Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a rewatch.
The Secret Sexpot: White Christmas
Yes, the holiday season has arrived, and of cinematic fare, White Christmas will no doubt land on the screening list of many trying to get into the holiday spirit. Yet the great unsung (pardon the phrase) hero of this stalwart musical isn’t bisexual actress Rosemary Clooney, possibly queer star Danny Kaye, or even the unforgettable title song. It’s Bing Crosby’s steely blue eyes, tight bod and sensual voice that keep us coming again and again. As it were.
The plot: a pair of army buddies turned composers (Crosby & Kaye) fall hard for a set of nightclub singer sisters (Clooney & Vera-Ellen) on a train ride through New England. When the four arrive at an inn owned by Crosby & Kaye’s former army sergeant, they opt to stage a new musical in hopes of helping him pay the bills.
That’s about it. The plot, in an old-Hollywood musical like this is almost beside the point–it’s just an excuse for the opulent production numbers. But make no mistake, White Christmas is Crosby’s show from start to finish. Twinkle eyed, masculine, virile and charismatic as Hell, Bing makes the movie both a heartwarming dose of holiday cheer, and a sexy romance. That he also does a drag number in the film is just an added bonus.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Chrisk
Masculine and viril isn’t something I’d put next to Bing Crosby. Good voice and dancer yes. I remember in my kid memory when he died in 1977 though. My family loved him.
david838
Their commander was an Army general, not sergeant.
ajax
If I recall correctly, Crosby abused his wives and beat his kids
VaJohn
I heard that, too. Also that, in private life, he was just generally not a very good person. Additionally, he was very conservative Catholic, and probably strongly anti-Gay. Hollywood in those days tended to be “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Very often open secrets amongst actors, but kept quiet to save “the industry” from scandal.
Taddyd1
No there were NEVER reports of wife abuse. Do always you slander people so casually? He was a moderate Republican ( back when Republicans were more progressive with civil rights than Democrats were) and was friendly with gays in Hollywood and always featured Black artists on his perpetually top rated radio show. He was partially responsible for Louis Armstrongs success forcing Hollywood to feature him in films, duetting on records and constantly featuring on his radio show. One alcholic, malcontent son ( who later admitted the publisher pushed him) wrote a greatly disputed “Mommy Dearest” copycat book.
* White Christmas (the record) was about 10 times more successful in sales and chart performance than Mariah’s much heralded Christmas hit.
ajax
1. Legally, one cannot slander someone who is dead. 2. The fact that he did not abuse his wives, but DID beat his children is hardly a hill upon which I would choose to die.
Taddyd1
Everyone spanked their kids in the 40s.
ajax
And, not all that long ago, people owned slaves. WTH is wrong with you?
Cam
@Taddyd1
Yeah, he sounds like a real charmer.
NEW YORK — Bing Crosby was an abusive father who beat his sons until he drew blood and whose progeny endured the pain by dreaming up ways of murdering him, his children recalled Sunday.
‘Am I supposed to act like I loved him all my life?’ asked oldest son Gary in People magazine. Gary Crosby, 49, recently published his memoirs, ‘Going My Own Way,’ attacking the image of his father as a warm, wise patriarch.
wgs19
I’d love to know where you got that Rosemary Clooney was bisexual…
NCC-1701
I have no clue why a heterosexual misogynist/blackface wearer/abuser is being lusted after on a gay news website. SMH. Go find some gay news; and please stop lusting after straight men who had/have no intention of bettering the gay community.
trsxyz
Never thought of Bing Crosby as hot. (Come to think of it… I’ve never thought of Bing Crosby period).
christopher.lord
Sorry, but the hero(ine) of “White Christmas” was, is, and always will be the incomparable wasp-waisted Vera-Ellen. Even if she couldn’t sing, she was a top-notch dancer and…hyphenated. Bonus hero: Oscar-winning member of the committee George Chakiris in a focus-pulling cameo as one of Rosemary Clooney’s safety gays in “Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me.”
Man About Town
As he did a year earlier in Marilyn’s “Diamonds” number in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”!
o.codone
Never was hot, never will be.
Jerrspero
I’d think Danny Kaye’s Phil Davis would be the focus of any gay-lust in this movie. Great dancer, handsome-in-a-goofy-way, funny, and clearly uncomfortable with Judy’s advances.
Cam
Really? People thought Bing Crosby was hot?