THE CAVENDER DIARY

Watching a movie with me is like an episode of “Pop Up Video”.

You’re guaranteed to hear trivia throughout the next 2 plus hours.

Add my 2 brothers into the mix and it’s 3 times the trivia. Very few people can handle it.

Here are some fun facts about White Christmas, that we would spew out while you’re trying to watch the movie.

White Christmas was released in 1954 and premiered at Radio City Music Hall.

It was the highest grossing film of that year, earning more than 30 million in the U.S. Alone, over 300 million in modern dollars.

This was the first film released in VistaVision, a process developed by Paramount studios that enhanced the picture more than standard 35mm prints.

The film was intended to reunite Crosby with Fred Astaire, who had started together in Holiday Inn, but Astaire declined after reading the script. Donald O’Connor replaced him, but left due to an illness. Danny Kaye was the third and final

Vera Allen was 33 at the time, Rosemary Clooney was 26, Danny Kaye was 43, and Bing was 52.

The photo Vera-Ellen shows of her brother Benny is actually a photo of Carl Switzer, who played Alfalfa in The Little Rascals.

Costume legend Edith Head died Danny Kaye’s shoes to match his socks.

Dancer Barrie Chase appears un-billed, as the character Doris Lenz (“Mutual, I’m sure!”).

The “Sisters” comedy act that Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye perform was not originally in the script. They were clowning around on the set and the director, Michael Kurtiz, thought it was so funny that it was written in. Crosby’s laughs are genuine (and unscripted). Many takes were attempted, but Crosby was unable to hold a straight face due to Kaye’s comedic dancing. The scene shown in the film was the best take they could get (which includes some laughter from Kaye as well).

The Vermont Inn is the remodeled Connecticut Inn set from the movie Holiday Inn.

A myth persists that all of Vera-Ellen’s costumes, down to her robe and sleepwear, were designed to cover her neck, which had been damaged by anorexia. But she made sure to show every square inch of her legs.

All the songs were written by Irving Berlin.

The centerpiece of the film is the title song, first used in Holiday Inn, which won that film an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1942. The song Count Your Blessings earned this picture its own Oscar nomination in the same category.

This is the third film to feature Bing Crosby singing White Christmas. The other two are Holiday Inn and Blue Skies.

Trudy Stevens provided the singing voice for Vera-Ellen, except for “Sisters”, where Rosemary Clooney sang both parts.

Speaking of Rosemary Clooney singing, her contract at Columbia Records forbade her from being included on the soundtrack…..Peggy Lee recorded her part for her.

After the final shot, the cast was informed that they would be redoing the finale because the King and Queen of Greece would be visiting the set and the producer wanted to “give them something to remember”. They “reshot” the sequence with no film in the camera and without Bing Crosby……

….. who had skipped out to play golf.