"white christmas" was intended to reunite crosby and fred astaire for their third irving berlin showcase musical. crosby and astaire had previously co-starred in "holiday inn" (1942) – where the song "white christmas" first appeared – and "blue skies" (1946). astaire declined the project after reading the script and asked to be released from his contract with paramount. crosby also left the project shortly thereafter, to spend more time with his sons after the death of his wife, dixie lee. near the end of january 1953, crosby returned to the project, and donald o'connor was signed to replace astaire. just before shooting was to begin, o'connor had to drop out due to illness and was replaced by danny kaye, who asked for and received a salary of $200,000 and 10% of the gross. financially, the film was a partnership between crosby and irving berlin, who shared half the profits, and paramount, which got the other half.