Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

TheLittleSongbird 'One in a Million' is interesting for being Sonja Henie's first American film and raised her to international stardom. Henie does not disappoint and is one of the top attractions, but the film on the whole does.Henie is one of the two best assets of 'One in a Million'. She is pert and charming, and the camera clearly loves her. Her ice skating is also out of this world. This is advantaged by the choreography for the ice skating sequences, which are enough to make the jaw drop by their imagination and verve.Furthermore, 'One in a Million' is lavishly shot and sumptuously designed, and while not timeless and none of them are standards the songs are pleasant enough, the best of them being "Who's Afraid of Love".Don Ameche is a very likable leading man, and his chemistry with Henie charming. Arline Judge brings snappy line delivery to 'One in a Million's' best lines, while Jean Hersholt is a gently low-key father figure and Ned Sparks is amusingly acerbic.However, the story is wafer thin and lacks energy, with much of the comedy floundering Judge and Sparks aside, while the script is even thinner and even duller. Adolphe Menjou, apart from a few nice moments with Judge, wildly overacts, shouting his way through his lines broadly.There is too much of the Ritz Brothers, and their slapstick is bizarre and irritatingly childish at times. Also could have done without Borrah Minevitch and his Harmonica Rascals, legendary as musicians but comedy, which is tedious and grating, is not even close to being a forte.In conclusion, a mixed bag of a film with great things and poor things. 5/10 Bethany Cox

lugonian ONE IN A MILLION (20th Century-Fox, 1936), directed by Sidney Lanfield, started a new dimension to the movie musical, dancing on ice. It's been said that if Fred Astaire can use dancing shoes, why not one doing the same on ice skates? So marked the motion picture debut of three time Olympic figure skating champion, Sonja Henie (1913-1969) in her adult Shirley Temple, dimple-smiling, curly blonde hair likeness. Though she's the main attraction, acquiring plenty of camera range close-ups, Henie has stiff competition contending with specialty acts incorporated into the plot as the wacky antics of Harry, Jimmy and Al, better known as The Ritz Brothers; Borrah Minevitch ("Javoh") and his harmonica playing rascals; the vocalizing of Leah Ray, and the amiable presence of the up-and-coming Don Ameche, sans mustache, shortly before achieving top leading man status for the studio.Rather than presenting a biographical story of the Norweigian born Henie playing herself, followed by struggles and accomplishments leading to her Olympic skating success, the Leonare Praskins and Mark Kelly screenplay uses a thin ice story centering upon a struggling all girl orchestra troupe traveling through Europe by train lead by quick thinking Thadius "Tad" Spencer (Adolphe Menjou) and his sassy younger wife, Billie (Arline Judge). Arriving in Switzerland for their upcoming engagement, the troupe encounters some bad luck when the Grand Palace Hotel, where they're supposed to be staying and performing, has burned down. With no upcoming jobs in the horizon, they venture over towards a nearby inn run by Heinrich Muller (Jean Hersholt) and his young attractive daughter, Greta (Sonja Henie). Though initially having only one guest, Ratoffsky (Montagu Love), a mysterious man keeping only to himself, the inn is soon filled with forthcoming guests as Bob Harris (Don Ameche), an American reporter from the Paris Herald, and his ace photographer, Daniel Simpson (Ned Sparks), on an assignment. Learning that Muller, a former ice skating champion in the 1908 Olympics with controversy linked to his name, has been training Greta since childhood for the upcoming 1936 Olympics, Spencer schemes his way for some easy money to help pay the bill by promoting Greta's name while Bob comes upon some disturbing news that might disqualify the young ice skater from fulfilling her father's dream in competing.Capitalizing on both the Henie name and the 1936 Olympics, the simple story contains a handful of agreeable new tunes that extend a 60 minute screenplay into a 94 minute production. With music and lyrics by Sidney D. Mitchell and Lew Pollack, the musical interludes consist of: "One in a Million" (sung by Leah Ray); Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home" (sung by The Ritz Brothers); "The Moonlight Waltz" (instrumental, skated by Sonja Henie and ensemble); "We're Back in Circulation Again" (sung by Dixie Dunbar, Adolphe Menjou, Sonja Henie, cast); "Lovely Lady in White" (instrumental/skating by Henie); "The Horror Boys from Hollywood: Karloff, Laughton and Lorre" (The Ritz Brothers); "Who's Afraid of Love?" (sung by Leah Ray and Don Ameche); "One in a Million" (six minute harmonica specialty by Borrah Minevitch and his Rascals); "Lovely Lady in White" (instrumental number skated by Henie); "The Skating Waltz," and Georges Bizet's "The Toreador Song" (both with the Ritz Brothers); and "One in a Million" (sung by chorus, skated by Henie).With the title tune getting enough reprises to score a hit, it's interesting to note there was different song titled "One in a Million" by Jack Scholl introduced to the screen by Ross Alexander in a minor Warner Brothers comedy, GOING HIGHBROW (1935). In fact, there was even a very recent programmer titled ONE IN A MILLION (Chesterfield, 1935) starring Dorothy Wilson, but it's this edition of ONE IN A MILLION that became the big event of the season. The ice skating ensembles choreographed by Jack Haskell is quite eye-filling, with the introductory number somewhat influenced by the imaginative Busby Berkeley.Almost forgotten today as the Sonie Henie name herself, ONE IN A MILLION became a handful of Henie musicals (1936-1943) distributed by 20th Century-Fox Home Video during the 1990s. Cable television presentations to ONE IN A MILLION have consisted of the USA Channel (late 1980s); American Movie Classics (1993-94); and eventually the Fox Movie Channel. For being the first ice skating musical, it still gets by for Henie enthusiasts as one in a million. (***1/2 Olympic trophies)

