Flor de Inverno

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.

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.

Not one of the best films starring the always watchable Sonja Henie, but also not among the worst either. If anything somewhere in the middle, being a decent film but lacking in a few areas that stop it from being even better.

Henie truly dazzles in her ice skating routines, with the energetic and graceful choreography it is an absolute pleasure watching her. She charms as an actress too. SZ Sakall is amusing, while Carole Landis is hilarious and Cesar Romero bags the best lines and overall material. 'Wintertime' boasts a light-hearted and often very funny script, if sometimes a little heavy on the clichés.

It's beautifully filmed in black and white and the sets and costumes are suitably lavish. The music is very pleasant, with inspired use of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" and "Later Tonight" coming off best of the songs, and works well within the film and on its own very well.

On the other hand, the story is silly, as thin as ice and sometimes lacks momentum and charm. Two performances also don't come off. Jack Oakie (who has been much better and funnier before) overdoes it, with his blustering coming across as obnoxious, while Cornel Wilde has nothing to do and it shows in his bland and charmless performance and nondescript chemistry with the rest of the cast.

To conclude, dazzles in many components while also floundering in a few. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Nora and her uncle spend the night in a run-down Canadian hotel. After Nora falls in love with the handsome owner, she persuades her uncle to invest in the inn and modernize it. After the hotel opens, Nora's uncle faces financial bankruptcy and her romance stumbles in the form of a pretty reporter.

This is such a fun little movie - I'm thrilled Fox is finally putting it on DVD! Sonja Henie is the star so of course there's plenty of amazing ice-skating numbers but the real treat here is the supporting cast. Cesar Romero and Carole Landis are hilarious as a bickering couple and their musical duet of "I Like It Here" is one of the highlights. I'm a huge Carole Landis fan and it's always a treat to see her doing comedy and she has great chemistry with Cesar Romero. The costumes are beautiful too especially the gowns Carole wears and the Sonja's skating costumes. Cornel Wilde and Jack Oakie also give great supporting performances. Although it was made as a b-movie Wintertime is a really good romantic comedy with some fun musical numbers and a wonderful cast!