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35 Surprising Things About 'White Christmas' That Even Movie Buffs Don't Know

The beloved holiday classic has endless fascinating back stories.

By and Janaya Wecker
preview for White Christmas

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It may not have been a huge box-office hit like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and it may not have made you bawl quite like Love Actually, but White Christmas is still considered one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time — and for good reason.

This 1954 musical film centers around a group of entertainers during World War II keen on spreading the holiday spirit to save a failing Vermont inn. The star-studded cast is packed with several favorites from the era, like Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Dean Jagger. What's more, the film introduced to the world a number of catchy sing-along tunes, including "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" and "What Can You Do With a General?" Not to mention, the movie is also known for helping make the song "White Christmas" as iconic as it is today.

Behind this Christmas flick are a bunch of super interesting facts about the actors, set, and storyline that are bound to make you love the classic even more than you already do. So go on and scroll through this list of White Christmas facts in no time, you'll be a total trivia whiz.

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This wasn't the first time Bing Crosby sang 'White Christmas' on-screen.

Many folks assume that the titular track "White Christmas" originally came from the movie with the same name. In reality though, Bing Crosby first performed the tune 13 years before White Christmas came out, on the radio show The Kraft Music Hall. Then, he sang it in Irving Berlin's 1942 classic, Holiday Inn, as well as Blue Skies in 1946. Still, most will agree that the White Christmas movie version is the best one.

Irving Berlin opened his own Oscar for 'White Christmas.'

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Getty Images

The composer was an Oscar presenter in 1943 and happened to open the envelope and read his own name as the winner. After winning for his Holiday Inn rendition of "White Christmas," he joked with the audience, "I'm glad to present the award. I've known him for a long time."

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There are some shocking age differences.

bing crosby
John Swope/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty

As Betty Haynes, Rosemary Clooney plays Vera-Ellen's older sister in the movie, but she was actually seven years younger. When the film came out, Clooney was 26, and Vera-Ellen, 33. Even more striking? Bing Crosby, who plays her love interest, was 51 when the movie debuted. That's a 25-year-age gap! (It's also funny to note that Dean Jagger, who played the retired, elderly general was actually born a few months after Crosby.)

And height differences.

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Getty Images

Because Vera-Ellen was two inches shorter than Rosemary Clooney, wardrobe gave her higher heels to wear. That way, the two women would appear to be similar heights during their performances.

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It was praised for being in VistaVision.

white christmas
Paramount Pictures

The film instantly gained notoriety and buzz the year it was released for being in VistaVision, Paramount's then-brand-new process of projecting on a wide, flat screen. The result was a better pictorial quality and better on-screen colors.

'Sisters' wasn't part of the script.

bing crosby and danny kaye singing sisters
Paramount Pictures

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye's comedy act wasn't originally in the story. The actors were goofing around and director Michael Curtiz found it so hilarious that he wrote the scene in. Apparently, the actors found it comical, too: The laughing during the number is real. The take in the film was the best one they could get of the two, who kept cracking each other up.

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The Vermont inn doubled as 'Holiday Inn,' too.

pine tree inn vermont white christmas
Paramount via 7thhouseontheleft.com

General Waverly's Columbia Inn in fictional Pine Tree, Vermont, made its debut a decade before in Holiday Inn. The set on the Paramount lot was refurbished for the next Christmas classic.

Vera-Ellen didn't actually sing any of the songs.

white christmas scene
Mondadori Portfolio//Getty Images

When the character Judy Haynes sings, you're actually hearing singer Trudy Stevens. The only time Vera-Ellen's real singing voice is heard is when they disembark the train in Vermont and the quartet sing the opening lines of "Snow."

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But she sure did all her own dancing!

vera ellen dancing
Paramount Pictures

Vera-Ellen started dancing at age 10. And at 18, she became one of the youngest Radio City Rockettes, performing in several Broadway shows before heading to Hollywood. Fun tidbit: Growing up in Norwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, she carpooled to dancing classes with Doris Day!

Speaking of dancing, Rosemary Clooney wasn't proud of her moves.

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Getty Images

The actress once said the movie would be perfect if only they could have "dubbed" her dancing. In fact, her character only has two major dance scenes throughout the whole film. In "Sisters," the props distract from the rather simple choreography, allowing her to keep up with Vera-Ellen.

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This dancer went on to big things.

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Paramount + Silver Screen Collection//Getty Images

Throughout the film, dancer George Chakiris accompanies the Haynes sisters in an uncredited role. But soon after, he received the credit he was due: He later won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Bernardo in West Side Story.

Fred Astaire was supposed to play Phil Davis.

bing crosby and fred astaire with their arms folded staring at one an other in a scene from the film 'holiday inn', 1942
Paramount

After Fred and Bing's success in Holiday Inn, this film was intended to reunite them. But Fred had "retired" by the time White Christmas was shot 12 years later and he declined. Next, the part was offered to Donald O'Connor (known for Singin' in the Rain), but he pulled out after an illness. Finally, the part went to Danny Kaye.

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It wasn't originally about snow.

In the club car of the train, the four leads sing "Snow" about their frosty dreams. Originally, the Irving Berlin tune was called "Free," for the musical Call Me Madam — and it had nothing to do with winter.

The TV camera in the 'Ed Harrison Show' scene is a real one.

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Paramount Pictures

Rumor has it, anyway. As stated on IMDb, the camera belonged to NBC's Channel 4 station in New York (which changed its name to WRCA-TV in 1954).

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Bing Crosby made up most of the liverwurst sandwiches and buttermilk bit.

rosemary clooney sitting as bing crosby gestures in a scene from the film 'white christmas', 1954
Paramount

The iconic scene when Bob tells Betty his theory of what foods cause which dreams was almost completely improvised. (Then, he launched into "Count Your Blessings" and we stopped caring that buttermilk with liverwurst sandwiches sounds absolutely vile.) In fact, much of Bob's dialogue was based on Bing's own conversation. So thank him for gems like, "weirdsmobile."

One line in the sandwich scene had a special meaning.

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Getty Images

In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, Bing's character says that the menu is not the same as "Toots Shor's." As it turns out, that was a very real restaurant on 51st Street in Manhattan — a favorite celebrity hangout at the time.

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Rosemary Clooney took the part for a specific reason.

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Getty Images

According to the supplemental info on the DVD, she wanted the role because she hoped to perform with Bing Crosby. The decision kicked off a lifelong friendship. "I was so in awe of him," the actress later said in a documentary by Rabbit & Snail.

Danny Kaye was the class clown on set.

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Getty Images

The actor apparently caused plenty of retakes by making everyone break character with his humor. His on-screen jokes and antics had everyone cracking up while filming.

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Bob Fosse was the uncredited choreographer.

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Silver Screen Collection//Getty Images

Yes. Long before his sizzling moves appeared in films like Cabaret, Chicago, and All that Jazz, a young Bob sent Vera-Ellen spinning and tapping across the stage.

You've seen Benny Haynes before.

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CBS Photo Archive

When Bob looks at a picture of Benny Haynes, "The Dog-Faced Boy," it's actually an image of a grown-up Carl Switzer. He's best remembered for playing Alfalfa in the original Our Gang, also known as the The Little Rascals.

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