There's No Business Like Show Business

This popular musical comedy inspired by Irving Berlin’s Oscar-winning song from Holiday Inn (1942) was the first feature to be filmed and released in VistaVision. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye star as war veterans and entertainers who become romantically involved with a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen). Directed by Oscar winner Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, 1943), White Christmas features delightful musical numbers spotlighting more than a dozen Irving Berlin songs, including the nominated “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)”.

George Stevens (A Place in the Sun, 1951) earned his second Directing Oscar for this epic yet character-centered adaptation of Edna Ferber’s 1952 bestseller about a wealthy Texan (Best Actor nominee Rock Hudson), his blueblood bride (Elizabeth Taylor), and an ambitious ranch hand (Best Actor nominee James Dean, in his final performance). The film received 10 nominations including Best Picture, Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge) and for Dimitri Tiomkin’s original score. For his only collaboration with Stevens, the Ukraine-born Tiomkin contributed authentic musical Americana, including the memorable theme song “This Then Is Texas” (lyric by Paul Francis Webster).