Review of Holiday Inn (1942) by Robert B — 26 Dec 2008

You pretty much can't go wrong with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. So long as one is the type of person that can enjoy a musical--especially a classic rather than a contemporary pop or rock musicall--the viewer will find this movie to be among the best.

The music is enjoyable and the routines are very crisply choreographed and always cheerful. The premise is deliberately and amusingly shallow: Have Bing Crosby retire from show business to a farm. When the daily labor quickly proves more than a celebrity is accoustomed, he concocts a brilliant little business venture: turn the farmhouse into a resort open only on holidays so he only has to work a couple dozen days per year to make ends meet because crowds will gleeflully flock to see him perform before them in such an intimate and festive setting.

As far as stories go, this is a charming little ruse that allows Irving Berlin to paste together a bunch of unrelated songs of a holiday themes. Toss in some good old fashioned blackface comedy, dueling for a love interest and you have a great flick.