No comments about Home for the Holidays ; the History of Thanksgiving.

No comments about Christmas Without Snow (1980).

No comments about Santa & The Tooth Fairies.

No comments about Portrait Painting with Harold Riley, Master Class.

No comments about Holidays in the Sun, Vol. 1.

5 comments about Holiday Inn & Going My Way (2pc).

1. Going My Way is a wonderful movie. All the actors are great to watch. The story keeps your interest. I love listening to Bing
   Crosby sing. His voice is so easy to listen to.
   
   Holiday Inn is a wonderful entertaining movie. It's not only a musical, it has very funny parts in it. It's a wonderful Holiday or anytime movie. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire are fabulous actors.



2. 
   (GOING MY WAY reviewed as a single feature on videocassette.)
   
   We are in an entertainment age of rampant violence, language, and sexuality. On a recent Monday, I watched two tapes worth of HBO shows. I could actually feel my soul corroding from violence in the admittedly well acted THE SOPRANOS, very strong language in the beautifully designed DEADWOOD, and sex scenes with full nudity in the new BIG LOVE. They make me want to cancel my subscription to HBO and go back to bygone Hollywood on Turner Classic Movies.
   
   Producer/director/co-writer Leo McCarey's GOING MY WAY (1944) won a whopping seven Oscars the same year as such powerhouses as DOUBLE INDEMNITY, LAURA, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, and SINCE YOU WENT AWAY. It is a sweet and likeable movie. Not great art, but very pleasant and soul-restoring. We have Oscar winners Bing Crosby as progressive young Father O'Malley and Barry Fitzgerald as the aging conservative Father Fitzgibbon interacting at venerable St. Dominick's.
   
   GOING MY WAY runs an overlong 126 minutes and is constructed as a series of interacting plot strands. G-rated juvenile delinquents become members of the church choir and (off-screen) go with Father O'Malley to a baseball game. They later sing a song for Rise Stevens (of the Metropolitan Opera) as Genevieve Linden. Father O'Malley was the first person to praise Genevieve, who in turn gives encouragement to the boys, who subsequently sing the lovely and Oscar-winning "Swinging on a Star."
   
   Fitzgerald's Father Fitzgibbon is an endearing character who has a bottle of whiskey hilariously hidden inside a bookcase music box that plays "Toora, Loora, Loora" all the time. The same lovely, sentimental song figures prominently in the very poignant final scene. Watch Father Fitzgibbon's expression when he realizes he has eaten a stolen turkey (by two of the boys) at Thanksgiving. And watch him play golf with Father O'Malley and mistakenly, happily think he has gotten a really good score.
   
   Then there is Carol (pretty Jean Heather), a runaway teenager who eventually marries a World War Two (1944 movie) soldier named Ted, whose father (Gene Lockhart) holds the mortgage on St. Dominick's. Lockhart does something nice with that mortage at Christmas time in the final reel. Ted asks dad to "look after Carol while [he is] away. She'll grow on you." On the sidelines is Frank McHugh, always fun, as Father O'Dowd.
   
   I like GOING MY WAY quite a lot. It is very sentimental, but (to rewrite the final line of Preston Sturges' great 1941 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS) there is a lot to be said for sentimentality and old-fashioned virtues in our frenzied and cynical computer age.



3. 
   Going My Way deservedly won 7 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Story. It is such a warm story written and directed by Leo McCarey (who also wrote Love Affair, Bells of St. Mary's and An Affair to Remember as well as directed the latter two).
   
   The movie's warmth owed much to the wonderful performance of Barry Fitzgerald (Best Actor in a Supporting Role), as the lovable and respectable elderly Father Fitzgibbon, despite his old school of strict rules and hardships expected of a clergyman. And Bing Crosby(Best Actor), as Father O'Malley, came to rescue the old church with utmost regard of Father Fitzgibbon's delicate feeling. Bing Crosby's portrayal of a sensible, upright Father who enjoyed a close relationship with the younger generation was most impressive. The joyful and buoyant Father O'Dowd (Frank McHugh) provided the optimistic mood often needed to uplift the morale of the other two Fathers. The personal sacrifice made by Fitzgibbon, his longing to see his mother far away, the subplots of a radiant contralto of Metropolitan Opera Association (Rise Stevens) with a gold heart, the father and son money lenders, a naïve run away 18-year old (Jean Heather) all make a wonderful story.
   
