Starring Sonja Henie, Adolph Menjou, Jean Hersholt, and Don Ameche
Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Music by Sidney D. Mitchell; Lyrics by Lew Pollack
We're doing this one in honor of the Winter Olympic games beginning in Beijing tomorrow. Sonja Henie was one of the first major stars of the Winter Olympics, winning three gold medals for figure skating from 1927 to 1936. 20th Century Fox signed her shortly after the Winter Olympics ended for a series of musicals surrounding her skating talents. How does the first one of these look today? Let's start on the road in Switzerland with producer Thaddeus Spencer (Menjou) and his all-girl orchestra and find out...
The Story: Thaddeus, his wife Billie (Arline Judge), the orchestra, The Ritz Brothers (themselves), and his harmonica-playing discovery (Borrah Minnevich) find themselves stranded in the Swiss Alps when the hotel they had a gig at burns down. They end up at a small inn run by former skating champ Henrich Muller (Hersholt) and his daughter Greta (Henie). Thaddeus is so taken by Greta's beautiful skating ability, he immediately creates a revue in St. Moritz around it.
Also arriving at the inn are reporter Bob Harris (Don Ameche) and photographer Danny Simpson (Ned Sparks). Bob's also taken with Greta, but it's not her skating that interests him. After he learns her father lost his medals from the 1908 Winter Olympics when he accepted money as a gift, he rushes to St. Moritz and reminds Greta that appearing in the Olympics provides far greater glory. She leaves with him. Thaddeus and his group follows them, just in time to perform for the Olympics crowds. Greta does win the gold medal, but her one performance as a professional may come back to haunt her...
The Song and Dance: Henie makes an appealing debut. She's no actor, but she does have charm, especially when dealing with Bob's advances. Ameche is also pretty cute as the ambitious reporter who takes a shine to Greta and has a nice singing voice, too. Some great lines from Sparks as Bob's dour co-worker, Menjou as the producer whose great ideas often freeze in his face, and Judge as his wife who is more than happy to point out his failures. Special kudos for Fox's use of actual footage from the 1936 Winter Olympics for added authenticity.
Favorite Number: We hear the title song at least three times. Judge and the all-girl orchestra do a nice performance of it in the opening sequence, as we get various shots showing how frozen they are as they perform. Borrah Minovich and His Harmonica Rascals reprise it at the Olympics, along with their supremely goofy rendition of "Limehouse Blues." Henie finally skates to it in a fantasy sequence when Menjou sees her on the ice behind the inn and imagines a big-time show built around her talents.
Everyone's saying "We're Back In Circulation Again" on the sleigh ride to St. Moritz. Ameche performs the appealing ballad "Who's Afraid of Love?" with singer Leah Ray at the Inn. Henie's second big number in St. Moritz, "The Lady In White," is enough to convince spectators and Ameche that she has what it takes to be a real champ. The Ritz Brothers imitate Boris Karloff (as Frankenstein), Charles Laughton (as Captain Bligh), and Peter Lorre, then the "Horror Boys of Hollywood," before the Olympics start.
What I Don't Like: First of all, it's pretty obvious this was Henie's first movie. Feels like Fox grabbed whomever was laying around the lot and tossed them into a slight comedy set around the Olympics. The Ritz Brothers were really big at Fox in the mid-late 30's, but their noisy, slapstick-oriented schtick doesn't fly as well today. Their two numbers are pretty much padding, and they otherwise don't have much to do. Likewise, Borrah Minnovich doesn't do much besides not talk and play his harmonica. Second, it's not as expensive and elaborate as some of her other vehicles. Her skating ballets are fancy as it gets.
The Big Finale: Charming enough for fans of Henie and figure skating, but she'd do better movies later in the 30's and early 40's.
Home Media: DVD only via the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives.
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