Product Details

• Actors: Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, Lynn Bari
• Directors: H. Bruce Humberstone
• Writers: Allan Scott, Art Arthur, Bert Granet, Helen Logan, Milton Sperling
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: April 21, 1993
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302136229
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,591 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Wonderful as the Resort Itself!, February 14, 2001

By 

Karl Johan Uri (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sun Valley Serenade [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you can not find the time or money to find yourself in the secluded town of Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho this winter. I say settle down with this classic film and enjoy the view. Sun Valley has never looked so beautiful as what one will find in this movie, astonishing since so little of it was actually filmed in the Grand Dame of Ski Resorts. Sun Valley is truly a magical land and this movie only enhances its glamour with great performances from Sonja Henie, John Payne, and Glenn Miller. Oh did I forget to mention the music composed for this movie? Chatanooga Choo Choo, I Know Why and So Do You, It Happened in Sun Valley-Harry Warrens worked his fingers off writing all of this music. Remember Sun Valley Serenade is in no way movie making at its finest moment. What it does accomplish is similar to what the resort accomplishes; it takes you away to a destination far from the cries of urban life and allows you to relax and remember more simple times.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Want to see the mechanics of the Miller Band?, June 8, 2004

By 

Graeme J. W. Smith "graemejwsmith" (Newport, RI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sun Valley Serenade [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This review applies EQUALLY to Orchestra Wives and Sun Valley Serenade.

Remember the Elvis movies that were basically a thin plot excuse to have the "star" sing? Well these movies are the 1940's equivalent featuring the pre-war (and so definitive) Glenn Miller Band.

Forget about the plots which are almost identical and don't even stand up today. Boy meets Girl, Falls in love, Another girl is jilted or gets in the way, disharmony in the band, all is sorted out. Big set piece number to finish. (Both movies - honest!). In fact unless you are interested in period movie making and Hollywood fashions you can safely fast forward between the tunes. You can figure the plot as it whizzes by - though how Milton Berle (playing the band's "publicity agent" in Sun Valley Serenade) got his wise crack about the size of a girl's chest past the production code is beyond me! Must have been the war.

BUT - the real reason to own these tapes (when are we going to get the DVD versions?) is watching the mechanics of how the Miller Band produced the sound. Sure - it was shot to be showy - and it is - but it is WELL shot and you can see how the components of the sound were built - even if the "recording studios" are the size of movie studios...... Couple this with the restored soundtrack (some tracks are in early stereo!) and you have a reason to own these movies. If you can only afford one - Orchestra Wives - there are more hits on it!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonja`s best performance as an actress - star supporting cas, December 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Sun Valley Serenade [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is the last important film in the filmcareer of Sonja Henie. In the late 30s she was Hollywood`s greatest musical attraction at the box office. Although this film didn`t make it as big as her previous ones(One in a Million, Thin Ice with Ty Power & Joan Davis), Happy Landing(with Ethel Merman), My Lucky Star, Second Fiddle(with Power again - and one of her BEST films) and Everything Happens at Night) it stands out today because of Henie`s comic style(yes, she does ACT in this one), her scating and the music performed by The Glenn Miller Orchestra. This was the last of only two films that they made. Songs from SUN VALLEY SRENADE are It Happened in Sun Valley, Chattanooga Choo Choo(Academy Award Nomination) and the photography won an Oscar nomination as well. The film is fast-paced and includes Dorothy Dandridge, The Nicholas Brothers, Milton Berle and Joan Davis as musical and comedy highlights in addition to SONJA HENIE(1912-1969).