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Second Fiddle

1939, Movie, NR, 86 mins

Second Fiddle: Review

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David O. Selznick's widely publicized search for Scarlett O'Hara is satirized in this amusing 20th Century-Fox effort that finds three-time Olympic figure-skating gold medalist Sonja Henie playing Trudi Hovland, a Minnesota skating teacher and one of hundreds of would-be starlets under consideration for the role of Violet in the upcoming film epic "Girl of the North." Sent to the Gopher State by studio publicity head "Whit" Whitney (Alan Dinehart), Jimmy Sutton (Tyrone Power) decides Trudi is their girl, but before he can bring her back to Hollywood he must charm her aunt (Edna May Oliver). Once in Tinseltown, Jimmy plays Cyrano to Trudi's Roxanne, providing the heart and soul behind a PR-concocted romance between Trudi, who believes it's all real, and her leading man (Rudy Vallee). After she learns the truth, Trudi returns to Minnesota, threatening Jimmy's job security when the picture becomes a huge hit and the studio head wants her under contract. The catch, naturally, is that Jimmy really does love Trudi, leading to the film's happy finale. Irving Berlin's songs for this one are less than dazzling (though "I'm Sorry for Myself" earned an Oscar nomination), and when the headliners (Power and Henie) don't sing it's not easy to sustain a musical, but SECOND FIDDLE still offers more than a few pleasant moments, including an excellent skating number by Henie and Stewart Reburn. Tunes include: "Back to Back," "I'm Sorry for Myself," "I Poured My Heart Into Song" (sung by Healy), "An Old-Fashioned Tune Is Always New," "When Winter Comes" (sung by Vallee), "Song of the Metronome" (sung by Henie, children's chorus, reprise by Vallee). leave a comment
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