After Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort, its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. Later, soloist Vivian Dawn quits and Karen ... Read allAfter Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort, its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. Later, soloist Vivian Dawn quits and Karen stages an ice show as a substitute.After Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort, its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. Later, soloist Vivian Dawn quits and Karen stages an ice show as a substitute.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 3 nominations total
- Specialty
- (as Nicholas Brothers)
- Murray
- (as William Davidson)
- Boy
- (uncredited)
- Ski Patrol Member
- (uncredited)
- Ice Skater
- (uncredited)
- Orchestra Member
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring the last skating sequence the ice was dyed black to add drama to the segment. The ice showed skate marks badly so it was covered with a layer of liquid dye to hide the marks. This can be seen by the splashing in fast turns. Near the end the liquid is starting to freeze and skate marks are visible.
- GoofsAt Ellis Island, when the couple picks up their refugee, the little boys says "God dag" but his lips say "Hello".
- Quotes
Ted Scott: Look, I said I'd take a child, I didn't say I'd take a... well, she's too big for her age!
Customs Officer: Is that your signature?
Ted Scott: Well, sure, but...
Customs Officer: She's a refugee like the rest, and right here, you guarantee that you'll take good care of her, and that she'll not become a public charge. She's your responsibility now Mister.
- ConnectionsEdited into Orchestra Wives (1942)
- SoundtracksChattanooga Choo Choo
(1941) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyric by Mack Gordon
Performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
Sung by Tex Beneke, Paula Kelly, and The Modernaires, then danced and sung by The Nicholas Brothers and Dorothy Dandridge
Payne's a pianist/vocalist with the Miller Band and his romancing of singer Lynn Bari gets the band a gig in Sun Valley during the ski season. Which is doubly fine for Payne because he likes all kinds of winter sports, indoor and outdoor.
But then an old publicity stunt that manager Milton Berle pulled some months earlier comes back to haunt them. He had the band sponsor a refugee from one of the occupied countries of Europe and Chester Clute from Immigration arrives with the receipt while all this full blown courtship of Bari is going on. So the band goes to Ellis Island to meet their sponsored urchin, but instead it turns out to be a rather big girl who also likes winter sports, Sonia Henie.
The band thinks to park her with Berle's aunt in New Jersey, but Sonia hears about Sun Valley and that sounds too much like home to suit her. And she's got a great advantage in that Bari isn't interested in skiing nor does she want to learn. Give you a guess who Payne winds up with.
Of course this whole fluffy plot is just an excuse to hang some skating sequences and some music by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Harry Warren and Mack Gordon contributed a fine score. In fact Sun Valley Serenade was nominated for an Oscar for black and white cinematography and musical scoring.
It also received a nomination for Best Song, one of the best known that the Glenn Miller Orchestra was known for, Chattanooga Choo Choo. John Payne gets to vocalize another great song I Know Why And So Do You which sold a few platters back in the day.
I don't know if Payne could play a piano in real life, but even if he was faking it for the film, he got a rare chance to jam with Glenn Miller as he was doing In The Mood, probably his best known hit song. I'd have paid Darryl Zanuck to do that myself.
The Miller Band's presence made a lot of folks forget this was a Sonia Henie film. Darryl Zanuck paid dear to sign Henie and she was first billed in all of her films. Her skating sequences or good, but I'm betting she didn't like being upstaged.
Nearly all the big bands in their era which was roughly 1935-1945 got into one film or another. Some got into better films than others and Miller's band did well by their two films before Glenn Miller went into the army and to his untimely disappearance over the English Channel.
Not to forget that the Nicholas Brothers and Dorothy Dandridge got to do specialty numbers. With all the talent in this film, you can't possibly go wrong giving it a look.
- bkoganbing
- Jun 20, 2008
- How long is Sun Valley Serenade?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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![Glenn Miller, Sonja Henie, and John Payne in Sun Valley Serenade (1941)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjNmOTE2YjEtM2FjNC00N2Y5LTljZjAtMjkxYTY3OTMzMDQzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDUyOTUyNQ@@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,2,90,133_.jpg)