Le mannequin du collège

You know how it is with a Sonja Henie film, you wait and see how they're going to fit in the skating numbers.

In "My Lucky Star," Cesar Romero is George Cabot Jr., the playboy son of a department store magnate. As he and his wife (Louise Hovick - Gypsy Rose Lee - and here's a reason to see the film) are discussing an amicable divorce, she spots the package wrapping girl Krista Nielsen(Henie) who is in Romero's apartment for the most innocent of reasons. In order to avoid scandal and paying millions to get rid of his gold digger wife, Cabot Jr. talks Cabot Sr. into sending Krista to college, where she will wear the department store fashions, thus increasing sales to college kids. Soon she's skating.

And there you have it - it's a pleasant way to pass the time. One of the students at the college is Larry Taylor (Richard Greene), who falls for Krista. Greene was supposedly the big rival of Tyrone Power at 20th Century Fox (though I frankly can't see it), but when war broke out in Europe, he returned to England. Growing up, I remember him as Robin Hood in a TV series.

Greene is attractive, with a very marked dimple and a lovely speaking voice. I think his range was a little limited to be much of a threat to Power, and he's not as good-looking, though he's certainly handsome.

If you want to see Gypsy Rose Lee in a movie and of course, Sonja's great skating, this is the film for you.

This is a silly movie with much singing and dancing. Acting is average, but writing leaves something to be desired. There are rememberable performances by Buddy Epsen, with a short but outstanding performance by Gypsy Rose as the bitter wife of a rich playboy. A totally unbelievable portrayal of college life which ends with a superb ice skating exibition of Alice in Wonderland. Many parts are worth watching, but do not be afraid to fast forward through parts of the movie

20th Century Fox has never been MGM, even on its best day, and Sonja Henie is no Dorothy Hamill. Nevertheless, 1933's MY LUCKY STAR is worth a look if for no other reason than historical value. The plot is paper-thin, as the movie is just a vehicle for Henie, who before the advent of triple-lutzes, was the golden girl of female skaters. She also was cute in an adorable and wholesome, mountain girl way. Here, she plays a department store clerk who is sent off to college by the store's owner and ends up becoming an ice skater. Department store heir Caesar Romero puts on an ice extravaganza starring Henie, but has to convince his blustery old dad that it's worth the money, as it will encourage more store business. The big finale is a patchwork, with none of the smoothness or assuredness of those classic MGM musicals, which themselves got off to a shaky start before finding their footing. . Bits of this gigantic ice show are clumsily edited together. But Henie looks adorable, attired in a Little Bo Peepe costume. The revue's theme is "Babes in Toyland," with music from the legendary Victor Herbert operetta), and Henie skates her little Scandanavian heart out. No athletic lutzes in her day, but plenty of spins and one small leap. Plus she sports the most adorable frilly panties under an abbreviated, flared skirt. The bonnet she wears is a trifle much, making her look more like Baby Snooks, but when she smiles at the camera, nothing else matters. A young Buddy Ebsen, he of the Ray Bolger-ish rubber-limbs, is along for the ride -- er, I mean skate. And Richard Greene of "Robin Hood" fame is Henie's love interest. The film's sound is horribly tinny, which is typical of 1933 movies. This one's for early talkie fans -- and, of course, Henie fans.

I bought this movie because I am a huge Richard Greene fan and I have always wanted to watch Sonja Henie.

I was not disappointed.

This movie is definitely worth seeing and/or buying. It has wonderful, catchy swingy tunes and a great cast. Sure, the story is cliché, but weren't most musicals like that back then? Well, it is actually a little bit more original than others, because Sonja wraps packages at a department store, and after meeting her, and to keep her away from his jealous wife (Gypsy Rose Lee a.k.a Louise Hovick), Caesar Romero, the son of the big department store Sonja works for, sends her to fictional Plymouth University as a "living mannequin" to promote their store's women's' sporting goods section. While there, Sonja befriends student Buddy Ebsen and his girlfriend Mary Dwight (Joan Davis), does some enjoyable skate routines (best one is COULD YOU PASS IN LOVE? first sung by Buddy and Joan, then skated by Sonja and a chorus of skating guys in bowler hats), gets tricked by a nasty Southern girl who is a bad ice skater (played nicely by Patricia Wilder) gets accused of being involved in a scandal (courtesy of Gypsy Rose), and falls in love with super-duper handsome senior Richard Greene. They and others sing a very lovely ballad on a hayride. (I don't know the name.) But it's very charming, and it was stuck in my head for a week after I watched it. The musical numbers are fun, though they come nowhere near MGM or early Busby Berkeley musical splendor. Sonja dos live up to her name as great ice skater, though. In the big production "Alice in Wonderland" finale, she shines, and the costumes and music and charming. The other big musical number, I'VE GOT A DATE WITH A DREAM, showcases a myriad of showgirls wearing beautiful furs and evening gowns, and other fashionable outfits, and a tenor who sings the song admirably. Later into the number, Buddy and Joan do a short, comedic rendition of the song.

