Happy Landing

Director: Roy Del Ruth

Overview

Sonja Henie stars as figure skater Trudy Ericksen, who is torn between the affections of two men, bandleader Duke Sargent (Cesar Romero) and his agent Jimmy Hall (Don Ameche).

Product Details

Release Date:	12/17/2013
UPC:	0024543921806
Original Release:	1938
Rating:	NR
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	37,406

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sonja Henie	Trudy Ericksen
Don Ameche	Jimmy Hall
Ethel Merman	Flo Kelly
Cesar Romero	Duke Sargent
Jean Hersholt	Herr Ericksen
Billy Gilbert	Counter Man
Wally Vernon	Al Mahoney
El Brendel	Yonnie
Marcelle Corday	Gypsy
Joseph Crehan	Agent
Eddie Conrad	Waiter
Ben Welden	Rink Manager
Leah Ray	Orchestra Vocalist
Alex Novinsky	Count
Robert Lowery	Reporter
Lon Chaney Jr.	Reporter
Creighton Chaney	Reporter
Ray Scott Quintet	Himself
Jack Yellen	Composer

Technical Credits

Boris Ingster

Milton Sperling

David Hempstead	Producer
Darryl Zanuck	Producer
Boris Ingster	Screenwriter
Milton Sperling	Screenwriter
Eugene Grossman	Sound/Sound Designer
Roger Heman	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Happy Landing is a fairly typical Sonja Henie film, which means that her fans will love it and her detractors will simply shake their heads in wonder that such films ever existed, let alone were enormously popular. As with most Henie, the problem with Landing is that, as good as the ice skating sequences are -- and they are truly exceptional here -- there's still lots of time between them that has to be filled. When Henie is filling that time, Landing grinds to a halt, not helped by Don Ameche's surprisingly lifeless, half-hearted performance. Fortunately, Cesar Romero is around to add a little spice and, even more fortunately, Ethel Merman is around to add some real zip. Merman raises the roof with her sensational "You Appeal to Me" and "Hot and Happy," and her way with a would-be-snappy line of dialogue livens things up considerably. There's also a nifty Condos Brothers dance sequence that helps to make up for the annoying Al Brendel number. The script is ridiculous and the direction is perfunctory, but Happy Landing is opulent and eye-filling. And while Merman is onscreen or Henie is skating, it's enjoyable.