Wintertime

This film features a generous sampling of Woody Herman's 1943 Band. This was just before the famous Herd with Red Norvo,Sonny Berman,Chubby Jackson,Margie Hyams,Dave Tough et.al. Prominent in this Band are trumpeter-vocalist Billie Rogers,who would soon start her own Band,the great tenor man Vido Musso,trumpeter Chuck Petersen and drummer Frankie Carlsen. Woody gets to sing some songs including the title tune and we see a glimpse of his girl singer,Carolyn Grey in the "Dancing in the Dawn" number.The film itself is pretty weak and with Sonja in the lead,comparisons to "Sun Valley Serenade" are inevitable. All in all,a nice showcase for a Herman band in transition.

Not one of the best films starring the always watchable Sonja Henie, but also not among the worst either. If anything somewhere in the middle, being a decent film but lacking in a few areas that stop it from being even better.

Henie truly dazzles in her ice skating routines, with the energetic and graceful choreography it is an absolute pleasure watching her. She charms as an actress too. SZ Sakall is amusing, while Carole Landis is hilarious and Cesar Romero bags the best lines and overall material. 'Wintertime' boasts a light-hearted and often very funny script, if sometimes a little heavy on the clichés.

It's beautifully filmed in black and white and the sets and costumes are suitably lavish. The music is very pleasant, with inspired use of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" and "Later Tonight" coming off best of the songs, and works well within the film and on its own very well.

On the other hand, the story is silly, as thin as ice and sometimes lacks momentum and charm. Two performances also don't come off. Jack Oakie (who has been much better and funnier before) overdoes it, with his blustering coming across as obnoxious, while Cornel Wilde has nothing to do and it shows in his bland and charmless performance and nondescript chemistry with the rest of the cast.

To conclude, dazzles in many components while also floundering in a few. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Nora and her uncle spend the night in a run-down Canadian hotel. After Nora falls in love with the handsome owner, she persuades her uncle to invest in the inn and modernize it. After the hotel opens, Nora's uncle faces financial bankruptcy and her romance stumbles in the form of a pretty reporter.

Musical movies in the 1930s and 40s were generally a string of musical numbers linked together by enough dialogue to fill out 90 minutes. The major studios usually made at least an effort to provide a plot that was not embarrassing and that more or less made the musical numbers fit.

Twentieth Century Fox didn't bother here. Henie gets some nice skating numbers, but the plot, such as it is, is pretty lame.

It hits a surprising low when it tries to motivate Henie's efforts to enter the U.S. by using the German invasion of Norway. That was very serious business, of course, and a real tragedy. It seems very strange to see it used here, almost completely unmourned, as an excuse for a plot twist.

The secondary roles here are well played, especially by Cesar Romero, who was very talented. But the only real interest here is Henie's skating. The rest is pretty much a waste of time.

As the last of Sonja Henie's movies for 20th Century-Fox, Wintertime was a very entertaining way to go out for her, that's for sure! As always, her skating talents are front and center but there's also a nonsense slapstick plot that hits on all corners especially with a supporting cast that includes S. Z. (Cuddles) Sakall, Carole Landis, and welcome returning players Jack Oakie and Cesar Romero. The leading man is Cornel Wilde who wasn't established at this point in his career and doesn't get to make too much of an impression compared to previous men cast opposite Ms. Henie. Much of the musical entertainment is provided by Woody Herman and His Orchestra with fine vocals from both Ms. Landis and Romero in a few of their numbers. So on that note, Wintertime is highly recommended for any Sonja Henie fans out there.