One in a Million
(1937)
92 or 94 mins | Musical comedy | 1 January 1937
Director:
Sidney LanfieldWriters:
Leonard Praskins, Mark KellyCinematographer:
Edward CronjagerEditor:
Robert SimpsonProduction Designer:
Mark-Lee KirkProduction Company:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.This was the first film of Sonja Henie, who won the gold medal for figure skating at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics, and according to a news item, won more championships than any other single athlete in history. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, the studio paid Henie $60,000 to be in this picture. According to a Jun 1937 NYT article, when Henie first quoted $75,000 as her price to be in a film, no studio accepted the offer. She then hired an ice rink and put on a few evening shows, in which she made $28,000, $8,000 of which she donated to charity. With proof of her drawing power, she approached Darryl Zanuck, and he agreed to the figure she desired. After making this film, Henie attempted to arrange a tour of the skating rinks of the country, but promoters balked at her demanded guarantee of $10,000 a night. Again, to prove her drawing power, she rented a rink in Hershey, PA and made $28,000 in three nights. Promoters then agreed to her terms. When she returned to Hollywood, she asked Zanuck for $100,000 a film plus additional money if shooting ran over schedule, and because of the success of One in a Million, Zanuck agreed. NYT noted that studios which earlier ignored her, offered Fox double her salary for one film after the success of One in a Million.
In story conference notes found in the Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection, also at UCLA, Zanuck advised the writers, "You ...
This was the first film of Sonja Henie, who won the gold medal for figure skating at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics, and according to a news item, won more championships than any other single athlete in history. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, the studio paid Henie $60,000 to be in this picture. According to a Jun 1937 NYT article, when Henie first quoted $75,000 as her price to be in a film, no studio accepted the offer. She then hired an ice rink and put on a few evening shows, in which she made $28,000, $8,000 of which she donated to charity. With proof of her drawing power, she approached Darryl Zanuck, and he agreed to the figure she desired. After making this film, Henie attempted to arrange a tour of the skating rinks of the country, but promoters balked at her demanded guarantee of $10,000 a night. Again, to prove her drawing power, she rented a rink in Hershey, PA and made $28,000 in three nights. Promoters then agreed to her terms. When she returned to Hollywood, she asked Zanuck for $100,000 a film plus additional money if shooting ran over schedule, and because of the success of One in a Million, Zanuck agreed. NYT noted that studios which earlier ignored her, offered Fox double her salary for one film after the success of One in a Million.
In story conference notes found in the Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection, also at UCLA, Zanuck advised the writers, "You should give the story a smart, fresh development, and treat it like Thanks a Million [see below] rather than Sing, Baby, Sing [see below]. In other words, don't make it too hokey or too broad." According to the legal records, Diane Cook, Bonnie Bannon, June Wilkins, Clarice Sherry and Pauline Craig were borrowed from M-G-M. Georgia Spence was originally cast as one of the members of the girls' band, but she was not in the final film. In one of their musical numbers, the Ritz Brothers appear as Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton and Peter Lorre, the "horror boys from Hollywood." According to a HR news item, Samuel Pokrass and Edward Cherkose contributed special material for the Ritz Brothers. Borrah Minevitch, a newcomer to films according to MPH, performed with his "Gang of Harmonica Rascals." According to information in the Produced Scripts Collection, Larry Adler was originally scheduled to play "Adolphe," the role that Minevitch took. According to Henie's biography, ice skating became very popular in the United States after the release of this film.
American showman Thadeus Spencer is stuck without money in the Swiss Alps with his wife, a girls' band, a comedy trio and a recent harmonica-playing discovery when the group learns that the Grand Palace Hotel in Ardetz, where they were to perform, has burned down. Upon seeing Greta Muller, an innkeeper's daughter, ice-skate, Spencer has a vision of her performing with a skating ballet that will make him millions. Spencer arranges for her to skate in a tryout performance at a St. Moritz casino for which he will get paid 950 francs. American reporter Bob Harris from the Paris Herald arrives at the inn to investigate the hotel fire which, rumor has it, was an attempt to kill a European premier. Bob has his photographer, Danny Simpson, trail Ratoffsky, a suspicious-looking bearded guest, and tries to romance Greta, who is sullen after a band member has Bob massage her neck. When Bob learns that Greta's father Heinrich, a 1908 Olympic figure skating champion who lost his medal because he accepted money as a gift for teaching, has trained Greta for twelve years for the upcoming Olympics, he follows the troupe to St. Moritz and stops Greta after her first number, warning that she is risking her Olympic eligibility. Unaware that her exhibition involved money, Greta is grateful to Bob as they ride back on a sleigh. At the Olympics, Greta wins first place in figure skating, but when she refuses to turn professional and skate for Spencer in New York, he threatens to expose her St. Moritz performance to the ruling committee. Heinrich returns Greta's medals himself when he learns of the ...
American showman Thadeus Spencer is stuck without money in the Swiss Alps with his wife, a girls' band, a comedy trio and a recent harmonica-playing discovery when the group learns that the Grand Palace Hotel in Ardetz, where they were to perform, has burned down. Upon seeing Greta Muller, an innkeeper's daughter, ice-skate, Spencer has a vision of her performing with a skating ballet that will make him millions. Spencer arranges for her to skate in a tryout performance at a St. Moritz casino for which he will get paid 950 francs. American reporter Bob Harris from the Paris Herald arrives at the inn to investigate the hotel fire which, rumor has it, was an attempt to kill a European premier. Bob has his photographer, Danny Simpson, trail Ratoffsky, a suspicious-looking bearded guest, and tries to romance Greta, who is sullen after a band member has Bob massage her neck. When Bob learns that Greta's father Heinrich, a 1908 Olympic figure skating champion who lost his medal because he accepted money as a gift for teaching, has trained Greta for twelve years for the upcoming Olympics, he follows the troupe to St. Moritz and stops Greta after her first number, warning that she is risking her Olympic eligibility. Unaware that her exhibition involved money, Greta is grateful to Bob as they ride back on a sleigh. At the Olympics, Greta wins first place in figure skating, but when she refuses to turn professional and skate for Spencer in New York, he threatens to expose her St. Moritz performance to the ruling committee. Heinrich returns Greta's medals himself when he learns of the St. Moritz exhibition, but Bob takes Spencer to explain the situation to the secretary of the committee, Sir Frederick Brooks, who earlier was vacationing in the Alps incognito as Ratoffsky. As Greta received no payment and Spencer used all the money he received for expenses, Brooks declares Greta's eligibility proven, and the whole troupe, with Greta now as the star, performs in Madison Square Garden.
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