It's a Pleasure

Don (Michael O'Shea--Virginia Mayo's husband in real life) stars as an obnoxious hockey player who gets himself banned from the sport due to fighting and slugging a ref. He also is a heavy drinker and quite cocky--even following the ban. However, he lands on his feet after this and gets a job with a traveling ice show. Inexplicably, despite having NOTHING any sane woman would want, the star of the show (Sonja Henie) is in love with him and eventually they marry. For a while, he stays off the booze and makes something of himself. However, for some reason, a woman with the show (Marie McDonald) is determined to wreck the marriage and get him back on the bottle. What is poor Sonja to do?

For me, this film was pleasant enough BUT suffered from one serious problem--Don was just too unlikable and selfish. After a while, his wife's insistence on sticking with him felt less noble and more like an episode of "Maury" or "The Jerry Springer Show"! Had they softened Don's jerky personality and behavior a bit more, then it might have worked a lot better. For example, if he was just a drunk but a nice guy underneath it all, you might have understood his wife's defending him....a bit. As it was, it was just too difficult to care about him. Because of this the film loses a few points. Additionally, while Henie's ice skating was very popular in films of the day, today watching her in one musical skating number after another got to be pretty dull. The only thing I particularly liked about the film was watching the hockey game early in the film. Seeing hockey the way they played it in the 1940s was pretty interesting--especially with goalies who wore no face protection!! Not a terrible film but one that is, at best, a time-passer.

By the way, when the stars agree to marry, listen to the weird dialog that makes wife beating sound as healthy and natural as can be! Yikes!

Even in her lesser films, Sonja Henie was always watchable and there was a good deal to like about even her weaker outings. The bright spots were often her, the ice skating sequences and the music, while the weak link was often typically the story.

The story was one of the weak links in 'It's a Pleasure', it is very flimsy and becomes tedious when Henie is not on the ice. Worse, and the actual worst thing about 'It's a Pleasure', is the script, which is little more than a limp mess of clichés and dialogue that will make anybody groan with embarrassment. The direction is very stodgy when focused on the story and not when Henie is on the ice.

Henie dazzles in the ice skating sequences, which are incredible and the highlight of the film, but when off the ice she does display limitations as an actress here with material that is noticeably not as lightweight as her previous films. Michael O'Shea has a very annoying and selfish character who never properly grows or changes, and he fails to bring any charisma or likability to him, dully lacklustre doesn't cut it. The chemistry between him and Henie is barely there, and it's for that reason as well as the character himself as to why Henie's character's decision making towards him was hard to swallow.

On the other hand, 'It's a Pleasure' is beautifully filmed in rich Technicolor and sumptuously designed costumes and sets wise. The music is outstanding with a healthy dose of Johann Strauss, Henie's ice skating routines are dazzlingly choreographed and superlatively danced and it was interesting seeing a taster of what playing hockey back then was like.

Marie McDonald is also a lively presence and gives by far the best performance on the acting front.

All in all, a mixed bag, a pleasure on the ice, not a pleasure off it. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Watching this was a rare treat to see since it was the only time I got to see ice skating star Sonja Henie in Technicolor as opposed to black and white. She's still impressive as an ice dancer this late in her career and also was compellingly good in her one number without skates. The story has her married to a hockey star who's been banned from the sport because of some unruly behavior. So she gets him in the show as another skater but things get complicated when the boss's wife has designs on him. Since this was made during the Production Code, nothing explicit happens or is even implied. And I'm guessing this was very much meant to be a family picture, anyway, as evidenced by the added formula of some kids near the end. In summary, It's a Pleasure was quite enjoyable as fluff so that's a recommendation.

This skating soap opera stars Sonja Henie as a perky skater with a dog-like devotion to a bad-tempered hockey star. Henie's blandly unemotional performance is neither better nor worse than the hockey star's indifferent ruggedness.

The skating is somewhat entertaining, although Henie's main special effect is crazy fast spins, which while impressive, are overused. Henie also acquits herself nicely in a non-skating dance number.

The most interesting performance in the movie is Marie McDonald as a bored, sexy wife obsessed with the hockey player. Her aggressive flirting and strong personality make her fascinating if unlikeable. She makes the rest of the cast seem even blander.

Hockey star Don Martin (Michael O'Shea) punches a referee and gets banned from professional hockey. Skating star Chris Linden (Sonja Henie) has a crush on him and helps gets him a job in the ice skating show. Buzz runs the show and his bored wife Gail Fletcher (Marie McDonald) wants to play with Don.

O'Shea doesn't feel like a leading man type and Sonja Henie's acting skills have always been questionable. The pairing is better than I expected. They are two flaw pieces which fit well together. It's nothing spectacular but it works. The story has little else going for it. It has barely any drama. They try to throw in Gail, but she is ultimately no threat to the relationship. It would be better if she's just evil rather than in love with Don. Of course, Henie does some of her ice skating. In the end, I just got bored with this movie after thirty minutes or so.