Main Cast: Sonja Henie, Ray Milland, Robert Cummings, Maurice Moscovich, Leonid Kinskey
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 77 minutes
Plot
20th Century Fox's Christmas gift to moviegoers in 1939, this fanciful comedy-drama features the studio's darling of the ice, Sonja Henie. She plays the daughter of a Nobel Peace Prize-winner feared murdered by the German Gestapo. A couple of rival American newspaper reporters, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings, discover that the legendary Professor Norden (Maurice Moscovich) is still very much alive and living under an assumed name in Switzerland. The heroes, however, completely forget their critical assignment after spotting the professor's lovely daughter, Louise (Henie), and their preoccupation with the girl nearly leads to disaster. Fox borrowed Ray Milland from Paramount for this Henie vehicle, which was partially filmed at Sun Valley, ID. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Review
There are, of course, only a finite number of ways to showcase a figure skater, and by 1939, Fox was hard-pressed to provide new settings for Sonja Henie to exhibit her frozen skills. This time, the powers-at-be added Nazi terrorists and the mix is uneasy at best. Henie's figure skating prowess, we are told, has not quite stood the test of time and enjoyment of Everything Happens at Night rests mostly on the efforts of Ray Milland and Robert Cummings to double-cross each other. Nick Castle staged the ice ballet sequences and such Hollywood dialecticians as Christian Rub, Fritz Feld, and Leonid Kinskey added local color to the general narrative. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
