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.

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.

I was channel-surfing one evening and came across this movie on Showtime's Family Showcase channel and my first thoughts were, "Wow! They sure did a good job of recreating the 40's in this picture." Then, I put the cable movie info on the screen to discover this film was MADE in 1945, which really amazed me because the color quality is so modern-looking and the clarity of the picture is unlike any other movie I've ever seen that was produced in that era, just amazing. Obviously, it's been digitally restored to some extent but it must have been shot right the first time for this kind of quality. As for the movie itself, the actors and actresses were excellent and the storyline very entertaining, keeping me watching to the end (I came into the film maybe 20 minutes late or so). Old classic movies aren't really something I've ever been a major fan of with the exception of the classics like Gone With The Wind, Wizard of Oz, etc. but I really enjoyed this film. Again, the quality of the picture makes watching this film seem like modern-day filmmakers were transported back to 1945 and shot it with their present-day cameras & production. Highly recommended from both entertainment value and technical expertise for the period.

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.

When her contract with 20th Century Fox was finished Sonja Henie went to the newly formed International Pictures for It's A Pleasure. The new company which would shortly merge with Universal Studios was the brain child of J. Arthur Rank and It's A Pleasure was given the same kind of lavish production that characterized Sonja's work with Darryl F. Zanuck at Fox.

Her leading man was Michael O'Shea and I will say this, he never embarrassed himself on the ice as James Stewart, Joan Crawford, and Lew Ayres did in Ice Follies of 1939. In fact while we do have some film of him as a hockey player, there is no footage of him or even a double working in the ice show later on and I suspect for good reason.

Which brings me to the plot, Sonja is a member of an ice show troupe that entertains at half times during hockey matches. O'Shea is a hard drinking, quick tempered hockey player who lights Sonja's fire and a few others as well. When he slugs a referee during a hockey brawl, he's banned from what I presume was the National Hockey League permanently.

But Sonja sells the idea to promoter Bill Johnson to use O'Shea as an attraction for the ice show. I really have to wonder whether someone like Gordie Howe or Andy Bathgate would ever have lent themselves to something like this. A good skater in hockey does not a figure skater make which underlies the essential silliness of the plot.

Johnson's wife Marie McDonald is also interested in O'Shea for her own reasons and therein lies the personal story.

Of course the whole thing is just an excuse to film some of Sonja Henie's elaborate routines on ice. As for Sonja, she was not a great actress by any stretch, but she did project a certain wholesomeness on screen which was the secret of her appeal. I would have to say that she was the greatest female athlete that made the best success transitioning to show business in history.

Although his role as the wronged husband is not really substantial and in fact he's something of a fool here, It's A Pleasure offers moviegoers one of the few filmed performances of Broadway star Bill Johnson. He had a far more substantial stage career and in fact reached his biggest success as a Tony Award nominee for the Rodgers&Hammerstein musical Pipe Dream which was his last role. He died way too young shortly after that musical closed on Broadway. Too bad he wasn't given a song here.

It's A Pleasure is also noted as the film debut of David Janssen who was all of 15 when he made his appearance as the referee of a boys hockey match. Those ears make him recognizable.

It's A Pleasure is an average film that will appeal primarily to figure skating and Sonja Henie fans.