White Christmas - Diamond Edition

[KrugStillo]

Originally Posted by mchalebk

People have been claiming that White Christmas is a remake of Holiday Inn for a long time. I would say it's more accurate to say that White Christmas was inspired by Holiday Inn. Certainly they have some similarities:

1. Both have music by Irving Berlin.
2. Both star Bing Crosby.
3. Both feature an inn in New England.
4. Both feature the song White Christmas.

However, the plots have nothing in common. The actual stories are not even similar. This is not a remake.

And here's the big difference in my book: White Christmas is a feel good, warm and fuzzy holiday movie, while Holiday Inn is not. In White Christmas, the only tensions that arise are from misunderstandings. In Holiday Inn, there are deliberate attempts to betray, mislead, connive and downright stab their "friends" in the back. Holiday Inn has some great song and dance routines and an interesting plot, but it is not a feel good Christmas movie.

One last thing. The black face number in Holiday Inn is just plain uncomfortable to watch. I understand that it's a product of its time, but that doesn't change the fact.

On to the Blu-ray of White Christmas...

I'll watch the DVD this holiday season and see if it annoys me enough to feel that I need to upgrade. If I have a movie on DVD already, I pretty much have to find something that annoys me before I consider upgrading.

Thanks for the Holiday Inn info I always wondered what the difference was. If it helps any this BD is a huge upgrade in image quality from the previous DVD. Gone is the hazy slighly blurry image and the new one has a crisp sharp image that is very clean and filmlike. There is only one section in the beginning with dissolves that represents the way the film used to look (still better but in general). They must have not had the elements to recreate that section, it's the only one though that loses it's crispness a bit. The bonus documentaries are good too. They're short but informative.