White Christmas... Starring Fred Astaire & Donald O'Connor

The plot of White Christmas went through several permutations before Danny Kaye joined the project.

Although Bing Crosby was necessarily attached to White Christmas from its conception, co-star Danny Kaye was a last-minute addition. He was called in days before filming was to begin to replace the ailing Donald O’Connor. O’Connor himself had also been a replacement—for Fred Astaire.

The project originated in 1952, with Paramount’s desire for a sequel to their 1942 hit Holiday Inn to be named after the picture’s hit song, “White Christmas.” Holiday Inn’s stars, Crosby and Astaire, and composer, Irving Berlin, showed interest. Berlin even had a time-saving idea for the story: “White Christmas” had skyrocketed up the charts to become the number-one single ever recorded, with much of its popularity attributed to how much the tune meant to soldiers off at war. 

Four years earlier, Berlin and playwright Norman Krasna had created a stage musical, Stars on My Shoulders, that was to be produced by Rogers and Hammerstein. Its plot focused on the post-war life of a retired general who—feeling forgotten—considers running for president, and is given a boost by his former soldiers.

Krasna went to work trying to recraft Stars on My Shoulders as a vehicle for Crosby and Astaire that would feature “White Christmas” as the title song. It didn’t have to play like a true sequel to Holiday Inn, but was to at least harken back to it.

Krasna’s first script, dated September 29, 1952, featured the “well-known song-and-dance team” partners Chuck (Crosby) and Johnny (Astaire). They are longtime friends, who have a friendly rivalry over women—though Johnny is more the playboy, Chuck the protective watchdog.

They are appearing in the elaborate revue Fancy Free in Miami, and decide to close the show until after the holidays. At a roadside diner, they meet Helen O’Conner and her kid sister, Judy. The boys are both taken with Judy, amusing Helen, who’s used to seeing men fall all over her sister. The girls, also performers, are finishing up a local engagement and have another booking lined up in Pine Tree, Vermont. But the girls have been unable to pay their hotel bill, and the proprietor is holding their trunk. 

Chuck and Johnny hatch a scheme to switch trunks and send the girl’s luggage to Vermont, COD. They then go to watch the O’Conner Sisters perform, where they spot the sheriff in the audience, waiting for girls to finish. During intermission, the boys don the girls’ outfits, and the girls escape to the railroad station. After Chuck and Johnny perform the girl’s number, they’re stopped by the sheriff—who lets them go, because he’s an old Army pal. The boys then join up with the girls on the train, and they all head off to Vermont.

The inn where the sisters are to appear is owned by the boys’ former Army superior, General Waverly. Unfortunately, the inn has few guests, because there’s no snow. So, to drum up a crowd, Chuck and Johnny offer to bring in their Fancy Free company, since they’re “not doing anything,” and put Helen and Judy in the act. 

The whole time, Helen is secretly miserable because she’s falling for Chuck, who she thinks still likes Judy. But Judy has actually been hitting it off with Johnny. Finally, Helen heads to New York to work as a solo act. The General, misreading the situation, tries to console Chuck by telling him Helen left because she liked Johnny.

Chuck is now more worried about the General. He’s now lost a lead singer and there’s still no snow. General Waverly says not to worry, because he has a letter coming that will make everything okay. Soon after, the letter does arrive, but it’s not the news the General was hoping to hear. The Army has declined the General’s request to be reinstated, explaining that he’s “too old.” Chuck intercepts the news, and heads to New York—first to ask Helen to return, and second to ask a favor of another old Army buddy, radio/TV gossip columnist Steve King. On his next broadcast, King shares the plight of the forgotten “old man” and encourages anyone who served under Waverly to support his inn. The show opens on Christmas to a packed house of Army veterans, bringing the General to tears. And as the leads sing “White Christmas,” it begins to snow.

The original plan was to capitalize on the popularity of the song “White Christmas” by reuniting Bing Crosby with Fred Astaire, his co-star in Holiday Inn, in which he introduced the song.

