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Silver Skates
USA 1943
produced by Lindsley Parsons for Monogram
directed by Leslie Goodwins
starring Kenny Baker, Belita, Patricia Morison, Werner Groebli, Hans Mauch, Irene Dare, Danny Shaw, Eugene Turner, Joyce Compton, Frank Faylen, Paul McVey, John Maxwell, Henry Wadsworth, George Stewart, Joann Dean, Ted Fio Rito and the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra, Ruth Lee, Tristram Coffin, Dick Elliott, Donald Kerr, Mary Stewart
written by Jerome Cady, music by Roy Ingraham, Dave Oppenheim, song Lovely Lady composed by Archie Gottler, musical direction by Edward J. Kay, choreography by Dave Gould
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Claire Thomas (Patricia Morison) runs a figure skating Broadway show -
but the show's success is based merely on the fame and talent of her star,
Belita (Belita) ... who wants to quit the show in a couple of weeks to get
married. Danny (Kenny Baker) is madly in love with Claire, and he would do
anything for her - when prankster Eddie (Frank Faylen) tells him the best
thing to do to make Claire happy is to marry Belita to keep her with the
show ... and though Danny is already engaged to Claire and knows she loves
him just as much as he does her, he really falls for the prank, and when
Belita needs somebody to make her husband-to-be (Henry Wadsworth) jealous,
she actually hooks up with Danny ... Claire meanwhile meets a lovely
young war orphan, Katrina (Irene Dare), whom whe wants to adopt - but to
that end, she needs to be married and have a steady income - which might
be a problem considering her failing fortunes. Then though she finds out
Katrina is a natural talent considering figure skating, and decides to
make her the star of the show once Belita leaves. By the way, everything
ends happily, with Belita getting her man, and Danny getting Claire. Not
so much a feature film in the narrative meaning of the word - though Silver
Skates does have a plot, see above -, but a figure skating revue with
bits of story thrown in between acts. Admittedly, the show acts look
unexpectedly posh for a Monogram film, but if you are not into
figure skating and schmaltzy music, this film has rather little to offer,
safe maybe from some campy setpieces - especially the finale, in
battleship sets (after all, World War II was still on in 1943) might prove
amusing to today's audiences at least ...
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