The Ice Follies of 1939

... and that is about the best thing I can say about it.

This was one of MGMs' biggest bombs of the 1930's, critically and financially. If this was the quality of scripts Joan Crawford was getting, she definitely did the right thing in campaigning for the role of Crystal in The Women (1939). Joan Crawford and James Stewart played married skaters (stop laughing!). We are told that Joan is a terrible skater and that is why they are losing jobs, but we never see it as that would require Stewart and Crawford to skate. Complications ensue, but not terribly interesting or original ones.

The real purpose of "Ice Follies of 1939" was to hype the latest MGM find, "The International Ice Follies" show, and a long sequence at the end of the film features a technicolor ice extravaganza, with Joan and Jimmy sitting in the audience. Crawford was supposed to have at least five songs, and all were cut except a fragment of one; judging by that fragment, MGM was wise to cut them.

It's also rumored that by 1939 MGM was giving these terrible scripts to the Irving Thalberg era actresses, including Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo so Louis B. Could use the poor showings to clean house and bring in fresh faces, and three years later he did do just that. James Stewart's star was rising at the time, and so I have no idea how he ended up in this dog, but he was the best thing in it with his pratfalls, acrobatics, and energy.

This is the film for which, at the beginning of "Mommie Dearest", Joan Crawford was rising before dawn and going through her morning routine in preparation. I can tell lots of money went into this for art and costume design, but it just has no soul.

Experts tell us that MGM had high hopes for this strange movie pastiche, but it's hard to believe that from the tired on-screen shenanigans. With Sonia Henie making millions for 20th Century Fox in her kitschy skating musicals, Metro imported (at no small cost) the famed International Ice Follies and paired them with Crawford, one of their top-ranked, but skidding, stars.

I still find it hard to fathom WHY Metro executives could ever have thought that this lumbering, tired film could serve any use in reversing Crawford's diminishing box-office drawing power. She, James Stewart, and Lew Ayres, seem to be walking through their roles in a most obvious case of movie-making by the numbers, with a plot that is nothing but insulting to its audience.

This is not to say that certain pleasures can't be found in the film, if you want to take the time to look. Joan is as beautiful as ever and the Ice Follies finale (in which Joan does NOT skate) looks great in Technicolor. Happily and ironically, it was this film's total failure that brought Crawford one of her best screen roles, that of Crystal Allen in George Cukor's THE WOMEN. Reckless and with a feeling of nothing to lose, Crawford went after that unsympathetic part with a vengeance, AGAINST the advice of LB Mayer, who said it would finish her (but then again, what did HE know.....he LIKED the idea of this one!!)Not nearly as interesting as either THE BRIDE WORE RED (1937) or THE SHINING HOUR (1938), Crawford's other box-office flops of the period, this one is strictly for Crawford or Stewart completists.

This patched-together pseudo-musical-on-ice isn't even fun as camp; it's just a deadly dull example of MGM assembly-line junk. As always, the production values are excellent: this film is just as well-mounted as any Metro "A" product, with the added bonuses of a lavish Technicolor sequence and pleasing ice performances by the Shipstad-Johnson Ice Follies. But, it's heavy going as the miscast stars are shoved about in a silly plot in an underwritten script, and no amount of MGM gloss can compensate for the audacity of casting three non-skating actors as skating stars! Especially jarring is the sight of Joan Crawford in a jet-black Hedy Lamarr "do"; this is one instance where Joan's Madonna-like talent for following trends misfired.(She very nearly achieves a Carolyn Jones-as-Morticia look!) JC fans do get a consolation prize in the color sequence, in which Joan's natural coloring is seen to lovely advantage. Viewer Alert: watch Sonja Henie on Fox instead!!

Ice Follies of 1939 involves a trio of professional skaters, Joan Crawford, James Stewart, and Lew Ayres who have some creative differences and the act breaks up temporarily. So do Crawford and Stewart who are a romantic item.

This was Stewart and Crawford's second film together, the first was The Gorgeous Hussy in which Stewart was only a supporting player. It's too bad that neither of them got anything better.

I also can't put this any better, the three of them look plain ridiculous on skates and they probably felt just as ridiculous.

This film was the brainchild of Louis B. Mayer who looked green with envy over at 20th Century Fox and the money that Darryl F. Zanuck was making with Sonja Henie. I say 'with' and not 'off of' Sonja Henie because Ms. Henie was a star before she signed a contract with Zanuck and Zanuck paid her dearly for her services. Something I'm not sure Mayer was prepared to do.

To gloss over the trite backstage story, MGM did import a whole load of the top ice acts circa 1939 other than Sonja Henie. Interesting to see them and Sonja and compare them to Nancy Kerrigan or Johnny Weir or the infamous Tonya Harding.

Fortunately the next films for Stewart and Crawford were, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Women. The future was going to get better for both.

Poor Joan, I can see why she worked so hard for the role of Crystal Allen in "The Women" her next picture after this dreg.

Bad script bad director just bad everything, the only part worth watching is the Technicolor ending which is quite interesting and it is Joan's first color picture. Joan's drunken scene is also good and Lew Ayres was such a cu-tie when he was young but the rest of it is pure yuck! and I thought Trog was bad. For true Joan fans only. I suggest renting it NOW ON DVD, the transfer is very good and the sound quality is good. This has to be the worst picture Joan was in and it didn't have to be, minor changes to the script would have helped this picture a lot. Minor reworking to the "Joan becomes a star overnight" storyline could have worked out in a believable fashion. The story seems thrown together and I don't think anyone at MGM actually watched it before it was released. This was no cheap budget either, the sets are impressive but everyone seems to know they are in a clunker.