Neil Doyle SONJA HENIE made a few very dazzling skating films but this is not one of them. The only saving grace for watching this is to see DON AMECHE as her singing co-star who does nicely with an uninspired song number and gives his usual charming and natural performance.Unfortunately, surrounding Henie with a talented supporting cast did not work in this case. THE RITZ BROS. routines wear thin pretty fast and carry on for much too lengthy a time. The Harmonica Gang is a clever act but, again, too much footage devoted to their antics which, I believe, were shown to better advantage later on by The Ed Sullivan Show TV appearances.The thin story is loosely based on Henie's own beginning as an Olympic Champion but is strictly formulaic in the telling. Henie's skating routines are hardly the best she ever offered on film. Indeed, one has to sit through long stretches of film dominated by the supporting actors in order to see even a glimpse of her on ice.Adolphe Menjou must have thought the microphones weren't carrying his voice properly. He shouts all of his lines in what has to be one of his poorest performances in a comedy role. Arline Judge has some snappy one-liners to throw at him, but most of them are so mild that they fall flat. Fortunately, Jean Hersholt gives a nice, low-key performance as Sonja's caring dad.Sorry to be so negative, but I did look forward to seeing Sonja in her American debut on film. She was later given much better material in her subsequent films--especially in SUN VALLEY SERENADE and WINTERTIME.Her camera style had not yet been developed. The make-up artist has given her an unflattering hairdo (the plastered down curls in typical '30s style) and the cameraman did not capture the Henie personality as was done in all of her later films. Zanuck obviously decided to keep her lines to a minimum and throw most of the story and routines to the supporting cast. It doesn't work.Strictly thumbs down on this one. Thankfully, there were better films in her future.

Ron Oliver A pretty ice skating Swiss Miss has a ONE IN A MILLION chance to become a road show star, but she will jeopardize her chances for competing in the 1936 Winter Olympics. Will a young American reporter help woo her into making the right decision?Sonja Henie was Norway's ice queen when she won Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932 & 1936. Quickly going professional, she began a celebrated movie career at 20th Century Fox in 1936. ONE IN A MILLION was her American film debut. Beautiful & talented, as well as being a natural in front of the cameras, she carved out her niche during Hollywood's Golden Age. Although Henie's ice routines may look antiquated by comparison to modern champions, there was nothing antique about her dazzling smile or sparkling personality. Some of today's snowflake princesses could still learn a great deal from her.The Studio surrounded 24-year old Miss Henie with an experienced supporting cast: Jean Hersholt as her gentle father; Adolphe Menjou as a penniless, brash road show impresario & Arline Judge as his plain spoken wife; Don Ameche as the American reporter who falls for Henie; acerbic Ned Sparks as a cantankerous photographer; and Montague Love as a mysterious stranger. Fans of the Ritz Brothers will appreciate their routines; Russian Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Gang are zany enough to almost make you forget how talented they were.Ultimately, though, this is Sonja's show. She glides into the viewer's heart, while balancing on a thin edge of steel over frozen water.