richard-1787
Musical movies in the 1930s and 40s were generally a string of musical numbers linked together by enough dialogue to fill out 90 minutes. The major studios usually made at least an effort to provide a plot that was not embarrassing and that more or less made the musical numbers fit.Twentieth Century Fox didn't bother here. Henie gets some nice skating numbers, but the plot, such as it is, is pretty lame.It hits a surprising low when it tries to motivate Henie's efforts to enter the U.S. by using the German invasion of Norway. That was very serious business, of course, and a real tragedy. It seems very strange to see it used here, almost completely unmourned, as an excuse for a plot twist.The secondary roles here are well played, especially by Cesar Romero, who was very talented. But the only real interest here is Henie's skating. The rest is pretty much a waste of time.
weezeralfalfa
Soon after publishing this review, Fox finally came out with a DVD release of this superior Sonja Henie-starring film, which they show periodically on their movie channel. I wasn't expecting too much, but rate it up there close to "Sun Valley Serenade", which combined Sonja with the Glenn Miller band and is one of my favorite musicals from the '40s. The two films have different strengths, In SVS, Sonja engineered most of the comedy and romance. Skiing, as well as ice skating, was a prominent part of the story. Singing and orchestration were more prominent, although the present film does feature Woody Herman's band at times. Her romantic relationship with John Payne's character is much more fun than the rather unconvincing and uninteresting relationship with Cornel Wilde's character in the present film. On the other hand, comedy engineered by the male supporting players in the present film is far superior to that offered by Milton Berle and is the chief reason you might want to watch this film. Cesar Romero does his best to imitate Charlie Chaplin's style of comedy, while veteran Jack Oakie gives one of his best non-musical performances, with his mostly verbally oriented comedy. (Yes, I know some viewers consider him more irritating than funny). With his plump stocky build, he will probably remind you of a blend of Oliver Hardy and Jackie Gleason, contrasting with Cesar's suave tall trim physique and ideal Latin matinée idol looks. We have yet a third charismatic comedian in S.Z. 'Cuddles' Sakal: that portly irascible white-haired elderly gentleman of many a musical and other films of the '40s and '50s, with the thick European accent and fractured English. Actually, Cornel Wilde; the pretty boy hunk leading man Sonja falls for, also began life in Hungary, but emigrated to the US as a boy, thus leaving no discernible trace of his native speech.As I said, Cornel, as Freddie, part owner of a decrepit , once glorious, isolated hotel in Quebec, comes across as a colorless pretty boy for Sonja, thus garners an incredibly low 6th spot in the credits pecking order. Cesar(as Brad) would seem a much more exciting prospect for Sonja. In fact, she agrees to marry this US citizen so that she can legally enter the US and make a fortune in ice skating shows. However, in the Fox formula for its musicals, Cesar never ends up with the leading lady. Hence, Jack Oakie, as Skip, Freddie's hotel partner, learns of this secret scheme and foils their escape from the hotel by stealing all of Cesar's clothes and personal effects while he's in the shower, resulting in a series of hilarious episodes by Cesar. Cesar's antics surpass those in the previous "Weekend in Havana", in which he is caught between Carmen Miranda and Alice Faye. You see, Sonja and uncle Hjalmar(Sakal) came to Quebec so she could participate in the winter sports games. Hjalmar is a rich Norwegian and is railroaded into investing money in this hotel to hopefully restore it to its heyday condition. Now, he has lots of bills , but learns that the Nazis have recently taken over Norway and frozen his bank accounts. Hence, the need for a speedy way for Sonja to get into the US to make money to save the hotel from bankruptcy. Sonja has competition in the romance department from Helene Reynolds, as sports magazine reporter Marion Daly. Carole Landis, as Flossie, is also mixed in the romance merry go round as someone Cesar is hiding from("Where is tall, dark, and elusive?"). Of course, the finale suggests that she ends up with Cesar and Sonja with Cornel, by stealth.Most of Sonja's ice skating performances are bunched in the middle of the film, with interludes mostly involving Herman's band, sited next to the skating pond. The first is done to "Indian Love Call" music, another to Tchaikovsky's familiar "Waltz of the Flowers". Her final performance is at the end of the film, done to the theme song "Wintertime". The new songs were composed by the veteran Nacio Herb Brown, and lyrics by the veteran Leo Robin. Brown did his best work in the late '20s and '30s for MGM. Much of the best was later collected in the mega-hit "Singing in the Rain"Sonja doesn't come across as cuddly as in SVS. She seems more like a wide-eyed schemer in this one. Reportedly, she privately was not that nice a person. ..This was not the first Sonja film for Cesar nor Jack, though they had not been cast together. Poor Carol Landis, who spent so much time entertaining the GIs in person during WWII, would decide in a few years that her frustrating romantic relationships, inability to bare a child, downward-turning film career, and various chronic health problems warranted her exiting from her life at age 29.Would be nice if Fox collected all, or most, of Sonja's films they did, and release them as a DVD collection.
Ron Oliver
An eccentric Norwegian millionaire & his ice skating niece attempt to make a WINTERTIME success of Quebec's Chateau Promenade.Sonja Henie was Norway's ice queen when she won Olympic gold medals for skating in 1928, 1932 & 1936. After going professional, she began a celebrated movie career at 20th Century Fox in 1936 with her American film debut, ONE IN A MILLION. Beautiful & talented, as well as being a natural in front of the cameras, she carved out her own special niche during Hollywood's Golden Age. Although Miss Henie's ice routines may look antiquated by comparison to modern champions, there was nothing antique about her dazzling smile or sparkling personality. In this regard, some of today's snowflake princesses could still learn a great deal from her.As her career progressed, it became increasingly difficult for 20th Century Fox to find decent stories for Miss Henie and the excuses for the lavish ice dancing numbers were often implausible. No matter. Audiences did not flock to her films to watch Sonja recite Shakespeare. The movies were meant to be pure escapist fantasy, plain & simple.WINTERTIME is no exception and its story is often quite ludicrous. However, the skating episodes are pleasing and there is a generous amount of band music supplied by the Woody Herman Orchestra.Cornel Wilde, far down the cast list & still two years away from major stardom, plays Sonja's love interest, but he's not given much to do. As the Chateau's promoter, Jack Oakie comes across as loud & rather annoying; however cuddly S. Z. Sakall is very amusing as Sonja's harried uncle. Cesar Romero, doing quite well as a big band singer, once again gets to showoff his considerable flair for comedy. (Mr. Romero & Miss Henie make a dynamite dancing duo.)Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Dick Elliott as an enraged husband chasing Romero.Ultimately, though, this is Sonja's show. She glides effortlessly into the viewer's heart, while balancing on a thin edge of silver, suspended over frozen water.