In all, MY LUCKY STAR is a good way to pass the time and a good film to start with if you want to explore the works of Sonja Henie.

MY LUCKY STAR (20th Century-Fox, 1938), directed by Roy Del Ruth, bearing no resemblance to any movie about Hollywood nor any connection with the Janet Gaynor silent melodrama, LUCKY STAR (Fox, 1929), is a likable and tuneful musical starring Fox's own lucky star herself, Olympic ice skating champion, Sonja Henie, in her fourth motion picture role. Following her enormous success in ONE IN A MILLION (1936), THIN ICE (1937) and HAPPY LANDING (1938) opposite Fox's top leading men as Don Ameche and Tyrone Power, Henie acquires a newcomer named Richard Greene, a likable British actor whose name has failed to equal both popularity and starring status of either Ameche or Power.

The lightweight plot revolves around Christina Nielson (Sonja Henie), a Norweigian girl employed as package wrapper for New York's Cabot's Fifth Avenue Department Store. After two years in the sporting goods department, she is found skating after hours by George Cabot Jr. (Cesar Romero), son of the store's founder (George Barbier). A recent groom in the process of divorce proceedings from cabaret queen, Marcelle (Louise "Gypsy Rose Lee" Hovak), George invites Christine to his apartment, where, after going to another room, is met by a surprise visit from Marcelle and her witness, Louie (Paul Hurst), with intentions of using the unknown blonde as grounds for divorce. George, however, breaks away with Christina before Marcelle is able to see her face. In order to keep Christina out of sight and help boost up sales at the same time, George impresses "Papa" by having Christina representing the store by sending her to Plymouth University (P.U.) in upstate New York where she's to secretly work modeling sporting clothes while getting an education at the company's expense. While there, Christina catches the attention upper class-man, Larry Taylor (Richard Greene). All goes well until Christina, an ice skating sensation in their ice carnival, makes the front cover in Life Magazine, where her photograph is brought to the attention of Marcelle who uses Christina's name in a divorce scandal that soon gets her expelled from Plymouth.

With college musicals commonly found in the 1930s, song interludes and skating numbers take precedence over typical football game finale. Composers Mack Gordon and Harry Revel provide such fine tunes as: "Plymouth Mountain Song," "This May Be the Night" "What a Well Dressed Woman Will Wear," "By a Wishing Well," "Could You Pass in Love?"; "I've Got a Date With a Dream" (sung by Art Jarrett); Victor Herbert's "March of the Toys"; and "This May Be the Night" (finale). The "I've Got a Date with a Dream" number is cleverly staged fantasy based on Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland." Interestingly, when MY LUCKY STAR used to air on public television back in the 1980s, this finale (now restored) was missing Victor Herbert's "March of the Toys" ice carnival sequence skated by Henie and assortment of "Alice in Wonderland" characters.

Other members of the faculty consist of Buddy Ebsen and Joan Davis. Davis, as Henie's college roommate, who livens things up with her usual flair for comedy, whether it be through pratfalls or quipping out funny one-liners. She has her work cut out for her as Ebsen's girlfriend, who, as Plymouth's cab driver, shows more interest in his horse, Lulu, than with her. Joan and Buddy collaborate in the humorous "Could You Pass in Love" number, singing and dancing to good advantage. Arthur Treacher appears briefly as the Cabot's droll butler; while Elisha Cook Jr., shortly before his association in "film noir" mysteries in the 1940s, is seen playing a nerdy character named Wilmer.

Hardly original though highly entertaining, any similarity between MY LUCKY STAR and Henie's previous HAPPY LANDING, is purely coincidental. The film returns Cesar Romero in a Mischa Auer type performance as the nerve wracking groom with women problems (ex-wife here), along with Billy Gilbert once again adding confusion with his double talk with his "Chocolate Sundae /Tootie Fruitie Sundae with Pistachio Nuts" routine opposite Greene in a malt shop.

Formerly presented on American Movie Classics prior to 1993, and available intact on home video, right down to the reading of "This is One of the Movie Quiz $250,000.00 Contest Picture" before the closing cast credits, MY LUCKY STAR is silly at best, but highly commendable, especially with Sonja Henie skating her way through college. Watch for it next time it plays on the Fox Movie Channel(*** diplomas)