''Sun Valley Serenade'' is a 1941 American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

, John Payne,

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over eight decades, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and ...

, and

Lynn Bari Lynn Bari (born Marjorie Schuyler Fisher, December 18, 1919 – November 20, 1989) was an American film actress who specialized in playing sultry, statuesque man-killers in roughly 150 films for 20th Century Fox, from the early 1930s through t ...

. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nicholas Brothers. It also features Dorothy Dandridge, performing " Chattanooga Choo Choo", which was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for Best Song, was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 1996, and was awarded the first Gold Record for sales of 1.2 million. Studio

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

re-released the film in 1946 and in 1954 to tie-in with the biopic ''

The Glenn Miller Story ''The Glenn Miller Story'' is a 1954 American biographical film about the eponymous American band-leader, directed by Anthony Mann. It stars James Stewart as Miller (in his second non-western collaboration with Mann), alongside June Allyson. ...

''.

Plot

Ted Scott ( John Payne) is a band

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

whose publicity manager decides that, for good press, the band should adopt a foreign refugee. The band goes to

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

to meet the girl and soon discovers that the refugee isn't a 10-year-old child, but a young woman, Karen Benson (

). The surprise comes right before the band is to travel to

Sun Valley, Idaho Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1,783 at the 2020 census. The elevation of Sun Valley (at the Lodge) is above se ...

, for a Christmas event. While on the ski slopes Ted soon falls for Karen's inventive schemes to win the heart of her new sponsor, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Vivian Dawn (

), a soloist with the band. Vivian promptly quits the band out of jealousy, and Karen stages an elaborate ice show as a substitute.

Cast

as Karen Benson * John Payne as Ted Scott *

as Phil Corey *

as Jerome K. 'Nifty' Allen *

as Vivian Dawn (singing voice by Pat Friday) *

Joan Davis Josephine "Joan" Davis (June 29, 1912 – May 23, 1961) was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy '' I Married Joan'', Davis had a successful ea ...

as Miss Carstairs (charity collector at Sun Valley) * William B. Davidson as Mr. Murray, owner of Sun Valley * Almira Sessions as Karen's nurse * The Modernaires as Themselves *

The Nicholas Brothers The Nicholas Brothers were an entertainment act composed of brothers, Fayard Nicholas, Fayard (1914–2006) and Harold Nicholas, Harold (1921–2000), who excelled in a variety of dance techniques, primarily between the 1930s and 1950s. Best kn ...

as Themselves * Dorothy Dandridge as a Specialty Act with the Nicolas Brothers * Glenn Miller Orchestra as the Phil Corey Orchestra / The Dartmouth Troubadours Future Olympic gold medalist Gretchen Fraser was the skiing stand-in for Sonja Henie. Fraser was a member of the Olympic team in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

''(cancelled)'' and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

Music

Of particular note is the elaborate " Chattanooga Choo Choo" sequence. The scene begins at a rehearsal with the Glenn Miller Orchestra practicing "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and includes two choruses of the song whistled and sung by

Tex Beneke Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke ( ; February 12, 1914 – May 30, 2000) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. Hi ...

in a musical exchange with The Modernaires. As the Miller band concludes their feature the camera pans left to reveal a railway station set. The band continues with the production number and accompanies Dorothy Dandridge and the Nicholas Brothers in their song and dance routine. ''Sun Valley Serenade'' is the first of the only two movies featuring The Glenn Miller Orchestra (the other is 1942's '' Orchestra Wives''). Besides "Chattanooga Choo Choo", other

tunes in the film are " Moonlight Serenade", " It Happened in Sun Valley", " I Know Why (And So Do You)", and "

In the Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by Americans, American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition "Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was re ...

". An instrumental version of " At Last" was recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra as well as a version with vocals by John Payne and Pat Friday, but these recordings would remain unused and unissued except for the 1954 LP album. Darryl Zanuck reportedly said. "There are too many big ones in this. Let's save one for the next." "At Last" can be heard in the movie in three scenes, however, in an orchestral performance by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra film in the Lido Terrace night club after they perform "In the Mood", as part of the orchestral background score in a scene between John Payne and Lynn Bari, and in an orchestral version with vocalization but without lyrics a minute and twenty seconds in length during the closing skating sequence with Sonja Henie. "At Last" would also appear in the 1942 follow-up movie '' Orchestra Wives'' performed by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra with vocals by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday. Los Angeles vocalist Pat Friday pre-recorded the vocal tracks that Lynn Bari

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

ed in the film.

