''It's a Pleasure!'' is a 1945 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

Comedy-drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and 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 ...

, Michael O'Shea and Marie McDonald.

Plot

Don Martin's career in ice hockey screeches to a halt when he punches a referee. Banned from the sport for life, he is consoled by Chris Linden, a lovely skater who performs for the crowd during the hockey games' intermissions. Chris has a crush on Don and introduces him to Buzz Fletcher, who runs an ice-skating revue. Don joins the show as a performer and marries Chris, but has a drinking problem. Buzz's bored wife Gail develops a romantic interest in Don and is furious when he resists. She gets him drunk and ruins his opportunity to perform a solo in the show. Complications arise and result in Chris leaving her husband and going away for two years on tour with the show. Gail's guilty conscience gets the better of her and she reunites Chris and Don in the end.

Cast

as Chris Linden * Michael O'Shea as Don Martin * Marie McDonald as Gail Fletcher *Bill Johnson as Buzz 'Buzzard' Fletcher *

Gus Schilling August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films � ...

as Bill Evans *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

as Wilma *

Cheryl Walker Cheryl Walker may refer to: *Cheryl Walker (actress) Cheryl Walker (August 1, 1918 – October 24, 1971) was an American fashion model and actress. Early years Walker was born in South Pasadena, California, to Everett Dale and Pauline S. W ...

as Loni *Peggy O'Neill as Cricket * Arthur Loft as Jack Weimar *

David Janssen David Janssen (born David Harold Meyer) (March 27, 1931February 13, 1980) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–1967). Janssen also ...

as Davey / boy referee (uncredited)

Production

Sonja Henie had made nine pictures for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

ending with ''Wintertime''. In December 1943 she signed a contract to make a movie for the newly formed International Pictures which was run by

William Goetz William B. Goetz (March 24, 1903 – August 15, 1969) was an American film producer and studio executive. Goetz was one of the founders of Twentieth Century Pictures, and later served as vice president of 20th Century Fox after the merger with ...

who had been head of production at Fox briefly while Henie worked there. The film was to be part of International's initial slate of four pictures costing $5 million being distributed by RKO, the others being ''

Casanova Brown ''Casanova Brown'' is a 1944 American comedy romantic film directed by Sam Wood, written by Nunnally Johnson, and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Frank Morgan. The film had its world premiere in western France after the Allies had li ...

'', ''

Belle of the Yukon ''Belle of the Yukon'' is a 1944 American comedy musical Western film produced and directed by William A. Seiter and starring Randolph Scott, Gypsy Rose Lee, Dinah Shore and Bob Burns. Based on a story by Houston Branch and set in the days of ...

'' and '' Once Off Guard''. Bill Johnson had been in ''

Something for the Boys ''Something for the Boys'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical. P ...

'' and was borrowed from MGM; it was his screen debut. International leased two ice skating rinks, at Westwood Ice Garden and the Polar Palace in Hollywood. Filming started August 1, 1944. Michael O'Shea was cast in August 1944, borrowed from

Hunt Stromberg Hunt Stromberg (July 12, 1894 – August 23, 1968) was a film producer during Hollywood's Golden Age. In a prolific 30-year career beginning in 1921, Stromberg produced, wrote, and directed some of Hollywood's most profitable and enduring films, ...

. In late August Hedda Hopper announced that Henie was refusing to talk to producer David Lewis and was only talking to designed Don Loper. In November 1944 International announced they would make a second film with Henie, '' The Countess of Monte Cristo''. It was not made for several years later, at Universal International.

Reception

The ''New York Times'' called it a "flaccid fable."THE SCREEN IN REVIEW New York Times 4 May 1945: 23. ''

References

{{Reflist

External links

''It's a Pleasure''
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

It's a Pleasure
at Letterbox DVD
It's a Pleasure
at BFI 1945 musical comedy films 1945 films American musical comedy films Figure skating films Films directed by William A. Seiter 1940s American films