OVP: Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Film: Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Stars: Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, Lynn Bari

Director: H. Bruce Humberstone

Oscar History: 3 nominations (Best Cinematography, Original Song-"Chattanooga Choo Choo", Scoring)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars

This summer, LeBron James will star in a sequel to the 1996 film Space Jam.  James is one of the greatest basketball players of all time (if not the best), but he's hardly achieved massive success (to date) in the realm of acting.  While athletes from OJ Simpson to Hulk Hogan have taken their shot at film stardom, very few actually find proper, sustainable success on the big screen.  One of the few that did, though, was Norwegian skater Sonja Henie.  Henie won gold medals in figure skating at three successive Olympics and was a world champion ten years running between 1927-1936.  She then went on to be a major star for 20th Century Fox during the late 1930's/early 1940's, featured mostly in skating extravaganza pictures that were basically just an excuse to get her to skate (think Esther Williams but on frozen water).  Henie's career would probably be worth a conversation for a Star of the Month segment, particularly her unusual connections to Adolf Hitler, but as I was watching I realized this is the first time I've ever seen he in an actual movie, and so I want to focus today just on her as a screen presence, and how being a novice with her as an actor greatly influences the way you watch a film like Sun Valley Serenade.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie focuses on Ted Scott (Payne), a down-on-his-luck band pianist who can't get a gig.  He lucks into one when Vivian Dawn (Bari), a beautiful big-name singer, takes a shine to the handsome Ted.  They start to date, but there's a problem.  Ted's manager Nifty (Berle) arranged for him to take in a refugee to get good publicity, however the refugee isn't a child, but instead a grown woman named Karen (Henie), who quickly decides she wants to marry Ted.  The remainder of the film is Karen getting into a series of hijinks (many that trade in on her skating & skiing abilities), trying to sabotage Ted & Vivian's relationship, which end up working as Ted eventually marries Karen (and then they have a winter spectacular to round out the movie).

The film is predicated on you really enjoying Henie, who at this point as I mentioned above, was a big star in Hollywood.  Having her as the adorable lead would've likely been something the screenwriters could bank upon with the audience, but modern audiences who aren't as familiar with her as a screen persona (like me) don't have that currency, and as a result this movie reads as really problematic.  Karen is essentially stalking Ted, to the point where she ruins his relationship, and there's no real chemistry between the two other than a shared love of skiing.  She basically ruins Ted's life, and then he thanks her for it.  In a normal movie I'd have a problem with them portraying strong, confident Vivian as "a successful woman who needs to learn her place" (that's basically how she's portrayed), and that'd turn me off for the film, but that's to be expected in a film in the 1940's.  What isn't is that Henie's Karen, were she a man, would almost certainly be portrayed as a villain & a sexual predator, and it totally turned me off for the film-it felt icky & gross.

This is a pity because I don't really have a problem with the film's trio of Oscar nominations.  The cinematography is good-if-not-outstanding, with Henie's giant ice ballets a standout (and the skiing scenes look like they're actually skiing in at least half of them, which is an accomplishment for a movie like this).  The Score is excellent.  Glenn Miller (yes, the Glenn Miller) plays a band leader in the film, and he brings classics like "In the Mood," "Moonlight Serenade," & "It Happened in Sun Valley" to the screen.  Best of all is "Chattanooga Choo Choo," which is broken up into two parts, the first featuring some of the Orchestra, and the latter featuring a song-and-dance routine between Dorothy Dandridge & the Nicholas Brothers (Dandridge and Harold Nicholas would marry soon after this movie).  This is one of only two times the Glenn Miller Orchestra would ever be in a movie, and so it's a special spot if you're a fan of their music (which I am).  Unfortunately, the movie surrounding it is not worthy (and even the songs, classics all, aren't mounted as well as they could be save for the Dandridge/Nicholas Brothers tap number).