Iceland (film)

Iceland
Theatrical poster
Directed byH. Bruce Humberstone
Written byRobert Ellis
Helen Logan
Produced byWilliam LeBaron
StarringSonja Henie
John Payne
Jack Oakie
Felix Bressart
Eugene Turner
CinematographyArthur Charles Miller
Edited byJames B. Clark
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • August 12, 1942 (1942-08-12)
Running time
79 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.7 million (US rentals)[1]

Iceland is a 1942 musical film released by 20th Century-Fox, directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and stars skater Sonja Henie and John Payne as a U.S. Marine posted in Iceland during World War II. The film was titled Katina in Great Britain and Marriage on Ice in Australia.[2]

Fox reteamed their two leads and director from the previous year's musical Sun Valley Serenade and set the story in the then contemporary American Marine landing and occupation of Iceland in 1941. Payne had previously played a Marine in Fox's To the Shores of Tripoli also directed by Humberstone. Among the songs are "There Will Never Be Another You" and "You Can't Say No to a Soldier".

Some Icelanders protested against the film for its depiction of Marines winning away the local women.[3][4] Henie's on-ice partner during the filmed skating sequences was 1940/41 U.S. Champion Eugene Turner.

Cast

Reception

Reviewer Dennis Schwartz gave the film a C+ rating, describing it as "entertaining but superficial" while giving credit to its direction and its songs.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ "Variety (January 1943)". New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company. March 25, 1943. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ p.91 Reid, John Howard These Films Won No Hollywood Awards 2005 Lulu
  3. ^ Crowther, Bosley (October 15, 1942). "' Iceland,' Starring Sonja Henie, Romantic Film Picturing U.S. Expeditionary Troops, Opens at the Roxy Theatre". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search".
  5. ^ Iceland homepages.sover.net Archived March 1, 2018, at the Wayback Machine