It's a Pleasure (film)

It's a Pleasure!
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam A. Seiter
Written byLynn Starling
Elliot Paul
Produced byDavid Lewis
StarringSonja Henie
Michael O'Shea
CinematographyRay Rennahan
Edited byErnest Nims
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • March 3, 1945 (1945-03-03) (U.S.)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

It's a Pleasure! is a 1945 American Technicolor Comedy-drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Sonja Henie, Michael O'Shea and Marie McDonald.[2]

Plot

Don Martin's career in ice hockey screeches to a halt when he punches a referee. Banned from the sport for life, he is consoled by Chris Linden, a lovely skater who performs for the crowd during the hockey games' intermissions.

Chris has a crush on Don and introduces him to Buzz Fletcher, who runs an ice-skating revue. Don joins the show as a performer and marries Chris, but has a drinking problem. Buzz's bored wife Gail develops a romantic interest in Don and is furious when he resists. She gets him drunk and ruins his opportunity to perform a solo in the show.

Complications arise and result in Chris leaving her husband and going away for two years on tour with the show. Gail's guilty conscience gets the better of her and she reunites Chris and Don in the end.

Cast

Production

Sonja Henie had made nine pictures for 20th Century Fox ending with Wintertime. In December 1943 she signed a contract to make a movie for the newly formed International Pictures which was run by William Goetz who had been head of production at Fox briefly while Henie worked there.[3] The film was to be part of International's initial slate of four pictures costing $5 million being distributed by RKO, the others being Casanova Brown, Belle of the Yukon and Once Off Guard.[4]

According to producer David Lewis, Goetz had no story for Henie and asked Lewis if he had anything. Lewis lunched with Charles Brackett when Billy Wilder came in and Lewis asked Wilder if he had any ideas. Lewis wrote Wilder "came up with the title Of Ice And Woman and proceeded to sit down and dictate a few pages, a total takeoff on the play Burlesque. Although it was all done as sort of a lark, the idea had merit, and I took it to Goetz. He liked it (or was grasping at straws) and called Wilder, who offered it as a gift."[5]

Geotz asked Lewis to produce the film but David Loper was associate producer. Lewis said "with Goetz’s backing, Loper tried to take over. He had no story judgment and was only interested, as was [Mitchell] Leisen, in decor. The film could have no pretensions with Henie and Michael O'Shea (a talented actor but out of place), but I hoped to get a coherent background for Henie’s skating skills, most of which had been expertly exploited in her Twentieth Century- Fox films. Since she had to dominate the film, and, as our only skater, was limited in her choreography, all we had to offer was a Technicolor view of her."[6]

Bill Johnson had been in Something for the Boys and was borrowed from MGM; it was his screen debut.[7]

International leased two ice skating rinks, at Westwood Ice Garden and the Polar Palace in Hollywood. Filming started August 1, 1944.[8]

Michael O'Shea was cast in August 1944, borrowed from Hunt Stromberg.[9] In late August Hedda Hopper announced that Henie was refusing to talk to producer David Lewis and was only talking to designer Don Loper.[10]

In November 1944 International announced they would make a second film with Henie, The Countess of Monte Cristo.[11] It was not made until several years later, at Universal International.

Lewis wrote that Seiter "one of the sweetest and most patient directors I have ever worked with, kept things moving, and Lynn Starling contributed fresh dialogue to Elliot Paul’s rather heavy-handed script."[12]

Reception

The New York Times called it a "flaccid fable."[13]

Lewis said the film "was, as expected, mediocre, but the film showed a profit. Goetz nonetheless abandoned further commitments with Henie, everyone agreeing that audiences were no longer excited about her and her icy antics."[14]

Notes

  • Lewis, David (1993). Curtis, James (ed.). The Creative Producer. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2720-4.

References

  1. ^ "It's a Pleasure: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  2. ^ It's a Pleasure Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 12, Iss. 133, (Jan 1, 1945): 74.
  3. ^ SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Henie Signs With International New York Times 13 Dec 1943: 19.
  4. ^ INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION TO THE HOLLYWOOD FORE: New Units Manifest a Trend -- George Jessel Poised to Leap -- Other News By FRED STANLEY HOLLYWOOD. New York Times 20 Feb 1944: X3.
  5. ^ Lewis p 200
  6. ^ Lewis p 200
  7. ^ SCREEN NEWS: Joan Fontaine to Be Star of 'Affairs of Susan' Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES. 21 July 1944: 16.
  8. ^ WESTERNS RIDE AGAIN: GLEANINGS FROM THE CINEMA CAPITAL New York Times ]23 July 1944: X1.
  9. ^ SCREEN NEWS New York Times 4 Aug 1944: 10.
  10. ^ Looking at Hollywood Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 31 Aug 1944: 19.
  11. ^ SCREEN NEWS: Lynn Bari Gets Role in Rickenbacker Film Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES. 14 Nov 1944: 27.
  12. ^ Lewis p 200
  13. ^ THE SCREEN IN REVIEW New York Times 4 May 1945: 23.
  14. ^ Lewis p 200
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