fight to win Linda back. Jim arrives in California on Christmas Eve, just as Ted and Linda plan to marry. Jim confronts Ted in his dressing room, gets locked in, then turns the table on Ted and Danny. On the set of Linda's movie, a meticulous recreation of Holiday Inn, Jim leaves his pipe on the piano and hides as Linda enters and performs "White Christmas". Reflexively ringing tiny bells with it as he did, she falters, then continues waveringly as Jim's voice joins her. Jim appears and Linda runs to him as the director yells, "Cut!" Back at Holiday Inn on New Year's Eve, Ted is reunited with Lila. Jim and Linda sing a duet, affirming their love. Cast Production In May 1940, Irving Berlin signed an exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures to write songs for a musical film based on his idea of an inn that opened only on public holidays. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire were the stars of Holiday Inn with support from Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale. Filming took place between November 18, 1941, and January 30, 1942. Produced and directed by Mark Sandrich, Holiday Inn had its premiere at the New York City Paramount Theatre August 4, 1942. It was a success in the US and the UK, the highest-grossing film musical to that time. It was expected that "Be Careful, It's My Heart" would be the hit song. While it did very well, "White Christmas" topped the charts in October 1942 instead, and stayed there for eleven weeks. Another Berlin song, "Happy Holiday", is featured over the opening credits and within the film storyline. Filming outside the studio occurred at the Village Inn Resort in Monte Rio on the Russian River, in Sonoma County, California. Many segments of the film are preceded by shots of a calendar with a visual symbol of the given holiday. For November, an animated turkey is shown running back and forth between the third and fourth Thursdays, finally shrugging its shoulders in confusion. This is a satirical reference to the "Franksgiving" controversy created when President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to expand the Christmas shopping season by declaring Thanksgiving a week earlier than before, leading to Congress setting Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November by law. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii occurred halfway through filming. As a result, the Fourth of July segment was expanded