This poster for "White Christmas shows Bing Crosby Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen. The Grand Center for Arts & Culture is screening the holiday classic on Thursday. (IMDB.COM)

NEW ULM — The Grand Center for Arts and Culture is hosting a special screening holiday classic “White Christmas” this Thursday.

The screening will start at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15 at the Grand and is free to the public. Popcorn will be served and a cash bar will be available.

Released in 1954, “White Christmas” is musical starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

Crosby and Kaye play singers who join a sister act to perform a Christmas show in rural Vermont. Sadly, most of the tourists have left because of no snow and unseasonably warm weather. However, the sings run into Gen. Waverly, their commander in WWII.

Waverly owns a country inn but is having financial difficulties. The foursome plan a yuletide miracle bring the business back that includes a fun-filled musical extravaganza.

Upon its initial release, “White Christmas” became of the most successful musical of all time and was most successful film on 1954. In the decades since its release, the film has become a seasonal classic featuring some of the best remembered holiday songs. The song “Count Your Blessings” earned movie an Oscar for best original song. Ironically, the title song “White Christmas” was not eligible for Oscar because it had previously won Best Original Song in 1942 for the movie “Holiday Inn.”

“White Christmas” was also an important film in terms of visuals. The movie was first to be screened in the widescreen VistaVision process. This process raised the height of the pictures creating a clearer image. This made it one of the first high definition films.

The Grand selected “White Christmas” as a fun nostalgic screening for the holiday season.

The film screening starts at 7 p.m. but audiences are encouraged to show up early for a special live medley performance of songs from the film.