Starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Lynn Bari, and Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Our last review of 2021 takes us to Sun Valley, Idaho to hit the slopes with a genuine champ. Sonja Henie began skating at age 10 and won her first major championship at 14. By 1936, she won three Olympic gold medals and six consecutive European championships. Later that year, 20th Century Fox signed her on to what became a series of profitable musicals. By 1941, she was one of Hollywood's top stars. Fox paired her with another top favorite at the time, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, for this smash souffle about a refugee who falls for a pianist at the famous resort. We start out in New York, where Phil Corey (Miller) and His Orchestra have a gig, and find out how palatable this confection is today...
The Story: Publicity manager Jerome "Nifty" Allen (Milton Berle) convinces Corey and his pianist Ted Scott (Payne) that sponsoring a refugee from Europe would be terrific press for the band. They're a lot less crazy about the idea when the "tyke" turns out to be Karen Benson (Henie), a young woman from Norway who lost her home when the Nazis invaded. Karen falls hard for Ted almost immediately, but he's already dating the band's singer Vivian Dawn (Bari). She's so smitten with him, she convinces Berle to take her to their Christmas gig in Sun Valley and pursues him on skis and at the Lodge. Ted's annoyed at first, but when they end up stranded together at a small ski cabin, he finds himself changing his mind about the charming Scandinavian.
The Song and Dance: Berle has some funny moments, especially when Karen convinces him to take her to Sun Valley and while on skis, and he also gets a few amusing bits playing off Joan Davis as a woman collecting for charity. Payne is neither a skater nor a skier, but he works well enough with Henie and Bari and even gets to show off his piano skills with Miller. Some of the skiing sequences are amazing, with a lot of fast-paced chases and intricate moves. Sonja's stand-in for these sequences was another later Olympic gold medalist Gretchen Fraser, and she shows why she won that gold with her great run under Payne's legs. Glenn Miller and his band really heat up some of their best numbers, including the smash "Chattanooga Choo Choo."
I can see why this went over well with European audiences and many real-life refugees. The angle of Karen being a refugee is fairly original and interesting, and it does make sense for her to come into the US that way at this time. Karen is also refreshingly straightforward about her rather sad story and the death of her father.
Favorite Number: We kick off with two of Miller's biggest hits, "Moonlight Serenade" and "In the Mood." The first full-scale number is "It Happened In Sun Valley," as Berle, Henie, and the Orchestra throw snowballs at each other and have a great time on their way to the lodge. "The Kiss Polka" has chorus dancers in Scandinavian costume doing kisses in time to adorable polka moves. It's so cute, Henie and Payne get in on it towards the end, to the annoyance of a jealous Bari. Later in the ski lodge, the two have another, slower dance to Payne's solo "I Know Why (and So Do You)."
The movie is best known for it's major hit song and two big numbers. "Chattanooga Choo Choo" starts off with the Modenaires singing the initial vocals, but it really takes off when Dorothy Dandridge and the Nicholas Brothers emerge from that streamlined wooden choo-choo and show off their signature fancy tap moves. It ends with a gorgeously-shot skating number, with Henie whirling in a snow-white tutu on dyed black ice and the chorus waltzing around her. The headaches they went through to make that ice black was worth it. The wet ink under her skates makes her look like she's gliding across a pond on midnight, like she can skate across water.
Trivia: There were to have been three more songs. "At Last" can be heard performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra after "In the Mood" and is used as underscoring in the skating finale, but the vocals didn't appear until Orchestra Wives. "The World Is Waiting to Waltz Again" for Payne and "I'm Lena the Ballerina" for Davis were recorded but not filmed.
That skating number on black ice took three days to shoot. Humberstone wanted to reshoot the end after Henie fell and got covered in black dye, but studio head Darryl F. Zanuck said no.
"Chattanooga Choo Choo" was nominated for an Oscar. The movie also got nominations for Black and White Cinematography and musical scoring.
Bari was dubbed by Pat Friday (and would be later in Orchestra Wives).
What I Don't Like: Hoo boy. The story is straight piffle, and a little dull beyond the skiing and musical numbers. Neither leading lady come off especially well. Karen's utter determination to break up a man's relationship is more creepy than cute, and Bari is shrill and obnoxious. Bit surprised they don't make more use of Davis beyond her short gags with Berle, too. I kind of wish Henie sprang for the third skating number they planned, but didn't use. For one of her vehicles, the movie seems strangely lacking in trips to the ice beyond a short routine with her trying to show off for Ted and the big finale. I'm not entirely sure where the cinematography nomination came from, either, considering a big chunk of the film consists of actors pretending to ski in front of glaring rear projection.
The Big Finale: Worth seeing for the terrific numbers alone if you're a fan of figure skating, Henie, Miller and his band, or big band music.
Home Media: Not sure why this has never been released on disc in the US. It is easily found on streaming, including Google Play, Vudu, and Amazon Prime.
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