Customer Reviews

Ice Follies of 1939

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Ice Follies of 1939" is really unlike any other Joan Crawford film because it's almost cartoonish and silly in a way, but it's not a comedy and although some sources have described it as a musical, it really isn't. I enjoyed this movie very much though because it's just another chapter in Miss Crawford's very long and historic film profession and showcases another element of her that was otherwise unseen. The film is a total of 83 minutes and is in black and white & color (final scene only).

After several prosaic films, Joan made "Ice Follies" which incidentally isn't even a quarter as good as any of the 4 or 5 films she made right before it. Nevertheless it's still a charming picture because Joan plays such a diverse role.

In this film, Joan plays Mary McKay an aspiring thespian who leaves her boyfriend to become a big actress. And in this picture we get to see Joan dressed and styled in lots of stunning gowns, dresses and outfits. She even appears as a platinum blonde, 2 decades before Marilyn Monroe.

My favorite scene is the very end when Mary (now going by the name Sandra Lee) attends the performance. Incidentally, it's in color, too, like Joan's **other** film from '39, "The Woman". Joan looked exquisite and just as beautiful and youthful as she did in her movies 10 years prior with that long dress and her fashionable wavy black hair.

Nearly every single feature film that Joan has appeared in has been released on DVD and/or VHS. Below is a list of her movies that have still not been released yet:
Lady of the Night (uncredited/silent) (1925) *
Proud Flesh (uncredited/silent) (1925) *
Pretty Ladies (silent) (1925) *
The Merry Widow (uncredited/silent) (1925) *
The Circle (silent) (1925) *
The Midshipman (uncredited/silent) (1925) *
Old Clothes (silent) (1925) *
Sally, Irene, and Mary (silent) (1925) *
The Boob (silent) (1926) *
Winners of the Wilderness (silent) (1927) *
The Taxi Dancer (silent) (1927) *
The Understanding Heart (silent) (1927) *
Twelve Miles Out (silent) (1927) *
The Law of the Range (silent) (1928) *
Rose-Marie (silent) (1928) *
Four Walls (silent) (1928) *
Dream of Love (silent) (1928) *
The Duke Steps Out (silent) (1929) *
Tide of Empire (silent) (1929) * (note: Joan's performance was deleted)
West Point (1928) (silent) *
Across To Singapore (1928) (silent) *
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) * (note: this was released on laser disc, more than 10 years ago)
Untamed (1929) *
Great Day (1930) (note: film was never finished)
Montana Moon (1930) *
Our Blushing Brides (1930) *
Paid (1930) *
This Modern Age (1931) *
Letty Lynton (1932)
No More Ladies (1935) *
Female on the Beach (1955)

* Warner Bros. plans to release these films over the next couple of years under their Archive Collection branding on DVD.

Besides being included in a laser disc boxed set more than 10 years ago, this film has never been released until now. This new DVD is part of the Warner Archives series. You will find it for much less on their site, though.

In this film we also get to see the talents of Mr. Jimmy Stewart who plays Joan's boyfriend. Of course, like many of her MGM films, there's a subplot involving a subtle love triangle. But since the movie is such a piece of oversized fluff it's not overly serious nor is it the standard Joan Crawford formula.

One thing I really admire about Joan is that no matter how unimportant a film was, she always acted as if it were an overly produced drama. When Mary utters her lines to her boyfriend that she's leaving, it is beyond believable because Joan puts so much passion, energy and emotion into every syllable. And I don't need to tell you that after 100 films, this is hardly the exception for Miss Crawford, in the least.

Sadly apoor release of this nice MGM movie from the Warner Brothers Archive.

For not a restored film, the picture quality is pretty good. the scene in black and white and the final in color looks very good.

Starring Joan Crawford, Lew Ayres, James Stewart and in a supporting role: Lionel Stander (who became famous as Butler Max in 1979/80 in "Hart To Hart").

Poor: no english subtitles

Fazit: nice movie, but its not a musical (except some skating scenes) like the popular Broadway Melody etc.

I am so glad I kept my VHS copy of the movie. This DVD was advertised to play only on a DVD player. It wouldn't. It would play on the DVD-R Recorder, and it worked once. After that, it skipped and paused and jumped chapters. Finally, I discarded the movie since it would do the same at several different locations. Thank goodness for friends who would let me try to play the movie at their homes, too. Very disappointed...

I was looking and noticed that all of the new Joan Crawford releases sold on Amazon are being sold by 3rd party vendors. You can purchase the same DVD through Warner Brothers for 19.95 a savings of over $20 from what these 3rd party sellers are asking for in price. Visit the following link to visit WB Archive collection:
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I would say that there are scenes that were cut from the DVD I bought, for example in this dvd there is no shot when Joan had several makeovers and finally chose the image of the ruling black hair blonde hair silver and china, the scene did not appear on this DVD, just go to Joan when discarded the image of blonde silver and suddenly enters with James Stewart and says that he thought the image of black hair, ie a power cut!