Customer Reviews

Selections From Irving Berlin's White Christmas

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although this album is advertised as the "original soundtrack" of Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS, it is not so. It is merely a STUDIO RECORDING of the songs from the film. The two male leads are heard on this album but the leading ladies are not. Rosemary Clooney was not allowed to appear on this album as she was under contract to Columbia, and the soundtrack rights were controlled by Decca. Her numbers are done by Peggy Lee, who does a commendable job with them. Trudy Stevens steps in for Vera-Ellen. Incidently, Vera-Ellen's voice is not heard in the film anyway, as her singing was dubbed in all her musical pictures.

The arrangements and performances on the album are super, but as I stated they are not the actual soundtrack recordings. Sound quality isn't bad, but its not great, and we'll forgive that shortcoming, considering these recordings are over 50 years old. Those who bemoan that this album is out of print and rare and always has many "buyers waiting" -- THIS ALBUM HAS BEEN RERELEASED, in its entirety, on MCA as a 2-on-1 disc, paired with songs from another Irving Berlin film, HOLIDAY INN. I repeat--it contains the exact same WHITE CHRISTMAS album you are reading about here. It is currently in print and, lo and behold, Amazon does carry it!

Those who are awaiting an "original soundtrack" release will be waiting indefinately as there is no original soundtrack album and never has been, and it will likely remain that way for some time. The HOLIDAY INN/WHITE CHRISTMAS album from MCA will suffice for now.

Back in the mid eighties I was fortunate enough to find this album....I am a big fan of the movie WHITE CHRISTMAS and was blessed to find an old and then unopened version of this album. The album has a 1958 copyright on it even though the movie was released in 1954. A fan of this film once e-mailed me after I requested to know why this album replaced Rosemary Clooney with Peggy Lee. He believes that the reason Ms. Clooney was replaced was because of contract problems between the company that held Ms. Clooney's singing contract and the company who had the rights to the soundtrack. This probably explains why the cover artwork for this album shows only pictures of Kaye and Crosby. I only pass this along because it seems to be a common question for those who have the soundtrack.

Despite the loss of Clooney the soundtrack is excellent. The songs are almost indistinguishable from the films songs. My personal favorites are "The Best Things Happen While Your Dancing" and "Snow." I would have given this album 5 out of 5 stars except that I think many fans will be disappointed at finding Ms. Clooney was replaced, regardless of the good performances by Lee. Release the cd!!

Please bring back this CD! I have been looking for a soundtrack to my favorite holiday movie and am disappointed to see one is not available. I do hope in the near future it is released.

I am a young fan of Bing Crosby's this was the movie that started it all for me and I would really appreciate some help in finding this cd. Please bring this title back

Like many others I have been a fan of this great classic movie since I was a child and now my children are also fans. What has happened to the original soundtrack? With Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney? Please bring it back. It's the only White Christmas we'll ever have in Texas, but worth hearing over and over!!

Please bring this CD back. I have lots of friends and family who are dying to get their hands on this soundtrack. This movie is one of the best holiday movies ever made and it would be awesome to own the soundtrack too! Please consider it.

The reason it does not say that this album is the soundtrack for the 1954 film "White Christmas" is that it is not the soundtrack. Instead you have, as the title says, "Selections from Irving Berlin's White Christmas." Apparently such a soundtrack was not possible because Rosemary Clooney was signed with Columbia while this album was put out by Decca. So you still have Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, along with Trudy Stevens (who dubbed Vera-Ellen's singing in the film), but instead of Clooney you get Peggy Lee. Obviously you would love to have the songs sung by the same people who sang them in the film, but you have to admit that Peggy Lee is a pretty high class substitute. Ironically, Clooney recorded her own "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" that year, in which she eight of these songs (including a duet of "Sisters" with her own sister, Betty).

I know that Berlin wrote some new songs just for this film, such as "What Can You Do with a General," but several of them were familiar ones as well, such as "Blue Skies" and, of course, the title song. Apparently "White Christmas" is no longer the best selling single of all time, replaced by Elton John's revised "Candle in the Wind '98" tribute to Princess Diana, but you need to remember that when Bing Crosby first sang the song in 1942 it appeared near the top of the pop charts every holiday season for the next decade. The song was written by Berlin for his 1942 film "Holiday Inn" and became so associated with the longing of soldiers for home during World War II that when the film with the same title was made it was about soldiers during and after the war. The G.I.s of the Greatest Generation always had a special claim on this song.

The order of the songs on this album does not follow the same as the movie. If you remember the movie begins with Bing singing "White Christmas" and then the soldiers doing "(We'll Follow) The Old Man." The album begins with the latter as part of a medley with "Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army." Crosby does "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sleep" as a solo, but for the most part these tracks follow the lead of the originals in the film. Having all four singers sing "Snow" is a highlight of this album, and you will find yourself liking Lee's "Love - You Didn't Do Right By Me" at least as much as Clooney's version in the film, which will probably surprise you. Because of how she fares on that track I end up rounding up on this one. Fortunately I have the movie on DVD, which means I can hear the originals when I am in the mood (and DVDs always seem to sound better than CDs to me, so it is a good deal). So do not be put off by this being a non-soundtrack album for the beloved holiday film, because it does stand up on its own.

It's high time somebody re-released this? One of the greatest musicals of all time and it's nothing short of a crime that the soundtrack has remained unavailable for so long.

This soundtrack has wonderful music from the 40's and 50's, and is a favorite of our entire family. Please re-release this!!

Hi! I agree,this is simply the best, and I have been trying for a couple of years to get a copy. I found one on CD that says its the original soundtrack but the girls are Peggy Lee and someone else. Is this the original?

THis soundtrack needs to be re-released!