(79 nub) Released 1937-04-01
Director: Sidney Lanfield
Stars: Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Arthur Treacher
Harry Losee ... dances stager, Oscar nom'd for "Prince Igor Suite"; Oscars 1938
Jack Pfeiffer ... assistant dance director (uncredited)
Genres: Comedy | Musical | Romance
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029659/
2nd of 10 Henie musicals; 1st of 2 with Tyrone Power (1914–1958), his 9th of 51 credits. Cute but not unusual plot (mistaken identity, poor girl falls for prince). SH plays the hotel skating instructor.
The staging of the skating really stepped up (from the first film) in the Oscar-nom'd number; the finale would fit in with the prior film routines. All the skating:
- 14:30 SH practices for 30 seconds without music
- 33:30 The Oscar-nom'd Prince Igor Suite (actually Polovetsian Dances from "Prince Igor" by Aleksandr Borodin, the same music used as a basis for songs in Kismet ('55)). I paused the film, and estimate 40 men and 40 women skating in various formations, often at a fast pace, in support of our star. Various camera angles provide a reflection in the nightclub ceiling, on-ice waist-high views of SH and of long lines of skaters speeding past each other and the camera, and other views. The dance lasts 6 minutes. I don't remember the Oscar-winning dance well enough to make a judgement yet, but it's hard to believe anything is better than this. Watch with full attention, and it is thrilling.
- 51:20 Ensemble comes onto the ice in couples as though seated in the audience, but then cooperate in a large formation, leading into
- 52:50 SH skates The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss with 6 men pairing with her for 3.5 minutes.
- 1:15:10 The 40 men and 40 women give us some formations before circling the rink to watch SH skate more magic to Over Night for 2 min, as the finale. Strange that the other 2 numbers have plain white floors, but the finale has large checkered tiles, but the surrounding audience setting and the neon "fountain" are the same.
Be careful skipping the Joan Davis songs; they both precede skating, and on this good-quality bootleg copy the chapter stops have no logic.
