Thin Ice (1937)

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Movie
Original title Thin ice
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1937
length 78 minutes
Rod
Director Sidney Lanfield
script Boris Ingster
Milton Sparrow
production Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox
music Lew Pollack
Sidney D. Mitchell
camera Robert H. Planck
Edward Cronjager
cut Robert L. Simpson
occupation

Thin Ice (Austrian distribution title Hoheit flirtet ) is an American ice revue film with Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power from 1937.

action

Lili Heiser is a ski instructor in a Swiss hotel. She has fallen in love with the shy young man who takes her lessons every morning without knowing that it is Prince Rudolph. Neither of them suspect that the entire world press is taking an active part in the progress of their romance. The hotel management uses the publicity and gives Lili the lead role in a spectacular ice revue. In the end, Lili Heiser becomes Princess Lili and she and Rudolph live happily ever after.

background

The Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie decided after the end of her unprecedented series of success with three Olympic victories , ten world championship titles and six European championship titles in mid-1936 for a career in film. After tough negotiations about terms, she finally signed with 20th Century Fox for a fee of $ 60,000 and star billing, terms that had not yet been granted to any other new actor. The success of her debut in One in a Million led to a new film contract that guaranteed her a fee of 125,000 US dollars per film and the assurance of first billing, according to which her name would be announced before any other actor.

The studio developed a very special form of the revue film for Henie with spectacular shows in the form of ice revues. A special camera had to be developed to record the extremely fast movements of the ice skaters without distortion. In addition, it was necessary to specially prepare the ice for the revue scenes. A top layer of milk-colored ice was applied to make the recordings easier. A wafer-thin film of water always had to be guaranteed, as this was the only way to prevent pieces of ice from being thrown around during braking maneuvers and fast turns and spoiling the recording.

The studio saved no effort or expense on Thin Ice , Henie's second film, and ended up investing a good $ 1,000,000 in the project. Sonja Henie, who carefully planned and monitored every step of her career, insisted on having Tyrone Power, Fox Studios' biggest male star, at her side. The gossip press reported extensively about an alleged romance between the two. Since Henie spoke English only with a very strong accent, studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck insisted on as few lines of dialogue as possible for the film character of his female star. The action in Switzerland also ensured that all other players could also speak with a more or less pronounced accent.

Up to 100 ice skaters were involved in the three spectacular revue scenes at the same time. In the meantime, the film was to receive the distribution title Lovely to Look At , before it finally came to national theaters under Thin Ice . The financial success brought Sonja Henie to number 8 of the 10 highest grossing cinema stars of 1937. In 1939, Henie and Tyrone Power again shot the romantic comedy Second Fiddle, directed by Sidney Lanfield .

Awards

Thin Ice was in the Academy Awards 1938 nominated in the category:

  • Best dance director (Harry Losee for the ice dance number Prinz Igor )

criticism

The film and its star received excellent reviews. So found the New York Times

In Thin Ice, Olympic figure skating champion Sonja Henie proves that she is not only a Scandinavian deity made of wind and snow, but also a charming romantic comedian.
In Thin Ice, Olympic skating champion Sonja Henie shows she's not only a Scandinavian goddess of wind and snow but a charming, romantic comedienne too.

Variety didn't want to stand back with the praise:

Beautifully portrayed and filmed, this entertaining romantic comedy makes Henie a star.
Beautifully costumed and photographed, this entertaining romantic comedy established Henie as a top box-office star.

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