The title of the movie came from the song “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin, which was hugely popular at the time (and still is!). They added the attached barn and “ski lodge” for Columbia Inn in White Christmas
In 1952 they changed the inn’s name again when it became an all-seasons hotel. Some of Holiday Inn’s scenes were filmed in Monte Rio, California, at what was then called the Riverview Inn but is now the Village Inn.Īccording to the Village Inn’s website: “Scenes from the 1942 film Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, were filmed at the inn (with some help from artificial snow), and our name was changed to match the film name.” It was no longer an inn that only opened for the holidays, and Crosby’s character wasn’t the owner in the partial remake. When Astaire declined, the part was reworked for Danny Kaye. This was the exterior of Holiday Inn, for comparison (below):īing Crosby and Fred Astaire co-starred in Holiday Inn, and White Christmas was originally intended to be a kind of remake, bringing them together to sing and dance onscreen again.
Rumor has it the inn was built from what was left of the Holiday Inn sets (1942). Today I’m giving you the scoop on those iconic sets and more fun facts about White Christmas, including its connection to the 1942 classic Holiday Inn.Īll About the Sets from “White Christmas” Most of the interior and exterior sets were built on a soundstage at Paramount Studios in L.A. The answer: the town of Pine Tree, Vermont, was fictional, and so was the ski lodge from the movie. Every December readers search my site for information about it, like whether Columbia Inn was a real place in Pine Tree, Vermont. And I know I’m not the only one who still loves it. The classic 1954 movie White Christmas is one of my all-time favorites to watch this time of year.