Thursday, January 26, 2023

Cult Flops - Iceland

20th Century Fox, 1942
Starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Jack Oakie, and Felix Bressart
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

After the success of Sun Valley Serenade in 1941, 20th Century Fox ordered more of the same with Henie, Payne, Humberstone, and Glenn Miller. They got three out of four. Miller had joined the army by this point and was replaced by Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra. Like Sun Valley Serenade, this one also plays on real-life events during World War II, in this case the occupation of Iceland by American Marines earlier in 1941. How does this tie into the story of a local girl who thinks a Marine wants to marry her? Let's begin with the Marines landing and their eager reception by the locals and find out...

The Story: Captain James Murfin (Payne) thinks he's just flirting with pretty Katina Jonsdottir (Henie) when the Marines land in Iceland. She, however, takes it as a proposal. She's been telling her family that she has a man in Switzerland, and let's them assume Murfin's him. Murfin, however,  has no desire to marry anyone, but he has no idea how to let sweet Katina off the hook without offending her and her family...and then, after he sees her skate in a local show, he's not sure he wants to.

The Song and Dance: Obviously, with a story that slim, song and dance are the operative words here. Some of Henie's most spectacular numbers were created for this movie, including the only hula ice skating routine I've ever seen. The music's good, too, and while Kaye's not Glenn Miller, he and his band still put them over with relish. Love the spectacular costumes and backdrops, including some nifty native costumes for the Icelandic locals. The supporting cast does the best here, especially Sterling Holloway as Katina's wishy-washy suitor Sverdrup and Felix Bressart as her resolutely old-fashioned father. 

Favorite Number: Our first number comes after the arrival of the Marines, with many of them settling in to listen to Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra at a local club. Their singer Joan Merrill praises how "You Can't Say No to a Soldier." A male quartet insists "Let's Bring New Glory to Old Glory." The standard here is the charming ballad "They'll Never Be Another You." Merrill starts it, but Payne picks it up as he dances with Katina in the club.

Henie gets two huge ice skating routines, one towards the middle of the film at a local carnival, and one near the end. The first one manages to incorporate everything from a Chinese ballet to a Hawaiian hula, complete with Henie tip-toeing on dusty "ice" sand and wearing a skating costume that looks like a hula skirt as she does the hand movements. The second, "I Like a Military Tune," salutes the Armed Services with Henie spinning around men in uniform and dancing to music from all of the Services theme songs in a spectacular beaded uniform of her own.

What I Don't Like: No wonder this ended up being Henie's first flop. The whole film is annoying as heck. Frankly, neither Katina nor James are especially pleasant, and her jumping on him and his trying to back out of his lies is dragged on for way too long. Her family is even more ridiculous, with her sister (Osa Massen) whining about not being able to marry her suitor because Katina won't get married, and her parents jumping on every guy who even looks Katina's way. You start to wish the two would just be honest and admit all the trouble they caused way before the drawn-out ending. They could have been kinder to real-life Icelanders, too. Some Iceland residents protested the plot about an American man stealing away one of their women. 

The Big Finale: Nice big band music aside, this is only for the most ardent fans of Henie, figure skating, or the musicals of the World War II era. 

Home Media: DVD only from the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives. 

No comments:

Post a Comment