Everything was going well until we got to Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.  Sure, Holiday Inn (1942) has some of the regressive gender roles you would expect from a film of this period, though some surprisingly strong female performances, too.  One does not like seeing the way women are talked and thought about, but you take it with the knowledge that, unfortunately, that was how things were at that time.  What I was not prepared for was Lincoln’s Birthday.  My insistence on discussing this holiday will become evident once I begin describing the proceedings to you.  For the moment, know that there is a scene where a song and dance number is performed on the aforementioned day in honor of Abraham Lincoln with all the performers in black face.  Of course, it is another sign of the times that nobody seemed bothered by such a production.  Sitting in my chair watching it in 2023, I looked on aghast.  It spoils what is otherwise a decent musical, and this coming from me, among the biggest detractors of the genre.

If you are reading this and wondering how Holiday Inn ended up amongst The Legionnaire’s Christmas season reviews, it is because it starts on Christmas.  There are a couple of other reasons, like two, but we will get to them in a moment.  For now, popular song-and-dance men Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) and Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) each separately hope to marry the woman who makes up their trio, Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale).  It is Jim that has the more definite plans.  He intends their performance that night to be their last, with he and Lila to wed the next day and leave show business behind for a Connecticut farm.  Lila, though, has other ideas, but does not want to hurt Jim’s feelings.  Her desire is to remain with Ted, be his wife, and continue performing.  Ted volunteers to give Jim the bad news, but not until after the show.  By this point, it is too late, especially when their agent, Danny Reed (Walter Abel), bursts into the room wondering why Lila and Ted have not already moved on to their next gig without Jim.  Jim takes the news surprisingly well, bidding them goodbye and reminding them where he can be found.  He proceeds to spend a grueling year working on the farm.  It is not the life ease for which he hoped, wothout the planned days off he spoke of before leaving his act.  Besides, there are aspects of show business that he likes, mainly because he is a good singer.  Thus, he returns to New York to see Lila and Ted’s show with his next idea.  He is planning on turning his expansive farm house into a club that is only open on holidays, calling it the eponymous establishment.  He is hoping to get his old partners to open there on New Year’s Eve, but there is evident tension between Lila and Ted.  The movie seems to blame Lila, showing her to be demanding, such as wanting fresh flowers in her dressing room.  Danny is sent to purchase a dozen or so orchids.  At the florist, he is helped by Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds).  She quickly figures out who he represents and begins informing the talent manager about her abilities as a dancer and singer.  He is used to such demands, but out of desperation, and thanks to some cleverness on her part, she gets an invitation to the club.  It is here that she meets Jim.  In the course of their conversation, she learns that he is looking for people with her kind of talent to work at his farm.  She readily agrees and her audition is them singing “White Christmas” together shortly after her arrival.  It is also enough for them to begin to fall in love, though they are cautious given that he has no idea if his business will be successful.  It turns out to be a hit.  Meanwhile, back in New York, Lila decides to run off with a Texas millionaire.  Ted is despondent, proceeding to get roaring drunk and stumbling off to Jim’s farm.  Not really aware of where he is, he finds his way to Linda and begins dancing with her.  The eternally frantic Danny finds Ted here, and catches the end of the impromptu spin on the floor taken by Linda and Ted.  The next morning, from what Ted can remember of the previous night, he is convinced that whoever it was, this woman should be his next partner.  With Jim’s growing feelings for Linda, he is not keen on letting this happen.  Jim tries to keep Linda hidden from Ted with the awful black face number.  Yet, by Washington’s birthday, they are dancing as partners.  Jim attempts to do what he can to keep things from going further with Linda and Ted, resorting to some underhanded tricks.  Jim tells Ted that he and Linda are considering marriage, but Ted is insistent that he and Linda must be together.  On Independence Day, a pair of Hollywood Scouts come to the Holiday Inn to see Linda and Ted perform, but Jim makes it so that she misses the show.  When she finally gets there, she is hurt that Jim would not leave the decision up to her.  Sensing defeat once again, he gives in to the studio executive’s demands that they make a movie about his farm and that he writes the music.  Thus, Linda heads to Los Angeles with Ted, and the tabloids soon proclaim an engagement between the two.  Jim reads of this announcement on Thanksgiving, alone at the farm, and not putting on a performance despite the holiday.  Not wanting him to be sad, Mamie (Louise Beavers), his maid (sigh), suggests that he travel to where the movie is being made and win back Linda.  When he gets there, Danny and Ted do their best to keep Jim away from the set, but he foils their plans.  Instead, Jim finds his way into a replica of his parlor where he first sang “White Christmas” with Linda, providing back-up for her as she starts the song, and revealing his presence.  Overjoyed, they return to Connecticut.  Ted comes, too, being the gracious friend he really is, and gets his old dance partner back in Lila.

I “sighed” when I mentioned Mamie in my synopsis of Holiday Inn because during the Lincoln piece she has a part, singing about how she and other “darkies” (her word) are eternally grateful to Abraham Lincoln for freeing the slaves, as if African-American History begins with bondage.  Interestingly, in the little bit of research I did about the film, I learned that when American Movie Classics (AMC) airs it on television, they edit out this sequence.  It is that bad.  What is less bad is the approach to life by Jim and Linda.  It got me thinking about discernment, which is a subject I have previously discussed.  What struck me this time is the difficulty of the decisions that are to be made.  A modern observer might look at the ease with which Jim, Lila, Linda, and Ted move from one romantic relationship to another, especially when it is basically just between the four of them.  Yet, they do so while maintaining their friendship, though, it should be admitted, it does get strained.  It is because there is a little bit of tension that I say there is some difficulty.  It reminds me of stories I have heard of men and women entering the priesthood or religious life.  These decisions sometimes come when a person is dating somebody else, and often that person is also a practicing Catholic.  To the one that is supposedly “wronged” in this situation, it can seem like the one entering religious life is choosing God over the other.  The parallel with this in the movie is when Lila picks show business instead of marrying Jim, or Jim’s dedication to his farm.  The problem with viewing these moments in terms of somebody being wronged is that it misses the fact that these choices are a calling.  They see something bigger than themselves, something that is usually clear only to them, and to deny their pursuit can (though not always) be denying God’s will.  Being more in line with what God wants for us is a better assurance of happiness, in this life or the next, than anything else this world can offer.  In the meantime, there is no reason why we cannot be friends, and I appreciate seeing this at the end of the film.

Like Four Christmases (2008), I am not sure Holiday Inn is a Christmas movie despite the trimmings.  Having said that, it does make sense to watch it this time of year, if for no other reason than to see Astaire dance and hear Crosby sing.  If I were to recommend it, though, I suggest you find the edited version because . . . yikes!