Holiday Inn (1942)
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100% of critics liked it
(21 reviews) -
86% of users liked it
(11,267 ratings)
Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire star in Holiday Inn as a popular nightclub song-and-dance team. When his heart is broken by his girlfriend, Crosby decides to retire from the hustle-bustle of big city showbiz. He purchases a rustic New England farm and converts it to an inn, which he opens to the public… More Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire star in Holiday Inn as a popular nightclub song-and-dance team. When his heart is broken by his girlfriend, Crosby decides to retire from the hustle-bustle of big city showbiz. He purchases a rustic New England farm and converts it to an inn, which he opens to the public (floor show and all) only on holidays. This barely logical plot device allows ample space for a steady flow of Irving Berlin holiday songs (including an incredible blackface number in honor of Lincoln's Birthday). Oddly enough, the most memorable song in the bunch, the Oscar-winning White Christmas, is not offered as a production number but as a simple ballad sung by Crosby to an audience of one: leading lady Marjorie Reynolds. Fred Astaire's best moment is his Fourth of July firecracker dance. Ah, but what about the plot? Well, it seems that Astaire wants to make a film about Crosby's inn, starring their mutual discovery Reynolds. Bing briefly loses Reynolds to Astaire, but wins her back during the filming of a musical number on a Hollywood soundstage (eleven years earlier, Bing enjoyed a final clinch with Marion Davies under surprisingly similar conditions in Going Hollywood). As with most of Irving Berlin's "portfolio" musicals of the 1940s, the song highlights of Holiday Inn are too numerous to mention. This delightful film is far superior to its unofficial 1954 remake, White Christmas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Mark Sandrich
- Written By
- Claude Binyon, Elmer Rice
- Genres
- Romance, Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1942 Wide
- Studio
- MCA Universal Home Video
Critic Reviews
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, TIME Magazine
Crosby's easy, casual banter is just the right foil for Astaire's precision acrobatics, his wry, offbeat humor.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Loaded with a wealth of songs, it's meaty, not too kaleidoscopic and yet closely knit for a compact 100 minutes of tiptop filmusical entertainment.
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Theodore Strauss, New York Times
Holiday Inn offers a reason for celebration not printed in red ink on the calendar.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
The Irving Berlin score, including 'Easter Parade' and 'Let's Say It with Firecrackers' (which gives Fred his best moment) makes up for the thin story.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
One of Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire's most enjoyable and most commercially popular musicals, featuring Irving Berlin's iconic, Oscar-winning ballad, White Christmas.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Bing Crosby
as Jim Hardy
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Fred Astaire
as Ted Hanover
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Virginia Dale
as Lila Dixon
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Marjorie Reynolds
as Linda Mason
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Walter Abel
as Danny Reid
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Louise Beavers
as Mamie
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Marek Windheim
as Francois
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Jacques Vanaire
as Waiter
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Judith Gibson
as Cigarette Girl
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Shelby Bacon
as Vanderbilt
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Joan Arnold
as Daphne
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Edward Arnold Jr.
as Man
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Irving Bacon
as Gus
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Leon Belasco
as Flower Shop Owner
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James Bell
as Dunbar
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Karin [Katharine] Booth
as Hatcheck Girl
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June Ealey
as Specialty dancer
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John Gallaudet
as Parker
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Lynda Grey
as Girl
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Oscar G. Hendrian
as Doorman
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Robert E. Homans
as Pop
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Bud Jamison
as Santa Claus
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Kitty Kelly
as Drunk
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Lora Lee Michel
as Girl
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Reed Porter
as Director
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David Tihmar
as Specialty dancer
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Harry Barris
as Orchestra leader
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Barbara Slater
as Girl
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Laurie Douglas
as Girl
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Louise LaPlanche
as Girl
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Ronnie Rondell
as Orchestra leader
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Bob Locke Lorraine
as Dancer
