Electric Shadow

Fox Cinema Archives: The Next Four Weeks

After a cut, I'm pasting the copy from the press release I've just received on these first-ever-on-DVD releases from Fox. As with any movie co-starring Cesar Romero, I'm intrigued to see My Lucky Star (1938) among other movies in which he co-stars with Sonja Henie, even if they are "Sonja Henie ice skating movies". I love that I can finally see another live-action performance from one of my favorite voice actors, Sterling Holloway, in Iceland (1943). I'm probably most specifically interested in the Robert Wagner/Terry Moore-starring Beneath the 12 Mile Reef (1953), billed as a Romeo and Juliet story concerning sponge divers.

From the press release:

November 26

Thin Ice (1937), 78 min.
Olympic figure skater Sonja Henie stars in a romantic entanglement in the Alps between a beautiful skating instructor and a man who she suspects to be a tourist. Little does she know he is a prince escaping the pains of royal life. With a cast including Tyrone Power and Arthur Treacher,Thin Ice was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Dance Direction.

Wintertime (1943), 82 min.
A Norwegian ice champion and her millionaire uncle invest in an old hotel that faces foreclosure and find love in the process. Olympic figure skater Sonja Henie and Golden Globe® nominee Cesar Romero1 lead a star-studded cast including S.Z. Sakall, Jack Oakie, Cornel Wilde and Carole Landis.

 

December 3

You Can’t Have Everything (1937), 99 min.
From Academy Award®-winning director Norman Taurong2, this backstage musical follows a big producer who buys the play of a beautiful playwright to improve his romantic chances. Alice Faye and Don Ameche lead a noteworthy cast, featuring Charles Winninger and The Ritz Brothers.

Young America (1932), 71 min.
Art is an orphan in trouble with the law, who is given a second chance with the Dorays - a couple who own a pharmacy. However, when Art and his friend Nutty break into the drugstore to get medicine for Nutty's dying grandmother, the boy’s motives are questioned. Academy Award®winner Spencer Tracy3 stars in the film with Doris Kenyon, Ralph Bellamy and Tommy Conlon.

Iceland (1942), 79 min.
John Payne plays a U.S. Marine who falls head over heels for figure skater Sonja Henie's graceful gliding in this ice-bound musical featuring the hit song “There Will Never Be Another You.” The film also features Jack Oakie and Sterling Holloway.

 

December 10

Love That Brute (1950), 85 min.
In 1928 Chicago, a big shot gangster with a soft heart falls for a nice girl who doesn't realize that he's a racketeer. Directed by Academy Award® nominee Alexander Hall4, the film includes Paul Douglas, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero and Keenan Wynn.

My Lucky Star (1938), 79 min.
Sonja Henie and Cesar Romero star in a romantic comedy, in which a department store owner turns an attractive store clerk into his living mannequin by sending her off to college to promote his fashion ware. Richard Greene and Joan Davis also join this all-star cast.

Thunder In The Valley (1947), 103 min.
In the Scottish country side, a bedeviled father (Lon McCallister) and a son (Edmund Green), who has lost his mother, go through trials and tribulations as their beloved sheep dog is accused of mangling a local sheep.

George White’s 1935 Scandals (1935), 84 min.
When George White, a Broadway producer, is lured into a small southern town he comes across a theatrical showing of his play. After seeing the play, he falls for one of its star singers and offers her a chance to come to New York City to work for him. A follow-up to George White’s Scandals(1934), the film stars Alice Faye, James Dunn, Ned Sparks and Eleanor Powell.

 

December 17

One In A Million (1937), 95 min.
An American theatrical manager discovers a Swiss skater preparing for the Olympics in Switzerland and brings her to Madison Square Garden to make her a star on the ice show circuit. The Hollywood debut of Sonja Henie, this Academy Award®-nominated5 film features Adolphe Menjou, and Don Ameche with The Ritz Brothers.

Happy Landing (1938), 102 min.
Two Americans, a flying bandleader and his manager, make a forced "happy landing" in Norway and find themselves enchanted by a lovely, young figure skater. Happy Landing, starring Sonja Henie, Don Ameche, Jean Hersholt and Cesar Romero, is full of romance, music, song, and plenty of expert ice skating.

Beneath The 12 Mile Reef (1953), 102 min.
Beneath The 12 Mile Reef is a Romeo-and-Juliet tale about the Petrakis father and son team who dive for sponges off the coast of Key West. When their normal catch no longer produces enough sponges, the Petrakis family encounters dangerous competition with the Rhys family that leads to violence in order to maintain their established fishing grounds along the 1-mile reef. Meanwhile, a love emerges between the son Tony Petrakis (Robert Wagner) and the rival daughter Gwyneth Rhys (Terry Moore). The film received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Cinematography.