Welcome to the November 2014 Edition ~ Holiday Inn

As we open our invitation we find some holiday favorites waiting  ~ Bing Crosby (Jim Hardy), Fred Astaire (Ted Hanover), and Irving Berlin who provides the best musical score to a holiday film I have ever heard. 

All these familiar names come together to showcase all the major holidays, weave a significantly different plot then the average movie musical and help us answer this month’s thought provoking question to clinicians, educators and families:

Why Holiday Inn?

Firstly, because it fits well into the overall holiday theme of the Guidebook  ~ allowing the group leader to use it to promote all the major holidays in the year from New Year’s Day to Christmas.  It is my choice for November because it showcases the under-appreciated Thanksgiving holiday with a great scene/song I’ve Got Plenty to be Thankful For.  

It seems over the last decade our society goes straight from Labor Day to Christmas! Don’t believe me? Go to a major department store and ask a clerk “when do you begin decorating for the Christmas season?” Don’t be surprised if he/she says September. So, thank you Irving Berlin for reminding us of this great holiday!

Secondly, when educators place emphasis on this holiday a host of historical topics can emerge ~ from the origins of the holiday/meaning of the feast to why does the turkey keep jumping around the calendar?      

As with all the films contained in the Guide, take time to discuss with your students the motivation of the characters.  Friendship? Greed? Love? Jealousy?   Why is getting the girl a competition?  Are the men worth having?

What motivates the ladies “catty” behavior? Why doesn’t anyone just talk to the object of his or her affection? These questions should keep the conversation going all month long.

Thirdly, this film is ripe with reminiscence for the older generation clientele/ families.
 

The film takes place and pays homage to WWII. Take the opportunity to discuss growing up during those years. 

 As a holiday film, few can compare.  Reminisce with all the holidays represented.  With a great Irving Berlin score take the time to sing-along with Bing ~ I’m sure you’ll have Plenty To Be Thankful For!

Happy Thanksgiving!

See you in December when your invitation to the Classic Movie Musical takes you to Pinetree, Vermont for White Christmas!

~Lori