GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Konterr
Brilliant and touching
Breakinger
A Brilliant Conflict
davjazzer
This film features a generous sampling of Woody Herman's 1943 Band. This was just before the famous Herd with Red Norvo,Sonny Berman,Chubby Jackson,Margie Hyams,Dave Tough et.al. Prominent in this Band are trumpeter-vocalist Billie Rogers,who would soon start her own Band,the great tenor man Vido Musso,trumpeter Chuck Petersen and drummer Frankie Carlsen. Woody gets to sing some songs including the title tune and we see a glimpse of his girl singer,Carolyn Grey in the "Dancing in the Dawn" number.The film itself is pretty weak and with Sonja in the lead,comparisons to "Sun Valley Serenade" are inevitable. All in all,a nice showcase for a Herman band in transition.
TheLittleSongbird
Not one of the best films starring the always watchable Sonja Henie, but also not among the worst either. If anything somewhere in the middle, being a decent film but lacking in a few areas that stop it from being even better.Henie truly dazzles in her ice skating routines, with the energetic and graceful choreography it is an absolute pleasure watching her. She charms as an actress too. SZ Sakall is amusing, while Carole Landis is hilarious and Cesar Romero bags the best lines and overall material. 'Wintertime' boasts a light-hearted and often very funny script, if sometimes a little heavy on the clichés.It's beautifully filmed in black and white and the sets and costumes are suitably lavish. The music is very pleasant, with inspired use of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" and "Later Tonight" coming off best of the songs, and works well within the film and on its own very well.On the other hand, the story is silly, as thin as ice and sometimes lacks momentum and charm. Two performances also don't come off. Jack Oakie (who has been much better and funnier before) overdoes it, with his blustering coming across as obnoxious, while Cornel Wilde has nothing to do and it shows in his bland and charmless performance and nondescript chemistry with the rest of the cast.To conclude, dazzles in many components while also floundering in a few. 6/10 Bethany Cox
mark.waltz
There isn't so much a storyline as there is a situation. Romantic issues occur at a winter resort in Canada with the arrival of its new prominent guests, portly S.Z. Sakall and his sweet niece, skater Sonia Henie. There's tons of deception but little in the way of plot development, filled with some brittle acid comedy and a long-lasting farcial sequence involving Cesar Romero stuck out in the snow in his long johns and his attempts to find clothes when he gets back into the inn. The laughs are plentiful as long as this sequence goes on, but other than a scene with one of the women involved in the minimal plot goes ballistic, telling off Romero while traipsing through the lobby of the crowded inn. Pretty inconsequential, "Wintertime" is pretty to look at but shabby otherwise, with the Canadian setting being spoofed with an ice skating version of "Indian Love Call" ("Rose Marie" on ice I refer to it...) and a lavish finale where Henie (a star only when skating) gets to show off her stuff. Jack Oakie is the top billed male star, but it's really Cesar Romero who gets the best material. A young Cornel Wilde is also amongst the cast. Henie's earlier films at least had more than a shell of a plot, so this one seems very rushed together in order to wrap up her seven year 20th Century Fox contract.
whpratt1
Enjoyed this great Classic Film starring Sonja Henie, (Nora) who was a very famous Norwegian Ice-Skating Champion and gave an outstanding performance in this film with dancing and very exciting tricks on the ice which was her world. Jack Oakie,(Skip Hutton) gave a great supporting role and put plenty of humor to this film. Carole Landis, (Flossie Fouchere), "I Wake Up Screaming" was very attractive and had the hots for Cesar Romero, (Brad Barton) who in real life had a very torrid affair with Cesar before she met Rex Harrison. S. Z. Sakall, ( Hjalmar Ostgaard) was a veteran actor who was a great character actor who entertained many people in the 1930's and 1940's. Cornel Wilde, (Freddy Austin) was in love with Nora and they had problems but love is very strong and controls all relationships. Enjoyed the great music of Woody Herman, a great clarinet player and his orchestra which performed great sing and dance numbers. Please, don't miss viewing this film, it is wonderful.