It is going to be a little bit difficult to do this review based on what happens in this film. L. mentioned something that occurs in this film that in a lot of other versions is edited out but we watched this on Amazon I believe and they kept it in. So let me just start describing what this movie is actually about before I go on a tirade. There are these three performers Jim, Ted, and Lila. They do a whole song and dance routine up in New York. Jim is performing for the last time because he's going to marry Lila. His whole plan is to go live on a farm and rest and relax because he's tired of being on stage all of the time. Well he finds out that not only is Lila not coming with him but that his partner Ted is cheating with Lila and they're both going to just continue to show in New York.
Jim goes to a farm and is just doing back breaking labor and ends up in the sanitarium. He comes up with an idea to turn the farm into a place called Holiday Inn where they only perform on the holidays which means he'd be working about fifteen times a year. Their agent Teddy goes to a flower shop and one of the sales girls named Linda tries to have him represent her. He sees what she's up to but he decides to send her up to the farm where Jim is as a way to get rid of her. Jim is watching a performance with his former partner and former fiancé and Linda sits down at the table with him. Linda pretends to be somewhat famous but when Ted and Lila come near her she just bolts from the table. Around Christmas she arrives at Holiday Inn and she sees Jim up on the roof. She's like “wait a second you're the guy I met at that show!” Jim starts singing that song that everybody knows called White Christmas. The funny thing is we ended up watching that film I believe last year.
So they open up the place and it's full of people and everybody's happy and next thing you know Ted's punk ass shows up. Lila left him for a rich dude in Texas and he's drunk as hell but does like a whole routine with Linda. He wakes up in bed the next day and his agent is like who was that woman and neither of them remember her they just know what she looks like from the back. So they spend time at the party just looking at the back of women seeming like perverts while Jim is trying to hide her because exactly what happened in New York at the show is happening again. This man wants to steal his girlfriend. Now it's Lincoln's birthday and I am going to wait to get back to that. So instead of telling Linda that this dude stole his former fiancé before and I'm concerned about what's going to happen with you he does things like trying to sabotage the show and keep the two of them from kissing on stage.
Some agents from Hollywood arrive to check them out and Jim set it up so that Linda wouldn't be able to be at the show and then invites Lila to the show so that she can see Ted and they can perform together and maybe get back together and he'll be left alone with Linda. Linda finds all this out in this pissed off about it as she should be. Next thing you know it's Thanksgiving and Jim just sitting there all miserable by himself when Mamie (because yes of course the only black lady in this movie's name is Mamie) gives him a pep talk pretty much telling him to stop being such a little bitch and go get your woman back and do what he did to you. Jim heads to California and Linda is supposed to be getting married to Ted until Jim shows up and sings White Christmas with her again and they fall back in love. Everybody ends up back at the Holiday Inn where now all four of them are performing together.
Now as for the part that I said I would get back to. During Lincoln's birthday they do an entire minstrel show. The lady that checks your clothes at the door, the wait staff, the band, and even Jim and Linda are all in blackface. It looks terrible. Now L. had said that this scene had been removed from certain versions but it was not removed from this and it puts a stink over the rest of this movie. Yes, I'm an adult and fully understand that this was a different time and people were cool with that kind of thing back then or if they were not cool they weren't all too bothered by it. I also understand that it is damn near 80 years later. But still seeing this wholesome movie where suddenly the main nice guy shows up with cotton slapped on his face and in full blackface and then Linda who didn't even know that she was going to be wearing blackface for this performance comes out in full blackface with her hair all twisted and braided up was a very bad look. L. kept on saying “Oh my God this is getting worse!” and every time she said that it got way worse.
There is a scene where with two Black children for no reason (because they're not on stage they're actually in the kitchen during this performance) are asked who set the “darkies” free. Somebody knew that that line was fucked up which is why they didn't say it on stage and they had the only Black person in the movie say this shit. I'm still not sure what score I'm going to give this movie even as I'm doing this review because that scene made me get up off of the bed and just stare at the television in shock. I can't believe that not only two people do this in the film but there was literally the entire staff was in blackface and then they decide to include this Black woman to say shit about darkies being set free by Abraham Lincoln.
Bing Crosby as Jim Hardy
Fred Astaire as Ted Hanover
Marjorie Reynolds as Linda Mason
Walter Abel as Danny Reed
Virginia Dale as Lila Dixon
Louise Beavers as Mamie
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