What do you think of when you think of Christmas? There is the obvious religious answer of course, but what memories spring to your mind from our popular culture? For me, it is Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, who were immortalized under the directorship of Francesco Rosario Capra in It's a Wonderful Life. I think of Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and the fact that we would not be dreaming of a white Christmas at all were it not for the genius of Irving Berlin. There is something so wonderfully and uniquely American about it all, at least in my mind.
These are all memories produced during and after World War II. Confronted by the horrors of fascism and the mobilization of millions of America's young men, the country needed dreams. It turned out that a Jewish refugee from Russian pogroms provided the soundtrack. In addition to White Christmas, Berlin gave us God Bless America, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Blue Skies, Easter Parade, Puttin' on the Ritz, Cheek to Cheek, Happy Holidays, and Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep.
Frank Capra was another immigrant who unequivocally loved America. The American Film Institute tells us that "when World War II threatened the existence of the American democratic ideal, Capra interrupted his Hollywood career to make a series of government films educating the public about the nature of the conflict. Of the WHY WE FIGHT series, Winston Churchill said, 'I have never seen or read any more powerful statement of our cause or of our rightful case against the Nazi tyranny.'" When the war ended, he produced his own version of Dickens's A Christmas Carol through his film It's a Wonderful Life. The very English Dickens imagined an equally English Mr. Scrooge. The Italian American Capra gave us the American archetypes George and Mary Bailey. Only in America.
It has been my honor to have known and been befriended by men who came to America only to return to Europe to risk their lives for their new homeland. They lived up to the American ideal exemplified by Berlin and Capra. Gone now but not forgotten, I think of them with pride and gratitude when I hear White Christmas on the radio. I am also grateful to you, our wonderful clients, and to Mr. Berlin for providing this year's holiday message.
Happy holiday, happy holiday
While the merry bells keep ringing
May your ev'ry wish come true
Happy holiday, happy holiday
May the calendar keep bringing
Happy holidays to you