User Reviews

"Everything Happens at Night" isn't a truthful title, if it relates to this film. But then again, it may not. It appears to be another example of Hollywood slapping a title on a film just to name it, even if there's no connection, obvious or even hidden.

Thank goodness the film is better than the title. Ray Milland and Robert Cummings are two rival reporters - although they don't know it until about midway in the movie, who wind up sparring over Sonja Henie. They are Geoffrey Thompson and Ken Morgan and she is Louise Norden, although they don't know her last name until the end. The sparring consists of good-natured jokes and notes and ploys to remove the other from the scene so that the prankster can move in on and have all the attention and affections of Louise.

These two reporters, one in London and the other in Paris, are sent by their editors to a small town in Switzerland to check into a report that the famous anti-Nazi Nobel prize winner, Dr. Hugo Norden, is alive and hiding there. He was supposed to have been assassinated in public a year before. Well, when news gets out that the real Dr. Norden is alive and there, Nazi henchmen soon appear. Now Geof and Ken have to work together to protect and hurry away Louise and her father. Of course, this is after they have stumbled across Dr. Norden and learned that his nurse, Louise, is really his daughter.

Except for the short scenario with the Nazi pursuers at the very end, this is a relatively light comedy and slight romance. The screenplay could have used some beefing up to give it much more humor. Sonja Henie was a big draw in the 1930s and 1940s. A three-time Olympic gold medalist and 10-time world champion female figure skater, Henie was the darling of Norway in the 1930s and soon became a darling of audiences in movies with snow settings.

Henie made several comedy musicals for Fox that were all big hits and very entertaining. This film is fun but way below the level of her other pictures. Henie also performed in the Hollywood Ice Reviews and then her own touring ice show, the "Sonja Henie Ice Revue." Anyone who has ever seen the Ice Capades (1940-1995) knows how fun they can be. The great skating by many former Olympic skaters, wonderful skits, daredevil routines, and ice clowns made for great entertainment.

In this film, Henie has but one skating number, in a sort of dream, but it shows her incredible talent as a figure skater. She could dance in skates on the ice like no one else. The background winter scenes were shot in Sun Valley, Idaho, but sure can pass for Switzerland. Here are a couple of favorite lines.

Fred Sherwood, his editor, to Ken Morgan, "Hey, wake up, you somnambulist."

Hilda, "So you're an American?" Ken Morgan, "Yes." Hilda, "Are you a millionaire?" Morgan, "Well, a few of us aren't."

Had this film been a drama, it would have really succeeded by the terrific plot. A peace activist, believed assassinated by the Nazis, is really alive and hiding out in Switzerland.

Instead, this becomes a comedy with Ray Milland and Bob Cummings starring as two journalists hot on the case in Switzerland, who vie for the affection of Sonja Henie, unknown to them that the activist is her father.

Each guy tries to out snoop the other in getting the story out to their respective newspapers.

Henie again proves that she can skate, and only at the end, when the gestapo learns of the whereabouts of the activist, does the film turn serious.

Though the film starts a bit slow, once things get underway, we have a rather enjoyable and efficiently made comedy-drama from the folks at 20th Century Fox. By this point Sonja Henie had proven her worth at the box office. The studio often put her into comedies that allowed for a few ice skating sequences here and there. These concoctions typically paired her with Tyrone Power or John Payne.

However, the script for this production has a darker story involving an older gentleman hiding out from Gestapo agents after having escaped a concentration camp. Miss Henie plays the man's daughter, who looks after him and ends up being romanced by two reporters (Ray Milland & Robert Cummings, borrowed from Paramount and Universal respectively).

While there are still some nice bits involving Henie and the two handsome young men, there is a sense of urgency and danger in this picture that is lacking in the actress's other vehicles. As a result, EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS AT NIGHT is a bit more potent and interesting to watch. Of course, there is still time to see the Scandinavian darling skate and also ski- she does almost as much skiing in some of her films as she does skating.

One of the film's true highlights is an amusing bit with her and Cummings on the ice. His character is a show-off who thinks he can teach her some skating tricks. He quickly learns she is much more skilled than he is. It takes a good deal of talent to do comical shtick on ice, and Mr. Cummings certainly excels.

The plot involving the father (Yiddish actor Maurice Moscovitch) is at times secondary. Though Milland and Cummings are supposed to be in the alpine village to interview Moscovitch, we really don't see the men doing much work- they are too distracted by the lovely young gal they've met!

Despite the more serious war-related background, this is still a feel-good Sonja Henie picture. All her films exude considerable charm. When they're over, you realize you've been transported to a different realm. They don't make movies like this anymore, and that's a shame.