Sun Valley Serenade is a 1941 musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle and Lynn Bari. It features Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by Nicholas Brothers and Dorothy Dandridge, performing "Chattanooga Choo Choo", nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996, and was awarded the award. The first Gold record for sales of 1.2 million.
Video Sun Valley Serenade
Plot
Ted Scott (John Payne) is a band pianist whose publicity manager decided that, for a good press, the band had to adopt a foreign refugee. The band went to Ellis Island to meet the girl and soon found out that the refugee was not a 10-year-old boy, but a young woman, Karen Benson (Sonja Henie). The surprise came just before the band traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho for a Christmas show. While on the ski slopes, Ted soon fell into Karen's inventive scheme to win the heart of his new sponsors, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Vivian Dawn (Lynn Bari), a band soloist. Vivian soon gets out of the band out of jealousy, and Karen stages an elaborate ice show as a substitute.
A special note is a complicated "Chattanooga Choo Choo" sequence. The scene begins in practice with Glenn Miller Orchestra who practiced "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and includes two choruses of the song whistling and sung by Tex Beneke in a musical exchange with The Modernaires. When the Millers group concludes their features, the cameras on the left show the set of railway stations. The band continues with production numbers and accompanies Dorothy Dandridge and Nicholas Brothers in their song and dance routines.
Sun Valley Serenade is the first of only two films featuring The Glenn Miller Orchestra (the other is 1942's Orchestra Wives ). In addition to "Chattanooga Choo Choo", other Glenn Miller songs in this movie are "Moonlight Serenade", "It Happens in Sun Valley", "I Know Why (And So Also)", and "In Mood".
The instrumental version of "At Last" was recorded by Glenn Miller and Orchestra as well as versions with vocals by John Payne and Pat Friday, but these recordings will remain unused and unpublished. "At Last" can be heard on film in three scenes, however, in the orchestra performances by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra at Lido Terrace nightclub after they perform "In the Mood", as part of an orchestra background score in scenes between John Payne and Lynn Bari, and in orchestral versions with vocalizations but without the lyrics of one minute and twenty seconds in length during the closing skating sequence with Sonja Henie. "At Last" will also appear in the 1942 follow-up film of Orchestra Wives by Glenn Miller and Orchestra with vocals by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday.
Vocalist Glenn Miller, Pat Friday, provides previously recorded vocal tracks, synchronized by Lynn Bari in the film.
Future Olympic gold medalist Gretchen Fraser is a skier for Sonja Henie. Fraser was a member of the Olympic team in 1940 (canceled) and 1948.
Maps Sun Valley Serenade
Cast
- Sonja Henie as Karen Benson
- John Payne as Ted Scott
- Glenn Miller as Phil Corey
- Milton Berle as Jerome K. 'Nifty' Allen
- Lynn Bari as Vivian Dawn (voice singing by Pat Friday)
- Joan Davis as Miss Carstairs, Murray's secretary
- William B. Davidson as Mr. Murray, manager of Vivian
- Almira Sessions as Nurse hired for Karen
- The Modernaires as themselves
- The Nicholas Brothers as themselves
- Dorothy Dandridge as Special Act with Nicolas Brothers
- Glenn Miller Orchestra as Phil Corey's Orchestra/The Dartmouth Troubadours
Filming
Sun Valley Serenade was filmed in March 1941, by Darryl Zanuck, in the spring snow in Sun Valley, Idaho. The film became a hit in Hollywood and served as a recruiting attempt for the elite ski corps of the 10th Mountain Division stationed at Camp Hale in Colorado. Sun Valley ski school director, Otto Lang, from St. Anton, watching the ski scene. The music numbers are recorded in a multi-way mono, placing the microphone around different parts of the orchestra. They are all mixed into mono by the time the movie is released. Parts of the tape were found and mixed into true stereos. They have also been included in the home video release.
Playback
The film is featured 24 hours a day on special television channels available to all rooms at Sun Valley Lodge and Inn.
The film is a favorite in Jewish Displaced Persons Camps after the Holocaust, with light film entertainment and the rapid adaptation of Sonja Henie's character to American life as a potential model for Jewish Disorder's future.
Sun Valley Serenade is featured on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) for the first time on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2013 with an introduction by host Robert Osborne. However, TCM has shown this film in previous years on a date other than Christmas Eve.
The film was released in 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 Middle East). It's still not released on DVD for Region 1 (US, US, Canada, and Bermuda Territories). The Blu-ray version of Sun Valley Serenade has been Released in Spain under the title Tu SerÃÆ'¡s Mi Marido [literally You Will Be My Husband]. This can be played on Blu-ray Region A players in the US, Canada, Mexico and Latin America.
Awards and honors
Academy Award:
- Nominated: Best Cinematography, Black-White, Edward Cronjager (1942)
- Nominated: Best Music, Original Songs for "Chattanooga Choo Choo" Harry Warren (music), Mack Gordon (lyrics) (1942)
- Nominated: Best Music, Printing Music Picture, Emil Newman (1942)
The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in this list:
- 2004: AFI 100 Years... 100 Songs:
- "Chattanooga Choo Choo" - Nominated
- 2006: AFI Largest Musical Movie - Nominated
References
External links
- Sun Valley Serenade at AllMovie
- Sun Valley Serenade on IMDb
- Sun Valley Serenade in the TCM Film Database
- Sun Valley Serenade at the American Film Films Catalog
- Sun Valley Serenade at Rotten Tomatoes
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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