Critic Reviews

Mark Sandrich's musical, written and scored by Irving Berlin, is a stone-cold festive classic. [07 Dec 2018, p.35]

Mark Sandrich, director and producer, has taken the inevitable melange of plot and production numbers and so deftly pulled them together that one hardly knows where the story ends and a song begins—a neat trick if you can do it.

Loaded with a wealth of songs, it's meaty, not too kaleidoscopic and yet closely knit for a compact 100 minutes of tiptop filmusical entertainment. The idea is a natural, and Irving Berlin has fashioned some peach songs to fit the highlight holidays.

The 1942 musical-comedy Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire and featuring the music of Irving Berlin, has been overshadowed by Crosby-Berlin's 1954 hit "White Christmas." Holiday Inn is the superior film, thanks to Mark Sandrich's light-hearted direction, Astaire's dance numbers and Crosby crooning "White Christmas" and "Be Careful, It's My Heart." [20 Nov 1992, p.11]

It’s an engaging product, typical of its era and elevated by Crosby’s non-singing breeziness and Astaire’s all-around brilliance, plus the appeal of Marjorie Reynolds, who has to pretend that she’s enthralled every time Crosby warbles something in her direction. Now that’s acting.

Call it old-fashioned or old Hollywood fluff, Holiday Inn is a sweet, pleasant slice of another time in pop entertainment.

Music is definitely the key here, as the plot is distinctly thin, and the pairing of Crosby and Astaire, does not work as well as it could have.

C'mon, it's Fred and Bing! Depending on your disposition, you can take that as a recommendation or a warning.

The Irving Berlin score, including 'Easter Parade' and 'Let's Say It with Firecrackers' (which gives Fred his best moment) makes up for the thin story about a love triangle at the eponymous vacation resort.

Dowdy and thin.