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.

publicity stunt makes no sense at all students resent KristinaIn the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood made a ton of films set at college. Oddly, however, almost all of them had one thing in common...they never actually showed the students in class or studying!! One of the few exceptions, even more oddly, is the Marx Brothers' "Horsefeathers"!! "My Lucky Star" is yet another college film where students seem to do anything but go to class. In fact, in watching this film you'd assume all students do is sing, dance and ice skate!! It's all complete nonsense...the sort of nonsense audiences of the day ate up but which have aged poorly. I love old movies but must admit this to be the case.When the film begins, you learn that a big department store owner has an irresponsible playboy son (Cesar Romero) and the idiot just got himself married...and was served with divorce papers!! Soon, the plot becomes even more nonsensical and the son sends one of the department store's clerks, Kristina (Sonja Henie) to college as some sort of convoluted advertising campaign that makes no sense. The plan is to have her change clothes ALL THE TIME and thereby be a living model for the store's clothes. Huh?! In the process, Kristina goes through a few bumps here and there...such as the other students thinking she's a weirdo or snob since she changes clothes so often and dresses so extravagantly. So, she wins their hearts the way any red-blooded American would....with ice skating!! And, after she captures their hearts and she is forced to leave, the students, en masse, show up and sing her a tearful goodbye!!!Does any of this make sense to you? If so, then I suggest you make an appointment with a psychiatrist or psychologist as soon as possible or stop taking whatever intoxicant you are currently using! But it gets worse. To impress his papa, the son decides to throw an ice carnival at the store...in a department store!!!!The film has a few nice moments but is a waste of Cesar Romero's talent and the film is just bafflingly stupid. And, while you have to suspend disbelief for most 1930s musicals, here it goes much further...to the point of absurdity.

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.

A pretty Norwegian coed finds plenty of romantic complications while working as an undercover campus mannequin at old Plymouth University.Sonja Henie was Norway's ice queen when she won Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932 & 1936. After going professional, she began a celebrated movie career at 20th Century Fox in 1936 with ONE IN A MILLION, which was her American film debut. Beautiful & talented, as well as being a natural in front of the cameras, she carved out her niche during Hollywood's Golden Age. Although Henie's ice routines may look antiquated by comparison to modern champions, there was nothing antique about her dazzling smile or sparkling personality. In this regard, some of today's snowflake princesses could still learn a great deal from her.As her career progressed, it became increasingly difficult for Fox to find decent stories for Henie and the excuses for the lavish ice dancing numbers were often implausible. No matter. Audiences did not flock to her films to watch Sonja recite Shakespeare. The movies were meant to be pure escapist fantasy, plain & simple.MY LUCKY STAR is no exception and its story is often quite silly - relying a bit heavily on impromptu singing from its middle-aged college student cast, and borrowing too much from its predecessor, HAPPY LANDING. However, the moments on the ice never bore (especially the Alice in Wonderland sequence -with music from Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland - which closes the film) and the co-stars are rather interesting.Stalwart Richard Greene is fine as Sonja's romantic interest, while Cesar Romero once again gets to display his comedic talents as a zany Romeo. Joan Davis grabs a lot of the laughs as Sonja's rubber-limbed roommate; Buddy Ebsen is her slow-talking, fast-dancing beau.George Barbier is enjoyable as an apoplectic tycoon, as is laconic Arthur Treacher as his factotum. Miffed minx Gypsy Rose Lee and gung-ho student Elisha Cook Jr. are given little to do, but Billy Gilbert easily steals his few scenes as a soda jerk besotted by pistachio nuts.Ultimately, though, this is Sonja's show. She glides effortlessly into the viewer's heart, while balancing on a thin edge of silver, suspended over frozen water.