Interesting facts about White Christmas you may not know

White Christmas - This classic Christmas song was a huge hit in 1954 and was based on a popular song that had been released a decade earlier. Here are some fun facts about White Christmas that you may not know.

In 1953, Paramount Pictures decided to make a musical based around and named after the most popular Christmas pop song of all time. At the time, "White Christmas" had become a holiday classic thanks in no small part to Bing Crosby's hit recording of the song, but would it have been as successful on the big screen?

With Crosby's star power and Michael Curtiz at the helm, White Christmas overcame some early development difficulties and composer Irving Berlin's concerns to become one of the most acclaimed holiday films of all time. Here are some facts about the production and reception of the classic Christmas song - White Christmas.

 

The song White Christmas was once a huge hit.

Although the movie White Christmas didn't come out until 1954, the story of White Christmas actually began more than a decade earlier, when Irving Berlin wrote the holiday classic that would become the film's theme song. Berlin wrote the song in 1940, and the following year Bing Crosby—the singer who is still best known for the song, despite the many cover versions—recorded it.

By 1942, Crosby had recorded White Christmas, and that same year, the song made its debut in the film Holiday Inn, starring Crosby and Fred Astaire. The film helped "White Christmas" win the Academy Award for Best Song in 1943, and throughout the 1940s, the song climbed to number one on the charts several times. The song would go on to hold the title of best-selling single of all time for decades, until it was finally eclipsed by Elton John's 1997 rewritten version of "Candle in the Wind." Since the song remained popular, especially during the years of World War II, it was understandable that Hollywood wanted to capitalize on it, and in 1949, the film White Christmas was released.

White Christmas was supposed to star Fred Astaire.

In the late 1940s, Irving Berlin and executives at Paramount Pictures were working to develop White Christmas as a musical with a central theme song, and they had big plans for the film's stars. The project was originally envisioned as the third installment of a musical trilogy starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Following 1942's Holiday Inn and 1946's Blue Skies, White Christmas was supposed to mark a triumphant reunion. Ultimately, Astaire turned down the project, concerned that he might be too old for such a film.

 

Bing Crosby almost skipped White Christmas

While most of the casting drama surrounding the film involved the character of Phil Davis, there was a point during pre-production on White Christmas where the film almost had to look for a new Bob Wallace. In January 1953, when Astaire decided to drop out of the project, Crosby also decided that he wasn't sure the film was right for him, and had initially planned to take a break to be with his son after the death of his wife, actress Dixie Lee. However, after a month, Crosby decided to continue with the project and White Christmas was put into production.

Danny Kaye was chosen at the last minute.

With Fred Astaire gone, Paramount had to look for a new star to play Phil Davis opposite Bing Crosby's Bob Wallace, and chose Donald O'Connor, fresh off the success of Singin' in the Rain. O'Connor was ready to play Davis in the film, but he fell ill just before production began. Wanting to find a new co-star in time, the studio offered the role to Danny Kaye, who decided to take a risk and asked for a salary of $200,000 plus a percentage of the film's gross. Kaye was apparently certain the studio would refuse, but they agreed to his terms rather than wait for O'Connor's health to improve. Kaye was cast as Phil Davis, and O'Connor would go on to work with Crosby in Anything Goes.

Rosemary Clooney can't dance

Rosemary Clooney is one of the most celebrated and beloved singers of her generation, and with White Christmas, she became the co-star of one of the most celebrated and beloved musical films of all time—albeit with a flaw. She was always honest about the fact that she wasn't a dancer in both interviews and her final autobiography. Clooney's character, Betty Haynes, only has two actual dancing moments in the film—in "Sisters" and in the "Minstrel Show" medley—and both times the choreography is fairly simple. All of them use props to make the scene visually interesting without requiring too much actual dancing.