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What a simply fantastic movie. A chance to see Glenn Miller and his orchestra and Sonja Heine both in their prime. The music is all toe-stepping and the dance routines keep you enthralled. Plus you get to see Sonja who was considered the best skater at the time. A movie that is both entertaining and gives you a chance to look back in time to see some truly great entertainers. This would best be described as a light, romantic comedy and it does have it moments. John Payne comes close to slapstick when he tries to sleep in two chairs. Milton Berle uses his time on the screen to great advantage. If this had been in color the scenes actually filmed in Sun Valley would have really been spectacular. Even in black and white the grandeur comes through. This one can be seen many times.

What's not to like about the movie? The great soundtrack, featuring then-new now-classic Glen Miller orchestra sounds? The bubbly Sonja Henie in a completely agreeable innocuous script? The same Miss Henie gamely trying to sing a few bars here and there? John Payne (Miracle on 34th Street) crooning in alternation with the song stylings of Lynn Bari? The amazingly young Uncle Miltie Berle playing the second man? Dorothy Dandridge in her prime, singing "Chattanooga Choo Choo" with full orchestral accompaniment, and the Nicholas Brothers doing a dance to boot? The skiing, the skating, the soundstage snow shenanigans?

Answer: nada. One of the lesser known (possibly because of the short running time and limited number of songs, but probably just because it's black and white and incredibly quaint), but absolutely classic movie musicals.

Designed to provide some enjoyable light entertainment, "Sun Valley Serenade" does just that. There's plenty of variety, with good comedy, good (sometimes excellent) musical numbers, and some winter outdoors scenes. The story is lightweight, but it's supposed to be, and it is sufficient to tie the rest together.

Sonja Henie brings energy and talent to her role as a war refugee who is taken in by a band member. John Payne is good enough, though he mostly allows Henie to take the spotlight, and plays off her and the situation around him. Milton Berle adds some amusing moments as the band's agent. Glenn Miller's band and the performers in the musical sequences get lots of screen time, making good use of most of it. In particular, the 'Chattanooga Choo Choo' number is quite a show-stopper.

The atmosphere is quite pleasant, the story is enough to keep things moving, and the variety of material fits together well. It's more than enough to make for an hour-and-a-half of worthwhile watching.

John Payne plays the pianist/arranger for a big band led by Glenn Miller and managed by Milton Berle. They pick up singer Lynn Bari enabling them to get a big contract in Sun Valley, Idaho, at which point, a past publicity stunt comes back to bite them. They offered to sponsor a war refugee, thinking taking care of a baby would be publicity, and now the refugee arrives... in the form a of fully grown-up Sonja Henie. For Henie, it's love at first sight with Payne, and she vows to break up Payne's relationship with Bari. (And we're supposed to sympathize with her!) There's some good scenery of Sun Valley, at least the best they could do in black-and-white, and some absolutely horrid rear-projection. With Glenn Miller around, you know the music is going to be top-notch; the movie introduced the Oscar-nominated "Chattanooga Choo-Choo". That number also offers a scene for a young Dorothy Dandrige and the Nicholas Brothers.

Like is often true in Fox musicals, this one is a split decision The story I give just a 5/10. However, the music, at 10/10, drags the total rating to 7/10 IMHO.

For the first time the 'Sun Valley Serenade' was shown in the USSR at the time of WW2. It was never forbidden by the Soviet censorship, so it could be watched in the following years as well.

The film made formidable impression on Soviet citizens. It conjured up 'the American dream' in which the USA appeared as a country where everything is excellent, all women are beautiful, life is extremely easy and cheerful, where money lies on the streets - bend down and take!

Opposite to that paradise picture they saw around them a surly Soviet reality, lack of liberty, empty shops, shabby life in overcrowded communal apartments where people had to stand in turns to get to WC, etc.

Surely, Stalin made a great mistake permitting his subjects to see this film.

A friend of mine watched this film 46 times. Glen Miller became the greatest composer to him. I saw it twice, and at the second time left the cinema long before the end.

That dream about America continued to live in hearts and minds of many people in the Soviet Union. It had been one of the factors which gave birth to the dissident movement, and at the end, made a contribution to the fall of Communism in Russia.

I'm sure that there are some people who participated in creation of the movie who are living now: do they know about their part in the History?

From the point of view of pure art, the rating, I think, is 6 out of 10.