at rehearsal, Jim presents Linda with a Valentine, a new song called "Be Careful, It's My Heart". While he sings the song with his back to her, she begins dancing alone. Ted enters, spots Linda rehearsing and launches into an impromptu romantic dance with her. Now convinced that Linda was the girl from New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
, Ted demands that Jim think up a number for them to perform on the next holiday. Jim has little choice but to concede.
Washington's Birthday
Washington's Birthday
Washington's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day...
features Ted and Linda performing in elaborate eighteenth century period costumes. However, Jim attempts to sabotage their dance by changing the band's tune from a minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
to jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
every time the couple attempts to kiss. Afterward, Ted asks Linda to join him as his new dance partner. Linda refuses, saying she has promised to stay at the inn and that she and Jim are to be married. When Ted talks to Jim of the marriage, Jim is surprised but tries to play it off. Ted is unconvinced and tells Danny he will continue to pursue Linda.
At Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, romance continues to blossom between Jim and Linda as they travel home from church in a carriage. When they reach the inn, Ted is sitting on the porch waiting from them. Ted asks Jim if he can remain in his shows, claiming he wants to experience "the true happiness you people have found here at the inn". Linda is charmed, but Jim is suspicious.
These suspicions are confirmed on Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
when Jim overhears Ted and Danny discussing an offer Ted has received. Hollywood representatives will attend the night's show and determine if Ted and Linda are suitable for motion pictures. Desperate, Jim bribes hired hand Gus (Irving Bacon
Irving Bacon
Irving Bacon was an American character actor who appeared in over 400 films. He played on the stage for a number of years before getting into films in 1920. Bacon was sometimes cast in films directed by his namesake Lloyd Bacon such as The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse...
) to ensure that Linda does not arrive at the inn. Gus attempts to delay her by driving the inn's car into a swollen creek. As Linda tries to return to the inn, she is picked up by Lila, who left the millionaire after his tax problems were revealed. She tells Linda (who is pretending to be a waitress) about the studio tryout and that she (Lila) will be Ted's partner. Assumedly, Jim arranged for her to take Linda's place. Linda directs Lila into the same river. Back at the inn, Ted is forced to perform a solo dance. When Linda eventually makes her way to the inn, she finds that Ted has impressed the studio honchos with his improvised solo and the opportunity stands. Irritated with Jim for not trusting her to make her own decision, she takes the offer and leaves for Hollywood. The producers want to make a film about Holiday Inn, and Jim reluctantly agrees.
At Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
, the inn is closed and Jim is deeply depressed. He barely touches the turkey dinner prepared by his housekeeper Mamie (Louise Beavers
Louise Beavers
Louise Beavers was an African-American film and television actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films from the 1920s to the 1930s, most often in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Beavers was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American...
). Jim is prepared to mail to Hollywood a recording of his new Thanksgiving song, but, before he does, he plays it on a record player and makes bitter negative comments over the positive ones in the recording. Mamie realizes just what is wrong and, ignoring decorum, implores him to travel to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to win Linda back from Ted by telling her how he really feels.
He arrives at the studio on Christmas Eve, as Ted is preparing to leave with Linda after the final film shoot to get married. Jim confronts Ted in his dressing room, then locks him in it. Before Linda films the final scene for her movie, which features a recreation of Holiday Inn, Jim walks around the set with the director, who says it is the most exact recreation ever created of a place for a motion picture. Jim leaves his pipe on the set's piano and hides nearby. Linda enters the room and sits at the piano, performing "White Christmas". Startled by the pipe's appearance, she falters, then continues as Jim's voice joins her. He appears and she runs to him as the director hollers "Cut." Ted and Danny, having learned of Jim's plan, are too late to stop him.
The film ends with the New Year's Eve celebration at Holiday Inn. Jim and Linda are prepared to stay together and run the inn. Ted is reunited with Lila, who is ready and willing to perform with him again.
Legacy
The success of the song "White Christmas" eventually led to another film based on the song, White ChristmasWhite Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
, which was released in 1954 and starred Crosby, Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
and Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen was an American actress and dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor.-Early life:...
. It was a loose remake of Holiday Inn, with a plotline again involving an inn, but otherwise different from the earlier film. Fred Astaire was offered the second lead in the new film, but after reading the script, he declined. The role was then offered to Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
, but he was injured before filming began. Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
took the role.
A colorized version of “Holiday Inn” was released by Universal on October 14, 2008. The colorization was done by Legend Films
Legend Films
Legend Films, a San Diego-based company, was founded in August 2001. The company specializes in the conversion of feature films, both new release and catalog titles, and commercials from their native 2D format into 3-D film format utilizing proprietary technology and software...
. The colorization company used Edith Head
Edith Head
Edith Head was an American costume designer who won eight Academy Awards, more than any other woman.-Early life and career:...
’s sketch artist, Jan Muckelstone as a color design consultant for costume authenticity.
Many segments of the film are preceded by shots of a calendar with a visual symbol of the given holiday. For November, an animated turkey is shown running back and forth between the third and fourth Thursdays, finally shrugging its shoulders in confusion. This is a satirical reference to the "Franksgiving
Franksgiving
Franksgiving is a portmanteau of "Franklin" and "Thanksgiving", coined by Atlantic City mayor Thomas Taggart to describe the American Thanksgiving holiday from 1939–1941....
" controversy sparked in 1939 and 1940 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
tried to expand the Christmas shopping season by declaring Thanksgiving a week earlier than his predecessors. The dispute led to the date of Thanksgiving being established by law rather than by presidential declaration.
The Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
hotels were named after the film.
Adaptations
Holiday Inn was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the January 11, 1943 broadcast of The Screen Guild TheaterThe Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio, broadcast from 1939 until 1952, with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice.The show had a long run, lasting...
, starring Crosby and Astaire with Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
.
"Abraham" controversy
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
minstrel show incorporating what is now considered by some to be offensively stereotyped mannerisms and dialect. Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
has left the "Abraham" number intact during their screenings of Holiday Inn both for historical purposes, and because it is TCM's policy to show most films uncut.