Ultimately, Astaire backed out. The scenario had to be tweaked after his role was given to the younger Donald O’Connor and after Crosby demanded that his character not act too young or frivolously. (Even the characters’ names were changed. The producers suggested Chuck should be the more practical Robert, Bob or James; Johnny should be the more naive Phillip; Helen the less stodgy Betty or Beth; Steve King be the newsier Ed or Walter; and Fancy Free become Heads Up.) 

Kaye’s arrival led to further changes, to better fit Kaye’s more comical image and to give work to Kaye collaborators Norman Panama and Mel Frank.

Although Donald O’Connor had to drop out of White Christmas at the eleventh hour, Paramount teamed him with Crosby two years later as song-and-dance men in Anything Goes.

In the end, White Christmas would retain three of the nine songs Berlin wrote for Stars on My Shoulders: “(We’ll Follow) the Old Man,” “What Can You Do with a General?” and “Monohan & Callahan” (which was rewritten as “A Singer – A Dancer” when Donald O’Connor was cast, and then re-rewritten as “A Crooner – A Comic” when Kaye signed on).

Despite all the permutations, White Christmas has become a beloved holiday classic that most of us could not imagine any other way.

The Twelve Days of “White Christmas”... Number 6. One Big Fat Contract

Danny Kaye really had no interest in appearing in White Christmas. He simply did not care for supporting roles. A few years earlier, he’d agreed to co-star with Gene Kelly in a musical Huckleberry Finn for MGM, but—just as filming was about to begin—he backed out. He knew that he’d disappear behind Kelly in any MGM musical.

Consequently, he didn’t think his role would be any better appearing alongside Bing Crosby in a movie built around Crosby’s most famous song. But Kaye also didn’t want to just say no to Paramount. His personal production company had just completed its first picture, Knock on Wood, and Paramount had provided funding, equipment, crews, offices, and distribution—and agreed to do the same for a second film. Indeed, production had gone so well, Kaye’s partners were in the midst of negotiating a second two-picture deal with Paramount.

In addition, Paramount’s liaison to Kaye—Don Hartman—was a close personal friend of Danny's. He oversaw the writing of Kaye's first three movies in Hollywood (Up in Arms, Wonder Man, and The Kid from Brooklyn) and nearly teamed up with Danny to form their own production company in the late 1940s.

In August 1953, when Hartman begged Kaye to take the role, he was desperate, after already losing Fred Astaire and Donald O’Connor. The script, music, costumes, sets, everything was ready and waiting.

So Danny agreed to appear for the ridiculous amount of $200,000 (more than double O’Connor’s price) plus 10% of the profits, convinced that Paramount would pass. Paramount had already promised to split the profits in thirds with Crosby and Berlin, but—out of options—consented to pay the $200,000, if Crosby and Berlin each gave Kaye 5% of their cuts. Both happily agreed, figuring that the picture—and, in turn, they—would make more in the long run with Kaye in the cast.

Ironically, the role Kaye didn’t want turned out to be the most lucrative of his career.

The Twelve Days of “White Christmas”... Number 10. Two Geezers a-Grumblin’

Neither Bing Crosby nor Fred Astaire were too crazy about the early drafts of White Christmas. In particular, they were paranoid about how their characters would be portrayed—but for opposite reasons.

Astaire didn’t want his character to come across as too old. He preferred the spry, reckless playboy character that he’d been cultivating in films for the past 25 years, not the script’s grizzled show biz veteran who was old enough to have served in World War I and to have appeared in minstrel shows in vaudeville (even though—then in his mid-50s—that’s exactly what he was).

Crosby, however, didn’t want his character to come across as too young. He’d been pursuing a long-term image of wise, calm, reasonable, sage. The first scripts did have Fred as the playboy and partner Bing as his watchdog. Still, Crosby felt all the skirt chasing made him appear “too frivolous” and “young” in nature.

So, privately, Crosby was relieved when Astaire stepped out and Donald O’Connor was signed. The casting of O’Connor allowed the relationship to change from that of two buddies on the prowl to that of a mature older GI and an adoring younger GI, a dynamic preserved when Danny Kaye joined the cast.

The Twelve Days of "White Christmas"... Number 11. Two Hoofers Limping

The best things don’t always happen while you’re dancing, particulary if you’re trying to sing “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing” at the same time.

