La fée blanche

Watching this 1945 made movie in 2002 gave me "warm fuzzys" all over. This was when Hollywood was careful not to offend folks with abusive words and over the top plots. `It's a Pleasure' was a pleasure to watch. It is funny, entertaining, a little suspenseful and had some drama. The scenery and costumes were beautiful. This "Miss Susie Sunshine" of a movie creates a wonderful fantasy world that I think we need more of these days. The coloring and quality of this movie made it hard to believe it was made in 1945. `It's a Pleasure' is a nice, romantic, pleasurable escape.

Sonja Henie stars with Michael O'Shea and Marie McDonald in "It's a Pleasure," a 1945 film done for RKO.

Naturally the focus is on skating, and lots of it, as Sonja, playing Chris Linden, falls in love and marries a down and out hockey player named Don Martin (O'Shea). The two work for an ice show, run by Buzz (William Johnson). His wife Gale (McDonald) is madly in love with Don, and when he gets a chance to skate for an impresario and possibly leave the country, she sabotages him. The result brings problems for Don and Chris -- as well as Buzz and Gale.

Nothing much here on plot, but the film is in color and the skating shows are dazzling. Henie's skating seems old-fashioned now because she didn't have the double axels and salchows they have now. However, she was one heck of a spinner, a fast skater, a graceful dancer, and a sparkling presence on ice.

Marie McDonald is absolutely stunning and just made for the vivid color. My one quibble is the casting of the likable Michael O'Shea. He was cute, good at comedy, and must have had something - after all, he was married to Virginia Mayo -- but it was hard to see why both Henie and McDonald were drooling after him. The character had been banned from hockey after getting into a fight, plus he had a drinking problem. It would have been more believable if he'd been a more typical leading man, but a bad boy. Glenn Ford and William Holden come to mind.

Fun watching.

Lent ongoing allure by the extraordinary early Technicolor process, this ice-skating romance also benefits from contributions by several Oscar-winning technicians, all in top form here, including cinematographer Ray Rennahan (Gone With the Wind), interior designer Wiard Ihnen, and set decorator Julia Heron. Additionally, those responsible for the superlative costumes and hair styling should be recognized, with all of these crew strengths nearly making the plot irrelevant, as a viewer is dazzled in one way or another and, of course, often by the skating of Sonja Henie. For precision skating, Henie has never been topped, and here her known acting shortcomings seem less obtrusive than is usual, as she is supported by a solid cast, including Michael O'Shea, Gus Schilling, Iris Adrian, and a startlingly beautiful Marie McDonald, whose agenda to steal O'Shea from Henie comprises the core of a somewhat melodramatic and simplistic screen play. The script turns upon Henie's love for O'Shea, who plays a professional hockey player who is permanently banned for punching an official, and whose fondness for alcohol leads to a variety of thorny situations which turn his life upside down, and which link him with the difficult to ignore McDonald. All involved in this effort are served well by journeyman director William A. Seiter, who takes charge of the action whenever the scenario flags, although the editing and blocking are at times obtrusive. It all comes down in the end to Henie on ice, and there the pirouetting dervish provides as usual, with her at times off-putting Norwegian inflections not an issue, skating as well as ever and benefiting, as throughout the film, including one non-gelid partnered dance scene, from a lovely score composed by Walter Donaldson and Edgar Leslie.

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.

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