My Lucky Star (1938 film)

My Lucky Star
My Lucky Star
Directed by	Roy Del Ruth
Written by	Karl Tunberg; Don Ettlinger
Screenplay by	Harry Tugend; Jack Yellen
Based on	They Met in Chicago
Produced by	Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring	Sonja Henie; Richard Greene; Cesar Romero
Cinematography	John J. Mescall
Edited by	Allen McNeil
Music by	Louis Silvers
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	September 9, 1938;
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

My Lucky Star is a 1938 American romantic comedy film. This was Norwegian ice-skating Olympic champion Sonja Henie's fourth film.^[1]

Plot

George Cabot Jr. (Cesar Romero), the son of a department store owner, enrolls the store's sports clerk Krista Nielsen (Sonja Henie) at a university to use her as an advertisement for their fashion department.

George is trying to pay off cabaret singer Marcelle La Verne, who wants to annul their brief elopement. Marcelle threatens to name Krista as a co-respondent in her lawsuit. Krista has fallen for Larry Taylor at the college, where a skating exhibition lands her on the cover of Life magazine.

Cast

Sonja Henie as Krista Nielsen
Richard Greene as Larry Taylor
Joan Davis as Mary Dwight
Cesar Romero as George Cabot Jr
Buddy Ebsen as Buddy
Arthur Treacher as Whipple
George Barbier as George Cabot Sr
Gypsy Rose Lee as Marcelle La Verne (as Louise Hovick)
Billy Gilbert as Nick
Patricia Wilder as Dorothy
Paul Hurst as Louie
Elisha Cook Jr. as Waldo
Robert Kellard as Pennell
Gloria Brewster as June (as The Brewster Twins)
Barbara Brewster as Jean (as The Brewster Twins)

Production

The film was originally called They Met in College and started in April 1938.^[2] In March Richard Greene was signed to be her leading man.

Rehearsals started in April with over 300 ballet skaters.^[3] Buddy Ebsen was borrowed from MGM.^[4]

In April the title was changed to My Lucky Star.^[5]

20th Century Fox found this the easiest of Henie's films to make to date.^[6] s o

The film went six days over schedule.^[7]

Reception

Filmink summarized it as having a "Silly story. Poor male lead – Greene acts like an army officer doing amateur theatricals. Great skating."^[8]

References

^ "My Lucky Star". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 5, no. 49. London. Jan 1, 1938. p. 222.
^ "THIRD FILM BASED ON AMERICAN HISTORY CONSIDERED BY DE MILLE: Sonja Henie Rebels Against "Picture Strain"". Los Angeles Times. Jan 27, 1938. p. 10.
^ "Hedda Hopper's HOLLYWOOD". Los Angeles Times. Apr 19, 1938. p. 11.
^ "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD". New York Times. Apr 19, 1938. p. 24.
^ "NEWS OF THE SCREEN: ' Cinderella,' in Color, to Be Deanna Durbin's Next". New York Times. Apr 20, 1938. p. 21.
^ DOUGLAS W. CHURCHILL (June 12, 1938). "BIG FREEZE IN HOLLYWOOD: Ice Queen Capitulates to Norse Ultimatum--Concerning Rogers-Astaire and RKO". New York Times. p. 143.
^ Hubbard Keavy. (Oct 16, 1938). "Sonja Henie Bewildered by Hollywood, But Never Overlooks Overtime ($3,500 a Day)". The Washington Post. p. TS1.
^ Vagg, Stephen (April 24, 2020). "I saw every Sonja Henie film so you don't have to". Filmink.

External links

My Lucky Star at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
My Lucky Star at IMDb
My Lucky Star at Letterbox DVD
My Lucky Star at BFI
My Lucky Star at AllMovie
My Lucky Star at the TCM Movie Database

This article about a 1930s romantic comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "My Lucky Star". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 5, no. 49. London. Jan 1, 1938. p. 222.

[2] "THIRD FILM BASED ON AMERICAN HISTORY CONSIDERED BY DE MILLE: Sonja Henie Rebels Against "Picture Strain"". Los Angeles Times. Jan 27, 1938. p. 10.

[3] "Hedda Hopper's HOLLYWOOD". Los Angeles Times. Apr 19, 1938. p. 11.

[4] "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD". New York Times. Apr 19, 1938. p. 24.

[5] "NEWS OF THE SCREEN: ' Cinderella,' in Color, to Be Deanna Durbin's Next". New York Times. Apr 20, 1938. p. 21.

[6] DOUGLAS W. CHURCHILL (June 12, 1938). "BIG FREEZE IN HOLLYWOOD: Ice Queen Capitulates to Norse Ultimatum--Concerning Rogers-Astaire and RKO". New York Times. p. 143.

[7] Hubbard Keavy. (Oct 16, 1938). "Sonja Henie Bewildered by Hollywood, But Never Overlooks Overtime ($3,500 a Day)". The Washington Post. p. TS1.

[8] Vagg, Stephen (April 24, 2020). "I saw every Sonja Henie film so you don't have to". Filmink.

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