Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

jfarms1956 Sun Valley Serenade is principally geared for the baby boomers and also for those who enjoy black and white musicals. Sun Valley Serenade has many delightful little songs throughout the film. It is light comedy with actors like Milton Berle in it. It is a snow romance. If you like figure skating for the fun of it, you will like this film. Although John Payne is the big actor in the film, his co-star, Sonja Henie is very enjoyable to watch as well. The film is a good one for grandparents and their grandchildren to enjoy. The worst slang word is "swell." The movie does depict figure skating for the fun of it and not for the art of it. The movie spins a fondness for snow skiing as well. It even makes it look easy, like anyone can do it. It does show a man without a shirt in the snow ski area in the middle of winter-- Hollywood. Bring your popcorn and a smile.

weezeralfalfa I remember seeing this film as a kid and being impressed that it was one of the most fun movies not directed primarily at children. Finally, I got a video copy and play it every Christmas season. If a musical romantic comedy is what you are in the mood for, this is one of the best, from a time when these were churned out in sizable numbers, serving to entertain the GIs far from home, as well as the home crowd. How could you miss with such talents as Sonja Henie, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, John Payne, Lynn Bari, Milton Berle, the Nicholas Brothers, and Dorothy Dandridge. Most of the action and some of the filming takes place at the Sun Valley ski resort in Idaho, developed only a few years before this film was made. I've seen clips of a few other films including Sonja,the reigning ice queen of the times, and this is by far her most entertaining performance. While Berle is trying to romance her, she definitely has her eye on a reluctant John Payne, who becomes engaged to the band's singer, played by perennial loser Lynn Bari. Payne was often paired with Betty Grable or Alice Faye in their 20th Century Fox musical romantic comedies of this era. Fox again paired Payne and Sonja in the film "Iceland". I haven't seen it, but apparently there was too much ice skating and too little development of the romance. It fell flat compared to the present film.Of course, the Glenn Miller orchestra added much to this film. They performed several of their classic numbers. In addition, several new songs were composed for this film by the prolific tunesmith Harry Warren and his then lyricist Mack Gordon. Their collaboration produced such memorable songs in this film as "It Happened in Sun Valley", "I Know Why", "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "At Last". Unfortunately, the vocal version of the latter was cut, apparently to shorten the film; but Sonja and her retinue skated to the tune near the end of the film. The vocal version was resurrected in the second Fox film featuring the Miller orchestra, "Orchestra Wives", which also introduced the Warren-Gordon song "Serenade in Blue". Chattanooga Choo Choo" would go on to become the first certified Gold Record, with more than 1 million sold in the first year.. Ironically, when the Miller orchestra first practiced this song, they generally were not impressed with its potential. Surprisingly, at the Harry Warren web site, where browsers can choose to hear renditions of many of his songs, spanning from the 1920s to the 1950s, the most requested song is "At Last", which I would rate as #10, at most.The comedy content of this film was carried by several of the principles. This was supposed to be the forte of Berle; however, his chief talent seemed to be smoking cigars. I would have much preferred Bob Hope or Jack Oakie, for example. That would have made it just about a perfect film. Miller was rather stiff off the bandstand, not surprisingly. Like the Cheshire Cat, Sonja kept popping up unexpectedly, scheming how to land her chosen man before he became unavailable. Her frequent Cheshire Cat-like smile belied her need to act fast. The chemistry between Sonja and Payne appeared to be very good, her impishness serving to loosen up his typical serious demeanor.3/17 update : Now available at YouTube, along with "Orchestra Wives"

tavm In honor of Black History Month, I've been writing reviews of movies that African-Americans, in front and behind the camera, have been involved on in chronological order. So we're now in 1941 with Sun Valley Serenade. In a brief specialty number at the end of Glenn Miller's "rehersal" of "Chattanooga Choo Choo", The Nicholas Brothers-Fayard and younger sibling Harold-tap dance up a storm after first doing some steps and singing with Dorothy Dandridge in her only appearance with her future husband (Harold) and his brother. They're the coolest thing in the picture and it's a shame that because of some Southern theatres' resistance of black performers appearing with their white counterparts in the same scene (unless they appeared in domestic or chauffeur/doorman/porter roles) that that's their only appearance here. Otherwise, it's a mostly entertaining movie with John Payne providing some excellent physical comedy near the end, Milton Berle being his amusing wisecracking self, Miller playing his great classics with his band before disappearing in a plane during the war after finishing another picture, Sonja Henie as the refugee from Norway doing some pretty good acting for a skater, and Lynn Bari, who while her role as Payne's first love takes a back seat after Henie appears, does the best she can with the material she's given. Love the song she mouthed to in the beginning. Maybe the last skating number by Henie was a bit much but it was still enjoyable. So, all in all, I highly recommend Sun Valley Serenade. P.S. The porter that Berle talked to after Joan Davis' first appearance was Fred "Snoflake" Toones who I just saw in The Green Pastures.

rc_brazil I liked it. This is a musical comedy, which means: don't pay attention to the predictable story, just enjoy the comical relief and the musical numbers. This film has a great Glenn Miller score, simply lovable. I was afraid I was going to find Henie's performance annoying, but she's actually quite good through out - nothing Oscar worthy or anything like that - and John Payne, an actor I never really liked (apart from the classic Miracle on 34th Street), works well with her. The ice-skate numbers were a special treat. We can't compare with today's ice-skaters, like so many other users have said, but we can't help being impressed either. It was a good experience and I can say it got me interested in the rest of Sonja's work. Boy, could she ice skate!