Irving Berlin composed and Robert Alton choreographed one solo (“Choreography”) for Donald O’Connor and one duet (“Best Things”) for O’Connor and Vera-Ellen. When Danny Kaye took over the role, it quickly became obvious that while Kaye was a good dancer, he lacked the technical skills required to carry a complicated solo. So, during the “Choreography” number, he sang the song and performed a few basic moves, then stepped to the side and let a professional take over.

That wouldn’t really work for a “falling in love” song like “Best Things.” So the hope was that Vera-Ellen could cover up—if not elevate—Danny’s dancing. Unfortunately, while rehearsing the number, Vera-Ellen injured a finger on her right hand while sliding on a rail. She went to the hospital the next day for X-rays and had to wear a splint on her finger for several days.

Rehearsing the number again three days later, this time it was Danny's turn to get hurt. While performing a swinging turn on a bar, he landed on the side of his right foot and turned his ankle. A medic tended to his injury on the scene.

Miraculously, the number turned out beautifully—by far Danny’s most accomplished dance on film. And somehow nobody got killed. Although if you watch really closely at the very end, as Vera-Ellen twirls behind a kneeling Kaye, she trips over his leg.

The Twelve Days of "White Christmas"... Number 12. Ten Tunes a-Warblin’

Every day from now through Christmas Eve, I’ll be celebrating the “Twelve Days of White Christmas,” by sharing a little-known aspect of the production of this holiday classic.

Let’s begin by testing your White Christmas intuition. As you may have heard (perhaps from that great new book Danny Kaye: King of Jesters), Danny Kaye wasn’t the first choice to play Bing Crosby’s co-star. Paramount’s original intention was to recreate the magic of the movie that introduced the song “White Christmas,” Holiday Inn (1942), by re-teaming Crosby with Fred Astaire. But Astaire didn’t care for the script and eventually bowed out, so Paramount signed Donald O’Connor. Then O’Connor ended up contracting Q fever from Francis the Talking Mule and, unable to recover quicky, was replaced by Kaye.

With each casting change, the role of Phil Davis had to be significantly revised, from Astaire’s tap-happy playboy, to O’Connor’s fancy-footed greenhorn, to Kaye’s mix between the two, with more comedy but less dancing.

As well, Berlin had to constantly rework his score, depending on the Phil of the day.

Considering their ages and personalities, can you deduce which Phil Davis—Astaire, O’Connor, or Kaye—Berlin had in mind for each of the following songs? Answers below.

• “Blue Skies”

• “Sisters”

• “The Seven-Piece One-Man Band”

• “Choreography”

• “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing”

• “Monahan & Callahan”

• “A Singer—A Dancer”

• “A Crooner—A Comic”

• “Snow”

• “Santa Claus Number”

Answers:

• “Blue Skies” Kaye. Crosby may have made another movie with Astaire named Blue Skies (in which he also sang “White Christmas”), but the song was incorporated into a duet with Kaye at the last minute.

• “Sisters” Astaire. Berlin first envisioned Bing and Fred in drag.

• “The Seven-Piece One-Man Band” Astaire. Fred suggested this number as his virtuoso solo.

• “Choreography” O’Connor. Since Kaye wasn’t a comparable dancer, he stepped aside and let a professional dancer fill in during the most strenuous moves.

• “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing” O’Connor. Kaye did perform this number without a stand-in, to his great pain. But more about that tomorrow.

• “Monahan & Callahan” Astaire. Inclusion of the vaudeville duet—salvaged from an unproduced Broadway show along with the film’s premise and two other songs—made sense when the two leads were both about the same age. It was rewritten as…

• “A Singer—A Dancer” O’Connor. When Kaye, better known as a funnyman than for his footwork was recruited, the song was rewritten again, as…

• “A Crooner—A Comic” Kaye.

• “Snow” O’Connor. Berlin intended to have an elaborate “Winter Fantasy Number” during the train trip to Vermont, but budget constraints turned the dream sequence into a song instead.

• “Santa Claus Number” Kaye. Costumed Danny and Bing were originally supposed to entertain the general with this tune as they passed out presents.