Stars: Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, Lynn Bari
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
Oscar History: 3 nominations (Best Cinematography, Original Song-"Chattanooga Choo Choo", Scoring)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars
(Spoilers Ahead) The movie focuses on Ted Scott (Payne), a down-on-his-luck band pianist who can't get a gig. He lucks into one when Vivian Dawn (Bari), a beautiful big-name singer, takes a shine to the handsome Ted. They start to date, but there's a problem. Ted's manager Nifty (Berle) arranged for him to take in a refugee to get good publicity, however the refugee isn't a child, but instead a grown woman named Karen (Henie), who quickly decides she wants to marry Ted. The remainder of the film is Karen getting into a series of hijinks (many that trade in on her skating & skiing abilities), trying to sabotage Ted & Vivian's relationship, which end up working as Ted eventually marries Karen (and then they have a winter spectacular to round out the movie).
The film is predicated on you really enjoying Henie, who at this point as I mentioned above, was a big star in Hollywood. Having her as the adorable lead would've likely been something the screenwriters could bank upon with the audience, but modern audiences who aren't as familiar with her as a screen persona (like me) don't have that currency, and as a result this movie reads as really problematic. Karen is essentially stalking Ted, to the point where she ruins his relationship, and there's no real chemistry between the two other than a shared love of skiing. She basically ruins Ted's life, and then he thanks her for it. In a normal movie I'd have a problem with them portraying strong, confident Vivian as "a successful woman who needs to learn her place" (that's basically how she's portrayed), and that'd turn me off for the film, but that's to be expected in a film in the 1940's. What isn't is that Henie's Karen, were she a man, would almost certainly be portrayed as a villain & a sexual predator, and it totally turned me off for the film-it felt icky & gross.
This is a pity because I don't really have a problem with the film's trio of Oscar nominations. The cinematography is good-if-not-outstanding, with Henie's giant ice ballets a standout (and the skiing scenes look like they're actually skiing in at least half of them, which is an accomplishment for a movie like this). The Score is excellent. Glenn Miller (yes, the Glenn Miller) plays a band leader in the film, and he brings classics like "In the Mood," "Moonlight Serenade," & "It Happened in Sun Valley" to the screen. Best of all is "Chattanooga Choo Choo," which is broken up into two parts, the first featuring some of the Orchestra, and the latter featuring a song-and-dance routine between Dorothy Dandridge & the Nicholas Brothers (Dandridge and Harold Nicholas would marry soon after this movie). This is one of only two times the Glenn Miller Orchestra would ever be in a movie, and so it's a special spot if you're a fan of their music (which I am). Unfortunately, the movie surrounding it is not worthy (and even the songs, classics all, aren't mounted as well as they could be save for the Dandridge/Nicholas Brothers tap number).
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