Watch My Lucky Star For Free

Truly Dreadful Film

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A Sonja Henie-centered musical romance. There's little music in the first portion, until Sonja becomes a combo student and undercover model for George Cabot's(George Babier) clothing department store at Plymouth College. Thereafter, music and the occasional skating scene become prominent. The music often features a chorus, with or without one or two lead singers. The 2 biggest musical/skating productions come at the end. The first of these emphasizes a fashion show, with singing by Arthur Jarrett, later by Buddy Ebsen and Joan Davis, who constitute one of several romantic pairs featured. The featured song is "I've Got a Date with a Dream", composed by the team of Harry Revel and Mack Gordon, as are all the other songs, except those for the last major production number, which features the skating of Sonja and others. Alice in Wonderland is the theme of this number. The music is mostly from Victor Herbert's "The March of the Toys", and the "Alice in Wonderland Ballet". Skaters dressed in various childhood story characters or toys skate around with Sonja, in one portion. Surely could have used color for this portion and the fashion show!......Every musical needs some comedy. for balance. In this film, George Barbier , as the blustery owner of the Cabot department store, and Cesar Romero, as his playboy son, supply much of the humor, interacting with each other, or separately..... In a cameo performance, .Billy Gilbert provides a classic comedy routine, in which Sonja and boyfriend Richard Greene are the straight 'men'. Greene tells Billy that they each want a chocolate sunday. But, in his distinctive manner, Billie describes a list of alternatives, which usually include pistachio nuts. Finally, they give in and accept one of his suggestions. Later, he returns with the news that he is out of pistachio nuts...... After his stroke of genius in thinking up the student/undercover model trick, Cesar had another brainstorm: Combine the winter carnival with a fashion show at the Cabot department store! Cesar took advantage of his fathers absence on a Cuban holiday to implement this undertaking. The highlight is the last two musical productions I previously described. A major purpose of this show is to hopefully make $50,000. to give to Cesar's estranged wife(played by Gypsy Rose Lee) so that she will withdraw her claim that Cesar was having an affair with Sonja. When George Cabot Sr. returns from Cuba, he has a fit when he finds out about the Carnival being housed in his store, and demands that the participants leave immediately. They have to tie him up and gag him to keep him from ruining every thing....... In summary, parts of the screenplay are not too realistic. Otherwise, it's generally entertaining, with lots going on besides Sonja's occasional skating. Richard Greene is a bit undertalented as Sonja's new boyfriend.......Despite his handsome looks and interesting personality, Cesar Romero hardly ever wound up with the leading lady. Perhaps his Latin heritage was a problem? See this film at YouTube. Other films featuring Sonja currently available at YouTube include "One in a Million" and "Sun Valley Serenade": the last also featuring the Glenn Miller orchestra.

Cute story and superb cast are hampered by silly and often stupid dialog, dialog so bad so often, even these great actors can't deliver the lines convincingly.Never mind. Sonja Henie is so adorable, with the sunniest smile, and the cutest cheekbones, one can just tune out the silly lines and watch her.Richard Greene was about as good-looking a guy as ever crossed the pond and was usually a good actor. I felt some of his reactions here were out of place, but, again, forget about it and watch Sonja.Arthur Treacher was his usual self, which means pretty well perfect for the part.Joan Davis ... well, she was over the top, but was also astonishing in her prat-falls. Too bad her part was intrusive and the focus of most of the silliest of the dialog.Buddy Ebsen is one of those people who can do no wrong. I met him once, at a Western film festival at (I think) UCLA. He was one of the most talented people in Hollywood history. From a vaudeville-type dancer to a serious dramatic actor, he could do it all. Great talent!I'm confused about part of the cast. I don't know who played the girl friend of the Greene character, but I think it was Patricia Wilder. She sounded like a genuine Southerner and Ms. Wilder was from Macon.But one of the female characters said "y'all" to one person and only ignorant Yankee script writers make that stupid error, and it's one that irritates me thoroughly. "Y'all" is plural. That means more than one person, and no Southerner says "y'all" to one person.Never mind. Watch Sonja.Also watch Paul Hurst. He was around a long time, playing tough characters, especially villains, in silent Westerns, and playing a wonderful character in John Wayne's "Angel and the Badman" (1947). He was a great talent.Not finally, but finally for this review, that gold-digger played by Louise Hovick? She was much better known as Gypsy Rose Lee. And she was a find! Very underplayed, very cool and calm as the gal wanting money from George Cabot, Jr., played somewhat over the top by Cesar Romero, usually one of my favorites, but who needed a better director here to tone him down.Be patient, but do watch "My Lucky Star" when next it is available on TCM or FX. Be patient, because a lot of the early dialog will irritate. Be patient, and await the adorable Sonja Henie, who left us far too soon.

20th Century Fox has never been MGM, even on its best day, and Sonja Henie is no Dorothy Hamill. Nevertheless, 1933's MY LUCKY STAR is worth a look if for no other reason than historical value. The plot is paper-thin, as the movie is just a vehicle for Henie, who before the advent of triple-lutzes, was the golden girl of female skaters. She also was cute in an adorable and wholesome, mountain girl way. Here, she plays a department store clerk who is sent off to college by the store's owner and ends up becoming an ice skater. Department store heir Caesar Romero puts on an ice extravaganza starring Henie, but has to convince his blustery old dad that it's worth the money, as it will encourage more store business. The big finale is a patchwork, with none of the smoothness or assuredness of those classic MGM musicals, which themselves got off to a shaky start before finding their footing. . Bits of this gigantic ice show are clumsily edited together. But Henie looks adorable, attired in a Little Bo Peepe costume. The revue's theme is "Babes in Toyland," with music from the legendary Victor Herbert operetta), and Henie skates her little Scandanavian heart out. No athletic lutzes in her day, but plenty of spins and one small leap. Plus she sports the most adorable frilly panties under an abbreviated, flared skirt. The bonnet she wears is a trifle much, making her look more like Baby Snooks, but when she smiles at the camera, nothing else matters. A young Buddy Ebsen, he of the Ray Bolger-ish rubber-limbs, is along for the ride -- er, I mean skate. And Richard Greene of "Robin Hood" fame is Henie's love interest. The film's sound is horribly tinny, which is typical of 1933 movies. This one's for early talkie fans -- and, of course, Henie fans.

"My Lucky Star" is my second Sonja Henie musical and I liked it even more than "One in a Million"(1936). The songs and Sonja's skating dances are joyous as ever. This time Sonja gets to romance with a British newcomer Richard Greene who plays the university prof Larry Taylor. Director Roy Del Ruth, a gifted studio craftsman from 30s, imbues the contrivance of the plot with charming playfulness and effervescent grace. Del Ruth's choice of close-ups and staging of skating scenes are very well done. Cesar Romero has surprisingly agreeable presence, especially when he is not quarrelling or getting into a fight with his father, played by George Barbier, who owns the department store that lures Sonja to enroll in university to wear their fashion clothes. The capable supporting players include Joan Davis as Sonja's roommate, Gypsy Rose Lee as Romero's jealous girlfriend, Buddy Ebsen, Elisha Cook,Jr, Billy Gilbert, and Arthur Treacher.Ultimately, as Ron Oliver noted, this is a Sonja's show. It vivifies her athletic exuberance, her dazzling skating skills as she skates divinely before an amazed audience.