''Happy Landing'' is a 1938 film directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion ( 1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champi ...

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary '' Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...

and

Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...

Plot

A bandleader, Duke Sargent, and his manager Jimmy Hall are flying from New York to Paris when they must make a forced landing in Norway. A misunderstanding results in local girl Trudy Ericksen being romantically committed to Duke, but he has Flo Kelly waiting for him back in New York and slips away. Trudy follows him to New York, but ends up in Central Park on a skating date with Jimmy and soon is signed up as the star of a big-city ice revue.

Cast

as Trudy *

as Duke *

as Jimmy *

as Flo

Production

In November 1937 while shooting the film Henie was injured when her skate crossed on some cotton on the ice. She soon recovered and returned to work in a week. The production numbers involved 84 skaters under dance director Henry Losee. It was difficult finding skaters who could dance and dancers who could skate so he ended up employing half dancers and half skaters and they would teach each other. Henie later took 60 of the skaters with her on tour after making the movie.

Reception

The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it her best picture to date. The ''New York Times'' praised the "ingenious script" and "engaging support players" saying the film "has pace, humour, spectacle and a pleasant if minor score." ''Filmink'' called it "great fun. Very strong cast."

Follow Up

Daryl F. Zanuck was so pleased with the film he optioned Henie to make three more. However shortly after the film came out Henie said she was getting sick of movie work saying "I can't stand the strain - working from early morning to seven or eight at night and I do not intend to do so. I train hard and can keep going at top speed with anybody but not as much as movies demand." When Zanuck heard this he said "this is all news to me."THIRD FILM BASED ON AMERICAN HISTORY CONSIDERED BY DE MILLE: Sonja Henie Rebels Against "Picture Strain" Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 27 Jan 1938: 10. However she went on to make ''My Lucky Star'' for the studio.

Home media

''Happy Landing'' was released on

Region 0 DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...

DVD-R by 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives on December 30, 2013.

References

External links

*
''Happy Landing''
at

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Happy Landing
at Letterbox DVD
Happy Landing
at BFI {{Darryl F. Zanuck 1938 musical comedy films American musical comedy films Films directed by Roy Del Ruth Films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck Films scored by David Buttolph Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge Films scored by Ernst Toch Films set in Norway Figure skating films American black-and-white films 20th Century Fox films 1938 films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films