   In addition, there is much good music performed by Bing Crosby (Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra, Silent Night, Swinging on a star - Best Original Music) and Rise Stevens (Ave Maria, Habanera of Carmen)with the Robert Mitchell Boychoir. There is just a right balance between the good Christmas spirit and delightful Christmas music. It leaves you adoring the kindness and integrity of these good characters while humming the beautful tones.
   
   For a different kind of light and highly entertaining holiday treat, Holiday Inn must be the one. White Christmas sung by Bing Crosby, first solo followed by duet with Marjorie Reynolds, in the first half hour of the movie alone is a classic number not to be missed. However, the movie offers much more than meets the eye.
   
   The idea of having a holiday inn which opened for 15 holidays throughout the year is ingenious. In no more natural setting can numbers be inserted at Christmas, Lincoln's birthday, Valentine's Day, Washington's birthday, Easter Parade, Independence Day as in this movie. The elegant and radiant Marjorie Reynolds sang beautifully with Bing Crosby and danced gracefully with Fred Astaire, so was Virginia Dale. Added to it the lively performance of the trio's agent (Walter Abel) and Bing Crosby's cook Mamie(Louise Beavers) with two cute child actors. This is such a warm and delightful holiday movie that one can enjoy all 100 minutes of singing and dancing.



4. Conceived from an idea by composer Irving Berlin, Mark Sandrich's "Holiday Inn" is a humorous, festive Crosby/Astaire musical that finds both performers in tip-top, toe-tapping form. Famous for introducing "White Christmas," the best-selling single of all time and an instant favorite with troops overseas, "Inn" is consistently tuneful and entertaining with a sublime Berlin score that covers not just Christmas, but all major holidays. Watch for the July 4th rave-up "Let's Say It With Firecrackers," one of many musical highlights.



5. Watching "Going My Way" was a holiday tradition for my husband. When we lost our old VHS copy to a flooded basement, I thought it was over. But I was able to order the DVD from you on 12/17 and have it in time for Christmas. Thanks for the great service.

No comments about Holidays for Children: Christmas Around the World.

5 comments about Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Concert by Chip Davis.

1. This is masterpice. Mr. Davis and Mannheim Steamroller shows a beautiful voyage through of the Renaissance and Modern Christmas. Obligator item for a different Christmas. One programs for all the family.



2. CHIP DAVIS AND MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER MAKE CHRISTMAS MORE WONDERFUL
   WITH THIS VIDEO. CHIP'S DISCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT SONGS AND
   THEIR MEANINGS HELP MAKE THIS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE.



3. This is an absolutely wonderful concert. My entire family watches it every year, from my 7 year old son (who begs to see it over and over starting right after Thanksgiving) to my 64 year old mother. The music is top notch, and the stories it tells are heart warming. It has now become one of our most favorite holiday videos. It is very different from the normal holiday videos like A Charlie Brown Christmas or A Christmas Story (two of our favorites). It can be used to sit and watch or to put on for background music during your Christmas dinner. It is an excellent addition to any Christmas video collection.



4. I was at this concert. I have been a huge fan of Manheim Steamroller since the 1970's. I paid $75 for a front seat to what I thought would be one of the greatest 'Live' performances I'd ever seen. Each of the songs was played exactly as it was arranged in the original studio recordings. I spoke personally with the sound technician at the concert and he admitted that there were up to 12 'backing' tracks which were taken from the original studio recordings. Even their sacred rendition of 'Silent Night' with its tear invoking solo violin was actually pre-recorded, not 'Live'. When I spoke with the Manheim Steamroller spokesperson on the phone after I had gone to the concert, I was told that "...most professional performers used backing tracks in their 'Live' concerts." I paid $75 to hear pre-recorded songs at a 'Live' concert. So I guess you could say that Chip Davis is like all the rest, Milly Vanilly, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, etc. etc. Sad. If you want to hear Manheim Steamroller, play their studio recorded cd's. If you want to see them, go see a concert. But if you want to actually hear them perform their music live, forget it. They don't do 'Live'.



5. This is a wonderful holiday tape. It has superb stereo Christmas music with a very clear sound. Some of the Christmas music is original. The music is supported by vivid original videos, some intricately acted out. Don't miss this one.

No comments about The Shoji Tabuchi Family: "Wonder of Christmas" Show!.

No comments about In Dudu's Kindergarten, Vol. 11: Chanukah.