"Holiday
Inn" was a very popular film when released in 1942. The musical was
written by Irving Berlin who featured in his film many stars of the decade.
Actor-singer Bing Crosby stars as Jim Hardy and features his hit song
"White Christmas." Actor-dancer Fred Astaire stars as Ted Hanover who
thrills the crowd with his astonishingly superior tap dancing. Jim is an
easy-going man who wants to relax, away from the big-city life. Ted is all
about show business, making himself popular, and at any expense.
Virginia Dale
plays Lila Dixon, Jim and Ted's former dance partner as well as fiancée.
Marjorie Reynolds takes the role of Linda Mason, a former clerk in a flower
shop turned song and dance performer.
The plot of the
film is not hard to follow; it simply contains many twists and turns
throughout. Jim, Ted, and Lila are famous song and dance performers in New York
City in the 1930's and 1940's who perform together. In the beginning, Jim and
Lila are engaged and ready to retire from the stage to relax on Jim's newly
bought farm in Midville, Connecticut. On the night of their last performance,
Jim finds out that Lila is leaving him to marry Ted so as to continue dancing
and singing. With all settled, Jim moves to his farm alone and comes up with a
plan to make the place into an inn where performers would perform for an
audience, but only on holidays. All that he needs to do is find a partner.
Danny Reid,
Ted's agent and friend, meets a young woman, Linda Mason, in a flower shop. He
is bothered by her and, suspecting she has no talent, sends her to Holiday Inn
to audition. When she gets to Jim's farm she automatically gets the part and
her first performance is on Christmas. At the New Year's performance, Linda
runs into and dances with the incredibly drunk Ted Hanover, whom Lila has just
dumped for a Texas millionaire. Ted wants Linda for his new dance partner, but
does not know what she looks like, so he and Danny spend several weeks trying
to find her. All the while, Jim and Linda are engaged and Jim is trying to hide
her from Ted. Finally, on Valentine's Day, Danny and Ted succeed in finding
Linda and offer her the job of being Ted's dance partner.
Basically, what
happens after that goes by very quickly. Linda gets mad at Jim because he does not
trust her and ends up going with Ted to make a movie about Holiday Inn in
Hollywood. Jim closes down the inn, then stays at home, depressed, until his
maid, Mamie, tells him that he needs to go after Linda. So Jim travels to the
studio in Hollywood to get Linda back and he succeeds, to Ted and Danny's
dismay. Everything ends up fine, however. Jim gets Linda back, Lila leaves her
millions-owed millionaire and returns to Ted, and Holiday Inn is reopened.
The women and
men in this movie are very fickle because of their excessive changing of
partners. Clubs were open late into the night where song and dance entertained
large crowds along with food and alcohol. The dancing was taken place to the
beat of swing music and jazz and was very up-tempo. Women wore fur hats and fur
coats. They wore dresses that revealed more skin than in the past. Men wore
suits, ties, high pants, and loose-fitting shirts. Obviously, the film focuses
on the rich, not the poor.
Overall, I loved
"Holiday Inn." Ted was selfish and was taught a lesson for using
people, but still got Lila back. Jim learned that sometimes he had to fight for
what he wanted and have a little ambition. I love how, in the end, everyone who
has been taken advantage of has still remained advantageous.
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