“The sun is shining, the grass is green,
The orange and palm trees sway.
There's never been such a day
in Beverly Hills, L.A.
But it's December the twenty-fourth,
And I am longing to be up North”

Nope, you’re not going to hear this original first verse to the iconic and hugely successful “White Christmas” song in the movie or in any of the popular versions of the song released since the 1940’s. But it says a lot about the state of mind of Irving Berlin. He was missing his family in New York City and that feeling comes through in the rest of the song and in the movie “White Christmas” released by Paramount Pictures in 1954.

The movie was a big hit for the studio and helped launch the career of Rosemary Clooney. Of course, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera Ellen were already stars in their own right, but Vera Ellen only appeared in one movie after this one. Bob and I talk about all of this and more in our inaugural Christmas episode.

So sit back, put another log on the fire, cozy up with a loved one and enjoy the sounds of “White Christmas”

Next episode we head to 1967 London for “To Sir, With Love”.