Filming

''Sun Valley Serenade'' was filmed in March 1941, by Darryl Zanuck. Zanuck had come up with the idea for the film while on holiday there. Popular myth to the contrary, nearly all of the filming was done on the 20th-Century Fox sound stages in Hollywood. Only a few actors travelled to Sun Valley for exterior location shots. The film became a Hollywood hit and served as a recruiting effort for the elite ski corps of the

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division (military), division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in ...

stationed at Camp Hale in Colorado. Sun Valley's ski school director, Otto Lang, of St. Anton, oversaw the skiing scenes. The musical numbers were recorded in multi-directional mono, placing microphones around different parts of the orchestra. Those were all mixed down to mono at the time the film was released. The parts of those recordings were found and mixed into true

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

. They have also been included in home video releases. Clarice Freeman Schnoebelen, a skater who toured with Sonja Henie and appeared in the films, told her family a story about the filming of "Sun Valley Serenade." Her name at the time was Clarice Evans or Corliss Evans. She said that the black dye added to the ice in the famous "black ice" scene, which created the mirror effect of the ice, stained the women's skates, and no offer was made to clean the skates or replace them. The women had to replace the skates out of their own pockets. In addition to the dye, the surface was flooded with water to increase the intensity of the reflection, which also increased the splashing of dye onto the skates. Some of the men, who wore black skates, didn't have the same problem. It is unclear if the other men who wore white skates were reimbursed.

Screenings

The film is shown 24 hours a day on a dedicated television channel available to all rooms at the Sun Valley Lodge and Inn. The film was released in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in June, 1944, as escapist entertainment for Soviet civilians. For many years afterwards, in the early

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

era when American films and music were mostly banned in the country, this film was the template for the Soviet youth who tried to imitate the "American lifestyle". The film was a favourite in Jewish Displaced Persons Camps in the aftermath of the Holocaust, with the film's light entertainment and quick adaptation of Sonja Henie's character to American life a potential model for Jewish Displaced Persons' futures. The first Christmas Eve presentation of ''Sun Valley Serenade'' on

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

(TCM) was introduced by host

Robert Osborne Robert Jolin Osborne (; May 3, 1932 – March 6, 2017) was an American film historian, author, actor and the primary television host for the premium cable channel Turner Classic Movies (TCM) for over twenty years. Prior to hosting at TCM, Os ...

, in 2013. TCM had shown this movie in previous years on days other than Christmas Eve. The film was released in the VHS format in 1991 by 20th Century Fox. In 2007, ''Sun Valley Serenade'' was released on DVD by 20th Century Fox for Region 2 format (Japan, Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East). It remains unreleased on DVD for Region 1 (U.S., U.S. Territories, Canada, and Bermuda), though it is available on VOD outlets in the United States. The Blu-ray version of Sun Valley Serenade has been Released in Spain under the title ''Tu Serás Mi Marido'' iterally You Will Be My Husband It is playable on Region A Blu-ray players in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

Awards and honors

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

: * Nominated: Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Edward Cronjager (1942) * Nominated: Best Music, Original Song for "Chattanooga Choo Choo"

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

(music),

Mack Gordon Mack Gordon (born Morris Gittler; June 21, 1904 – February 28, 1959) was an American lyricist for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times in 11 years, including five consecutive years between 1940 and 1 ...

(lyrics) (1942) * Nominated: Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, Emil Newman (1942) The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

in these lists: * 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ** " Chattanooga Choo Choo" – Nominated * 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated

Chattanooga Choo Choo

The film features the million selling hit song "Chattanooga Choo Choo" which is a highlight and centerpiece of the movie. The RCA Victor 78 single reached no. 1 on the ''Billboard'' singles chart in 1941 and became the top record of that year. RCA Victor awarded Glenn Miller a Gold Record award for sales of 1.2 million copies in 1942. Originally, RCA issued the song as the B side with "I Know Why" as the A side. But "Chattanooga Choo Choo" was the side that was played on the radio and which became the hit.

Reception

''Filmink'' thought Henie "is particularly smug in this one but everything else is fantastic. Brilliant support cast. Glenn Miller novelty. Divine Bari and Nicholas brothers."

References

External links

* * * * {{H. Bruce Humberstone 1941 films 1941 musical comedy films 1941 romantic comedy films 20th Century Fox films American Christmas comedy films American black-and-white films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films 1940s English-language films Figure skating films Films about music and musicians Films directed by H. Bruce Humberstone Films set in Sun Valley, Idaho Films shot in Sun Valley, Idaho American skiing films 1940s American films English-language romantic comedy films English-language musical comedy films English-language Christmas comedy films