ICE-BALLET COMEDY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22388, 29 April 1938, Page 5

ICE-BALLET COMEDY

Sonja Henie, more dazzling than sunshine on ice, appears in “Happy Landing,” now at the Mayfair. Starred with Don Ameche, her “One In A Million” sweetheart, Sonja thrills her audiences as they never have been thrilled before.

The secret of her graceful ice evolutions is revealed by Harry Losee, who staged the ensemble numbers for “Happy Landing." “The numbers we did for the picture are definitely dance,” Losee said.

Sonja Henie Excels In “Happy Landing”

“The fact that they are executed in figure skating is incidental. , “What Sonja Henie has done for the dance is to present it with a wider proscenium and greater depth. She has also given it vivid, startling motion which was unobtainable under the ordinary physical limitations of dancing. “On skates, Sonja Henie or the chorus can do leaps that would make Nijinsky look as though he were standing still. They can execute figures from one end of a 100-yard rink to the other in a fraction of the time it would take the ordinary dancer. Thus we are able to tell more in a shorter space of time, and tell it with greater colour.’’

This wedding of the two arts is not sudden or accidental. It is merely the realisation of Sonja Henie’s first ambition. Even before she started to skate she was studying ballet dancing and kept it up for years afterwards. A great deal of her success as an Olympic champion she attributes to the foundation which ballet has given her.

There is a possibility that Sonja Henie may some day be asked to give up her skates and launch forth as a straight comedy-drama actress. She has the enviable record of having turned out two of Hollywood’s biggest box-office hits in as many tries, and according to present indications, the studio feels sure that it will not be long before audiences will go to see Sonja Henie whether or not she skates.

That will allow the script writers more latitude in the selection of stories for Sonja. They will not be confined to icy backgrounds, and they can utilise her talents as a light comedian, which seems to be her forte.

David O. Selznick has signed up Paulette Goddard for a long-term contract. Her last appearance on the screen was as leading lady opposite Charles Chaplin in “Modern Times,” released in February, 1936. Her first assignment under the Selznick banner will mark her talking picture debut, as “Modern Times” was a silent production. «, • •

Janet Gaynor and Douglas Fairbanks, jun., will be starred together in David O. Selznick’s “The Young in Heart,” a comedy-romance based on the novel by I. A. R. Wylie, which the producer purchased in galley form. .