Music-Related Things You Didn’t Know About ‘White Christmas’
Without music, 1954’s Christmas classic, White Christmas, wouldn’t be as festive. It wouldn’t be a film at all. As with all movies, the music could’ve been this or changed to that. No scene in a movie is final until the last cut. So, here are some music-related facts about White Christmas that you didn’t know.
Bing Crosby sang ‘White Christmas’ on-screen before the film
Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” in 1942 for the film Holiday Inn. So, it wasn’t written for White Christmas. However, Bing Crosby first performed the festive song on the radio show The Kraft Music Hall (per Good House Keeping). The singer then performed it in Holiday Inn and Blue Skies in 1946. Then, it eventually made it to White Christmas.
‘Sisters’ wasn’t initially part of the script
Crosby and Danny Kaye’s comedy act in which they perform “Sisters” wasn’t originally in the script. During filming, the two actors were messing around, and director Michael Curtiz found their skit so funny that he wrote the scene in. Crosby and Kaye’s laughter is real. They couldn’t stop laughing during the filming. So, what you see in the film is the best take.
Vera-Ellen didn’t actually sing
Vera-Ellen, who played Judy Haynes, isn’t actually singing in the film. Her voice is actually singer Trudy Stevens. Vera-Ellen’s real singing voice is only heard when Crosby’s Bob Wallace, Kaye’s Phil Davis, Rosemary Clooney’s Betty, and Vera-Ellen’s Judy sing the opening lines of “Snow” on the train in Vermont.
‘Snow’ wasn’t originally about snow
Speaking of “Snow,” Berlin originally called the tune “Free” for the musical Call Me Madam. Even stranger, “Free” had nothing to do with winter.
Berlin changed certain lyrics just for Crosby
In the song “Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army,” there is a lyric about seeing “Jolson, Hope, and Benny all for free,” which is a reference to wartime entertainers Al Jolson, Bob Hope, and Jack Benny. However, Berlin originally wrote, “Crosby, Hope, and Jolson all for free.” When Crosby was cast in White Christmas, leaving it “as-is would break the fourth wall,” Good House Keeping wrote.
One song wasn’t intended for the film at all
The other war-related song, “What Can You Do with a General?” wasn’t intended to appear in White Christmas at all. It was meant for an unreleased project called Stars on My Shoulders.
‘White Christmas’ has no ‘official’ soundtrack
With how many great, classic songs there are in White Christmas, you’d think the film has an official soundtrack. That’s not the case. Things got complicated when one record company controlled the film’s soundtrack rights, and another controlled its actors. Good House Keeping wrote, “The soundtrack rights for the film were controlled by Decca, but Rosemary Clooney was under exclusive contract to Columbia, a competing record label. So in 1954, Decca recorded and released an album with the movie cast minus Rosemary (her part was sung by Peggy Lee). And Columbia released an album with Rosemary singing eight songs from the film, which means the only way to hear her sing with Bing is on-screen!”
Who knew the music in White Christmas was so complicated?
