The Ice Follies of 1939

• Joan Crawford: Mary McKay
• James Stewart: Larry Hall
• Lew Ayres: Eddie Burgess
• Lewis Stone: Douglas Tolliver

Dancing on ice (OT: The Ice Follies of 1939) is an American feature film starring Joan Crawford from 1939, the financial letdown accelerated the demise of Joan Crawford's traction at the box office. .

Action

Larry Hall and Eddie Burgess are quite a successful Eislaufduo. Go apart when Larry fell in love with Mary McKay, an untalented runner who has ambitions as an actress. When Larry is unemployed, Mary takes all the courage and persuaded Douglas Tolliver, friendly, benevolent CEO of Monarch Studios in Hollywood to give her a contract. Unfortunately, the contract contains a clause stating that Mary may marry only with the consent of the studio. Larry and therefore they decide to keep their marriage secret. Larry, who increasingly feels uncomfortable in the role of Haussmann, reconciled with Eddie. Both manage to organize in New York a glittering ice show, which they call The Ice Follies of 1939. The show is a huge success. Meanwhile, Mary turns her first film. Shortly before her breakthrough as an international star recognizes Mary, how much more important it is domestic happiness next to Larry than all the glamor of the film world. On the evening of the premiere of her debut she explains the world to want to say goodbye to the canvas to be only Mrs. Larry Hall. So much sacrifice impressed Douglas Tolliver and he hired Larry as a producer for the film version of the Ice Follies.

Background

Joan Crawford's career was in a permanent crisis since the mid- 1930s. Your attempt to establish itself as a performer in demanding conversation pieces had failed after a few financial Flops The Last of Mrs. Cheyney how and Burning fire of passion. Your mostly female fans wanted to see most in stories of harmless banter and love with many admirers, the actress continues.

The crisis eventually manifested itself in the occupation of Crawford in dance on the ice. The film was intended both as a response to the popular performances of Sonja Henie in opulent produced ice shows. At the same time an attempt was made to present the fans Joan Crawford in the tried and tested way as a woman who creates it from nothing to the film star, wears beautiful costumes and in the end finds true happiness. The parallels between Mary McKay's rise and Crawford's own history are numerous. Dance on the ice was produced by Crawford's discoverer Harry Rapf. The studio boss Douglas Tolliver was aligned to the model of Louis B. Mayer and the fictitious Monarch Studios is the only vaguely laminated Metro -Goldwyn -Mayer site.

The uncertainty about the further career progression was seen in the ever-changing script drafts. Initially it was planned to present Crawford as a singer. It also has two songs were recorded, but not used at the end. The appearance of Crawford has been significantly changed and adapted with the times. So her hair was adapted to the straight current trend, the Hedy Lamarr had previously triggered by their appearance in Algiers in: brunette, with a clear center parting. The studio has invested a lot of money into the movie, and given the lack of confidence in Crawford traction at the box office, the actress has been announced for the first time since the late 1920s under the title. The film presented at the end of a 17 minutes long sequence in Technicolor.

The actress regretted even decades later participation in dance on the ice, she was one of their worst films ever. Compared to Roy Newquist she said:

" For heaven's sake. Each individual must have lost his mind in the production of "Dancing on Ice ". I, Jimmy Stewart and Lew Ayres as a figure skater - ridiculous. I am a dancer, no skater. If we could not just use a double, I ran to my ankles over the ice. Nice music, great costumes and the participants of the revue have helped, but in the end it was a disaster. The assessment was shared by the audience. "

Theatrical Release

The cost of production amounted to 1,108,000 dollars, well above the average for a MGM movie. The revenue domestically amounted to only 725,000 U.S. dollars, which again 448,000 U.S. dollars came from foreign markets. With a cumulative total profit of 1,213,000 U.S. dollars, the loss for the studio at the end stood at 343,000 U.S. dollars.

Reviews

The critics were not good to say about the movie.

"Miss Crawford should this kind of movies in the future to avoid. "