"Keep on missing each other. Our world's out of order. All I see is missed opportunity. Will we ever learn? In trouble, where will we turn? And when you're losing the fight, who's your white knight gonna be?" (John Oates, Daryl Hall, Sara Allen, 1988)
As we come to the close of another year of blogs, let's end with a deep dive into the Classic Movie Musical formula, which is the foundation of the genre:
Boy Meets Girl, Boy Gets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, and in the end, Boy Gets Girl.
Thus far, we have witnessed Boy Meets Girl via The Meet Cute (Orchestra Wives, Meet Me in St. Louis), accompanied by Love at First Sight (Brigadoon).
We have seen the Chase/Game of Love played expertly by the men of Oklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Music Man, and Singin’ in the Rain.
We have reveled in the joy of discovering love in a walk up the avenue (Easter Parade) or dreams of marrying a groom that is splendor and pale (Fiddler on the Roof). These moments of love and romance, set against enchanting music and captivating choreography, remind us why we are drawn to the classic movie musical.
However, as friends, fans, and students of the classic movie musical, we know that when the love relationship is almost perfect, that is when a third party enters the relationship and brings about the most painful element of the formula: Boy Loses Girl.
The missed opportunities, the unspoken words, and the untaken chances leave us with mixed emotions. We can empathize with their plight but often feel frustrated at their lack of initiative to resolve it.
Welcome to The 2024 Year-End Edition Misunderstanding and Missed Opportunity in Holiday Inn and White Christmas
As we open the Guidebook, all the characters are knee-deep in Misunderstanding.
The rivalry between Ted Hanover and Jim Hardy (Holiday Inn) to “get (steal) the girl” leaves them unable to “read” the feelings of their prospective partners on multiple occasions.
Jim, a talented but beleaguered performer, fails to recognize Lila’s desire to remain in show business as Ted's partner. Conversely, Ted fails to recognize Lila’s fickleness and desire for money when she leaves him for a Texas millionaire, leading both men to solo careers.
Jim pursues his dream of running a small country Holiday Inn in Midville, Connecticut. Ted finds himself inebriated, alone, and searching for an understanding friend on New Year’s Eve.
As Lila fades into the background, a new partner emerges in Linda Mason. For Jim, Linda is the bright beauty who helps the Inn become successful and allows him to consider a permanent partnership. (Jim: “Maybe when we start doing better, you can stay out here all the time.” Linda: “I guess I’m engaged.")
When Ted sweeps Linda off her feet in a Valentine’s Day Dance (Be Careful It’s My Heart), he discovers that Linda has the tools to repair his failing career and broken love life. However, when Linda refuses to be his partner away from the Inn because she is engaged to finish the shows at the Inn and is also engaged to Jim, Ted fails to read her feelings and begins a grand scheme to separate her from Jim.
When Jim discovers Ted's scheme to bring Hollywood to the Inn, he fails to trust Linda and his love for her, initiating a scheme to keep her away from the Inn. With Lila’s help and an accidental spin into the lake, Linda "misses her chance in pictures."
These schemes lead to misunderstandings and missed opportunities to refuse an unwanted career or to say what you mean (“Don’t leave me alone and lonely at the Inn.”) As these unsaid words hang in the air, Linda leaves for Hollywood, and Jim closes the Inn. Happiness slips away and is replaced with loneliness and misery for both of them.
The idea of being a “lonely, miserable, unhappy man” is something that Phil Davis does not want for his friend Bob Wallace. (White Christmas) Therefore, Phil, “feeling a strong sense of responsibility to (Bob),” decides to get him a girl.
Enter Betty and Judy, the Haynes Sisters, a showbusiness singing duo who happen to be interested in children, families, and Wallace and Davis.
Phil and Judy have three things in common: An instant attraction, an understanding that The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing, and a mutual desire to bring Bob and Betty together.
Their initial scheme works well. While staying at the Columbia Inn, Bob and Betty sit by a cozy fire, enjoying a Vermont smorgasbord, counting their blessings, and sharing a kiss. Unfortunately, this moment of happiness disappears when Phil confirms rumors and gossip surrounding the use of television in the production of Playing Around as a “great little angle.”
Armed with this information, we as an audience expect Betty to confront Bob with “What’s going on? Television? I thought you were doing this as a favor to your friend?!” Instead, she walks away from Bob, not once (after refusing to sing a duet), but twice! The second time after he offers a toast. (“Let’s drink to liverwurst and buttermilk and getting things back to where they were yesterday.”)
This action fuels more audience resentment toward Betty. Rosemary Clooney shares this sentiment in the 2006 DVD commentary, wherein she admits to “overplaying this—a little.”
In each scene, Betty misses the opportunity to explain her injured feelings and seek a resolution. Instead, she enters a “private war” and retreats to New York. Watching her leave, Bob attempts to apologize. ("If I said anything, I didn't mean. I must have sounded so stupid!")
As Betty travels to New York and Linda to Hollywood, Bob Wallace and Jim Hardy are left to contemplate Tommie Albright's mournful words (Brigadoon): “Why do we have to lose things to find out what they really mean?”
These lost “things” symbolize a realization that if we cut out all the scheming, the games, the miscommunication and say the right things or ask the right questions:
- Bob to Betty: “I know that knight of yours has slipped off his charger. Why, I don't know, but I'd like to do all I can to get him back up there again for you."
- Jim: "Mamie, you don't try to take a fellow's gal away from him after he's bought the ring. Or, as I recall, do you?"
Sing the right songs:
- White Christmas
- When You’re In Love
- Til There Was You
- People Will Say We’re In Love
- The Boy Next Door
- Miracle of Miracles
- You Are My Lucky Star
- It Only Happens When I Dance with You
Dance with an open heart:
- Heather on the Hill
- Signin’ in the Rain
- I Love A Piano
Love will come back, and, in the end,
Boy Will Get Girl.
Thank you for joining me for another year of exploration into twelve of The Finest Movie Musicals Ever Made.
I enjoy sharing new insights with you!
Have a Safe and Happy Holiday!
~Lori
References:
Yauch, L (1st January 2024). Missed Opportunity in The Classic Movie Musical {Blog Post}. Retrieved from www.moviesandmusic.biz
Yauch, L (1st November 2022). The Empowered Carer Woman {Blog Post}. Retrieved from www.moviesandmusic.biz
Yauch, L (1st November 2020). Holidays in Isolation {Blog Post}. Retrieved from www.moviesandmusic.biz
Curtiz, M. (Director). (1954). White Christmas [Film]. Paramount Pictures.
