tavm After years of reading of this on a bio book on Jimmy Stewart, I finally got to see this one. He plays an ice skating producer who gets fired from his latest show along with his star, Joan Crawford, and his partner, Lew Ayres. They're bumped by a big-time movie producer, Lewis Stone, from whom Ms. Crawford manages to get a contract with. I'll stop there and just say this was quite entertaining though things threaten to become a downer when the marriage of Stewart and Crawford strains. There's some funny scenes like that of Stewart, Ayres, and Crawford reading her script or when a couple of them encounters Lionel Stander-who I know best from "Hart to Hart" as their butler, Max-as a promoter who's broke. Oh, and whenever I hear Jimmy say Crawford's character name-Mary-I always go back to his role in my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, whenever he addressed Donna Reed's character by that name. And the Technicolor sequence at the end must have been a sight for sore eyes back then! So on that note, I recommend The Ice Follies of 1939. P.S. I just found out that Mr. Stewart was born on this day in 1908, so Happy Birthday up there in Heaven!

Michael_Elliott The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939) ** (out of 4) There's really no way around it but this is a very, very bad and stupid movie. You might wonder why I can say that and still award the film two stars but it's simply because no matter how bad this things get, you still can't help but be slightly entertained by the train wreck and especially when you consider it has Joan Crawford and James Stewart. In the film they play a married couple. He's an expert on the ice but she isn't so her lack of skills cause their careers to tumble. She eventually gets a job as an actress and makes it big but she must keep her marriage a secret. While that's going on he's making it big in Canada. Will the two bring their careers together? A lot of musicals and specialty films would often include the year in the title because studios would just continue to make them. You'll notice that 1939 was the only year for ICE FOLLIES and it's easy to see why because this thing is pretty darn bad. What's so shocking is that someone like Crawford would appear in a film like this because the material is clearly "B" movie material and you also have to consider that the same year she would appear in THE WOMEN. Stewart wasn't a major star yet so it's easy to see why he would take this. I really can't say they made a believable couple but at the same time I still enjoyed seeing them together. It appears Crawford hated playing this part as her performance is really bad at times. Even Stewart was wrong for his role but I'm sure everyone remembers the yell he gave in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE once he saw he was back in Bedford Falls. Well, he gives the exact same yell here, which was pretty funny. Both Lew Ayres and Lewis Stone are also on hand. The finale was shot in 3-strip Technicolor and it looks marvelous but sadly nothing we're watching is all that entertaining. THE ICE FOLLIES OF 1939 is a real dud of a picture but those who enjoy bad movies will want to check it out.

mukava991 This harmless piece of fluff is moderately interesting for reasons having nothing to do with its intentions, which must have been to tap into the lucrative ice skating fan base that was packing theatres to see Sonia Henie in 20th Century Fox features at the time. This opus does have a stellar cast (Joan Crawford, James Stewart, Lew Ayres, Lewis Stone) all at their best even though utterly wasted and a vivid Technicolor ice show sequence at the end in which we get to see the above-mentioned personages in color. It is also a way to satisfy the curiosity of MOMMIE DEAREST viewers who have always wondered what FOLLIES was about since it figures in the plot of that biopic. Well, it's about nothing much and was a good example of why Joan Crawford's career wasn't a bed of roses, even though she triumphed in THE WOMEN the same year. She's actually quite good in this, playing a nice girl who chooses marital bliss over movie stardom. For half the movie she is coiffed in an unusually severe and darkly tinted manner which accentuates the severity of her features, giving her a rather cruel and drawn appearance. In some of these scenes she strongly resembles Merle Oberon. Stewart gets a chance to practice pratfalls and inventive prop handling and excels at both. At one point after his character hears joyous news, he does a somersault from a chair onto a bed and back onto the floor like a skilled acrobat. He was a consummate actor even then.

Michael Morrison After some exciting ice-skating scenes, the best part of this movie is the charming interplay between and among the characters. Lew Ayres has what seems to be for him a very different type of role, and his and Jimmy Stewart's characters have some dialogue that is often funny. Even Lionel Stander gets to play, for a change, a nice character also with some good lines. Joan Crawford, of the gorgeous legs, was a noted dancer, and it's surprising, at least to me, that she didn't skate -- and, with her legs, it's disappointing, too. I mean, what a wonderful excuse to showcase her in a short costume. Oh well, she got a chance to play a much softer character, and that was refreshing to watch. The story, such as it was, was fairly wimpy, and really just an excuse to present the skating scenes. Good enough. The only real complaint I have is that the color scenes didn't start earlier. The arena skating was actually more exciting than the filmed skating, but the cinema scenes were beautiful. I'd recommend this as a thoroughly enjoyable light entertainment -- heck, almost any movie with Jimmy Stewart is worth watching.