Friday, December 9, 2016

Why John Brascia is the secret hero of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas."

Just finished the annual family viewing of "White Christmas." So good. And the movie's secret weapon? John Brascia.

Who's that? This guy dancing with Vera-Ellen:


Here's my theory: John Brascia's role in this movie makes no sense at all. Danny Kaye is Vera-Ellen's love interest in the movie. He should be, by the usual logic of Hollywood storytelling, her duet partner in all her big dances. Indeed, Kaye and Vera-Ellen have a lovely dance early in the movie:


After that, though, it's Brascia — who utters no lines in the movie (see the comments below) — who is the main dance partner. It's aided by the show-within-a-show conceit of the movie: They're practicing for an upcoming musical, you see. But again, this doesn't make a whole lotta sense...

...unless you consider this possibility: Brascia, and not Kaye, was the only dancer on set who could keep up with Vera-Ellen.

Yes, Kaye was enormously gifted as a dancer. But he was already in his early 40s when "White Christmas" was made. Brascia is a good 21 years younger. And Vera-Ellen is a hell of a dancer.

Watch this. Watch Brascia's feet, especially.


Love me some Danny Kaye. But he's not keeping up with Vera-Ellen there. John Brascia is.

It's OK! That's not a knock on Kaye. Vera-Ellen's vocals were reputedly dubbed by Rosemary Clooney. This movie knew what its performers strengths and weaknesses were and adjusted accordingly. More than 60 years later, it's still a hell of a watch. And John Brascia, whose name I bet you didn't know, is one big reason why.

26 comments:

Unknown said...

I watch this film every year as many of us do. This man is amazing, and his talent surpasses beyond WHITE CHRISTMAS. Brilliant.

Unknown said...

My favorite Christmas movie.

Anonymous said...

You're absolutely right about his dancing - but I'm faorly sure he has at least one line: "We're ready to rehearse that Choreography number now, Mr Wallace.", and I think an "Alright!" in response to Danny Kaye saying let's do the Abraham number.

Donald said...

Yep. He speaks those lines. I was just watching the film.

He was a spectacular dancer. Only 22 heard old when White Christmas was shot.

Joel said...

Thanks, Anon and Donald, for the correction!

Anonymous said...

Which actor/dance coordinater told the cast there would be a rehearsal after lunch, once they arrived at the inn and were unpacking?

Unknown said...

John Brascia was a phenomenal dancer. I just rewatched this movie and love his dance scenes. One correction: all of Vera-Ellen’s songs were dubbed by Trudy Stevens, not Rosemary Clooney.

Unknown said...

Thanks for this post. I was watching this tonight (Christmas 2017) after having watched it all my life, and for the first time thought, “Wait! Who is that dancer?” He leaps up into the first dance he does with Vera Ellen and I couldn’t stop watching him...and the non-stop smile. Then he does the second number and I thought the same thing you did...they needed a great male dancer to partner with Vera Ellen and Danny Kaye couldn’t have done what he did. It’s a shame he didn’t appear in more films and it’s a huge shame that I had to work so hard to find out who he was. Thanks again for the info.

Unknown said...

Does anyone know which numbers were danced by Brascia and which were performed by George Chakiris? There seems to be a debate

Joel said...

Chakiris is in several of the numbers - most notably Rosemary Clooney's nightclub song toward the end as one of the four black-clad dangers. Brascia was the lead Vera-Ellen co-dancer; Chakiris was more ensemble.

Unknown said...

I applaud your observations. It's only been a few years now that I delved into who this John Brascia fellow was (or is, since he'll live forever in a lot of hearts and on film).

John is smiling the whole time. My daughter was a student of dance for a number of years. "Smile!", is what the instructors reinforced. It's contagious thinking of it now. Yes, John was the only dancer in that era who could power through those high energy numbers with Vera-Ellen. Dear, dear Vera-Ellen is engrained in my memory for over fifty-years now for that 'nerve tap' entrance of hers in the "Choreography" dance number; great show stopper that it is.

White Christmas (1954) encapsulates the powerful and hopeful ethic which defined The United States of America post WWII and even as the Korean War was starting to recede in memory. I'm a baby boomer and for those golden childhood years of mine and of my younger brothers we'd come down the stairs on Christmas Morning to the smell of fresh brewed coffee and Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas"; Mom and Dad (looking pretty perky for having been up late) were there to welcome their brood of five rambunctious sons.

Unknown said...

I wonder if the original actor for Kayes role (Donald O'Connor) would have done the dancing. I'd go with yes, because O'Connor was a phenomenal dancer. I love Danny Kaye in this role--but glad we had O'Connor and Vera dancing in other roles. :)

Unknown said...

You are correct sir.

Anonymous said...

True but Rosemary dubbed Vera's vocals for the Sisters number she was singing with herself! If you listen carefully you can tell.

4Me2Know said...

They weren't "up late." Santa was. ;)

Unknown said...

Have been watching the movie all day on Sundance channel. Yes he is great. Did he have children?

bbwooster said...

According to the wikipedia page, yes, he had 2 daughters. One by each of his 2nd and third wife.

Shadowsinger said...

I think that was Rosemary Clooney’s sister’s voice in the “Sisters” number.

Lindakay39 said...

Trudy Stevens was the name of the singer whose voice was dubbed in for Vera Ellen.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for highlighting John Brascia's performance in WC, I marvel at his talent each time I watch this movie. No way Danny Kaye was at that level. Keeping up with Vera Ellen required tremendous athleticism. He may be one of the greatest dancers of that era that no one knows.

Unknown said...

I am late to this party, but .. I do remember reading somewhere that while Danny was a talented dancer, John was considered the better dancer and so in those more energetic or more complex dances, it was John who took the lead. Notice how they are both in "Choreography" and "Mandy", and then John takes over.

Wendy said...

I love watching him dance, thanks for this.n You might find this interesting! https://thevintagetraveler.wordpress.com/

Unknown said...

He was cast because Vera-Ellen is an amazing dancer and Danny Kaye is good but not as good. Originally they wanted to cast Fred Astaire in White Christmas and make the movie kind of like ‘The Holiday’ part 2, but Fred didn’t want the part so they cast Danny. That also meant that they needed a dancer who could keep up with Vera.

Unknown said...

And he does have one line in the movie.

Anonymous said...

I thought Vera-Ellen used her own singing voice on the train for "Snow"?

picture-tester said...

Well, dancing up the stairs backwards is by itself a tremendous feat, not including the other numbers with Vera Ellen.