White Christmas

Jews write the best Christmas songs. Irving Berlin started the trend by composing "White Christmas", Johhny Marks gave us "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and we have Mel Torme to thank for the very popular, but not very subtly titled, "The Christmas Song"-- which gentiles everywhere merely call "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire" anyway.

Torme's "The Christmas Song" may top the fan favorite chart, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Berlin's "White Christmas." Whenever I hear the tune, I just imagine GI's during World War 2 gathered around a radio, smoking cigarettes and wiping away tears as they look at pictures of their loved ones back home.

The movie "White Christmas" was made a full decade after the record "White Christmas" became popular. Most people don't realize that the song first appeared in the 1942 film "Holiday Inn" starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Majorie Reynolds. It's one of my favorites if for no other reason then you get to watch Fred Astaire's character dance drunk. The dancing is far better than what the majority of men would do sober.

Here is a clip of Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynold's singing the holiday classic.



Now here's Bing singing the song again but this time with Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen. My favorite part is when they make out behind the tree during a performance. As a professional entertainer, I would never do such a thing. I would make out in front of the tree where the entire audience could see me. After all, these folks paid good money for those tickets. Let them see a show!

It's amazing how much Danny Kaye looks like Seinfeld's Michael Richards. Perhaps Richards should star in a remake of "White Christmas"? After the "N" word incident, it would give the title a whole new meaning.