Norwegian Olympic figure skater Sonja Henie was an instant success in films, starting at the top with a lucrative contract at Fox. Ice skating entertainment barely existed in the United States before Henie arrived, but she inspired so many large ice extravaganzas that as a live performer she found it difficult to compete in the crowded field. Henie aimed at an American movie career from the beginning, and all of her films made money. Her tenth starring musical comedy Wintertime (1943) was no challenge for the seasoned director John Brahm. Its lightweight story linked several skating scenes and backed them with the big band sound of Woody Herman and his orchestra. Scandinavian millionaire refugee Hjalmar Ostgaard (Hungarian refugee actor S.Z. Sakall) and his daughter Nora (Sonja Henie) arrive at the Canadian mountain resort Chateau Promenade, intending to wait for their Immigration Quota numbers to come through so they can enter the United States. When told that the resort is nearing bankruptcy, Nora conspires with its owners to trick her eccentric father into keeping it solvent by buying a share. Since Hjalmar is famous for purchasing hotels with bad service, the resort staff treat him terribly - cue slapstick scenes - so he'll buy. Unfortunately, when the Nazis invade Norway Ostgaard's funds are frozen, so it's up to Nora's marvelous skating talent to save the day with a show in New York. To that end she considers marrying American band singer Brad Barton (Cesar Romero) so she can legally enter the country. The B&W picture was made straight to formula, with seven songs and a standard cast of Fox stars. Broad comic Jack Oakie is the conniving resort owner, Cesar Romero and Carole Landis sing briefly with the band, and handsome Cornel Wilde provides a romance angle for Ms. Henie. Although she never really mastered film acting, Sonja's skating scenes routinely earned spontaneous applause from film audiences. Variety's critic noted that her stardom was 'incomparable,' even as he joked about the performing versatility of the five-foot one-inch dervish on skates: she could skate on black ice as well as white ice!

By Glenn Erickson