Holiday Inn

Jim quits show business for a farm in Connecticut, then turns the farm into a nightclub that opens only on holidays. One number per holiday, one Irving Berlin song per number. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire work for the same woman and sabotage each other between routines. One of the songs is White Christmas, sung here for the first time; it won the Oscar for best original song and went on to become the best-selling single in film history. Astaire's Fourth of July number, danced among firecrackers going off at his feet, is still counted among his hardest choreographies. The blackface routine in the February number is cut from most screenings today, and the reason is plain. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood musicals and Berlin songs. Who it is not for: anyone unable to look past the racist routines of the period.