Cinema: Also Showing

The Ice Follies of 1939 (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). With no individual star to rival Sonja Henie, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Producer Harry Rapf, eager to capitalize on the vogue for skating spectacles launched by Twentieth Century-Fox's rotund little ex-Olympic skater, was forced to fall back on the reliable formula of the show within a show. Approximately half the footage of Ice Follies is devoted to the spinnings and whirlings of a troupe of professional skaters, photographed from all angles. The other half is devoted to a dull narrative in which James Stewart and Joan Crawford, as a pair of professional skaters (who never skate), achieve fame...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!