Wintertime

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.

Enjoyed this great Classic Film starring Sonja Henie, (Nora) who was a very famous Norwegian Ice-Skating Champion and gave an outstanding performance in this film with dancing and very exciting tricks on the ice which was her world. Jack Oakie,(Skip Hutton) gave a great supporting role and put plenty of humor to this film. Carole Landis, (Flossie Fouchere), "I Wake Up Screaming" was very attractive and had the hots for Cesar Romero, (Brad Barton) who in real life had a very torrid affair with Cesar before she met Rex Harrison. S. Z. Sakall, ( Hjalmar Ostgaard) was a veteran actor who was a great character actor who entertained many people in the 1930's and 1940's. Cornel Wilde, (Freddy Austin) was in love with Nora and they had problems but love is very strong and controls all relationships. Enjoyed the great music of Woody Herman, a great clarinet player and his orchestra which performed great sing and dance numbers. Please, don't miss viewing this film, it is wonderful.

This film features a generous sampling of Woody Herman's 1943 Band. This was just before the famous Herd with Red Norvo,Sonny Berman,Chubby Jackson,Margie Hyams,Dave Tough et.al. Prominent in this Band are trumpeter-vocalist Billie Rogers,who would soon start her own Band,the great tenor man Vido Musso,trumpeter Chuck Petersen and drummer Frankie Carlsen. Woody gets to sing some songs including the title tune and we see a glimpse of his girl singer,Carolyn Grey in the "Dancing in the Dawn" number.The film itself is pretty weak and with Sonja in the lead,comparisons to "Sun Valley Serenade" are inevitable. All in all,a nice showcase for a Herman band in transition.

Norwegian ice skater Sonia Henie (Nora) arrives in Canada with her wealthy uncle S.Z. Sakall expecting to stay in a luxury hotel. However, promoter Jack Oakie (Skip) has booked them into a failing hotel run by Cornel Wilde (Freddy). Resident entertainers Cesar Romero (Brad) and Carole Landis (Flossie) are there in the mix as well along with Woody Herman's band. Cue singing and skating…

We have the bad – Jack Oakie and S.Z. Sakall – set against the good – the songs and Romero, Landis and Henie. Romero wins the comedy prize – he is very funny and quite athletic with a talent for singing and dancing. The film started poorly with overbearing Jack Oakie blustering away in his unfunny manner to insipid Cornel Wilde. Then the film gets a massive boost with a great song by Romero and Landis before we slip into some nonsense with unfunny S.Z. Sakall. As the film progresses and Romero takes centre stage, things get enjoyable. Henie also gets some funny moments as well as her skating segments.

As the last of Sonja Henie's movies for 20th Century-Fox, Wintertime was a very entertaining way to go out for her, that's for sure! As always, her skating talents are front and center but there's also a nonsense slapstick plot that hits on all corners especially with a supporting cast that includes S. Z. (Cuddles) Sakall, Carole Landis, and welcome returning players Jack Oakie and Cesar Romero. The leading man is Cornel Wilde who wasn't established at this point in his career and doesn't get to make too much of an impression compared to previous men cast opposite Ms. Henie. Much of the musical entertainment is provided by Woody Herman and His Orchestra with fine vocals from both Ms. Landis and Romero in a few of their numbers. So on that note, Wintertime is highly recommended for any Sonja Henie fans out there.