This classic film is full of good music, both Christmas and otherwise. The acting is surprisingly good, and the show is full of big names that might be more familiar to your grandparents or great-grandparents but are worth a look, nonetheless. The plot is simple but endearing, and the characters are sympathetic and interesting. Two sets of musical comedy performers get mixed up together and end up helping the owner of a small-town inn (a former army general) get back on his financial feet by putting on a whopper of a show. There’s some romantic entanglements, unfortunate misunderstandings, and plenty of comedy to go with the excellent music. There’s no racial diversity to speak of in the cast, but for a movie from the ’50s that takes place mostly in Vermont, that’s not a big surprise. Amazingly, however, the female characters are never treated badly. They’re largely smart, talented, and have personalities and needs of their own. The whole plot starts because one of them did something to get it going. The only exception is an obviously dumb character who’s designed to be a comic foil of sorts. Much of the two main female characters’ motivations tend to be tied up with romance after the first act of the film, unfortunately, but you never get the feeling that that’s all they’re about. And there’s a nice happy ending to wrap everything up. It’s a great Christmas movie, one of the few that has a lot to do with Christmas without feeling overwhelmed by it.
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