Second Fiddle

Second Fiddle

(aka Irving Berlin's Second Fiddle)

20th Century-Fox, 1939, B/W, 86 minutes, ***½

Released June, 1939



Minnesota schoolteacher Sonja Henie is tapped for Hollywood stardom by studio press agent Tyrone Power. Power creates a staged romance between Henie and co-star Rudy Vallee, but when she learns the love letters she's been receiving are fake, she heads back home with true admirer Power following her. The Irving Berlin score includes "Back to Back" and "I Poured My Heart Into Song.



This is a great film. Sonja gets some wonderful skating scenes, and it's a fun story spoofing the trouble MGM had in finding the female lead for "Gone with the Wind." In this case, the lead goes to Sonja, who is a school marm from a small town in Minnesota - you know, a real hick. But she learns Hollywood politics as fast as she learns her lines and soon becomes someone to reckon with! Lots of fun with Sonja, Ty Power, Rudey Vallee and the incomparable Edna May Oliver!



Produced by: Darryl F. Zanuck

Associate Producer: Gene Markey

Directed by: Sidney Lanfield

Screen Play by: Harry Tugend

Based on a Story by: George Bradshaw

Lyrics and Music by: Irving Berlin

Musical Director: Louis Silvers

Skating Ensembles Staged by: Harry Losee

Art Direction: Richard Day, Hans Peters

Set Decorations: Thomas Little

Costumes: Royer

Sound: W. D. Flick, Roger Heman

Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy

Film Editor: Robert L. Simpson



Awards: Nominated for Best Song Academy Award ("I Poured My Heart Into a Song")



Cast: Sonja Henie [Trudi Hovland], Tyrone Power [Jimmy Sutton], Rudy Vallee [Roger Maxwell], Edna May Oliver [Aunt Phoebe], Mary Healy [Jean Varick], Lyle Talbot [Willie Hogger], Alan Dinehart [George "Whit" Whitney], Minna Gombell [Jenny], Stewart Reburn [Skating Partner], Spencer Charters [Joe Clayton], Charles Lane [Voice of Chief], The Brian Sisters [Specialty], John Hiestand [Announcer], George Chandler [Taxi Driver], Irving Bacon [Justice of the Peace], Maurice Cass [Justice of the Peace], The King Sisters [Specialty]



Musical Program: [0:05] An Old Fashioned Tune Always Is New (sung by Rudy Vallee and Girls Chorus); [0:11] The Song of the Metronome (sung by the Brian Sisters and Childrens Chorus); [0:18] The Song of the Metronome (instrumental arrangement skated by Sonja Henie and Children); [0:33] Back to Back (sung by Mary Healy, danced by mixed Chorus and nightclub patrons, including Rudy Vallee with Sonja Henie and Ty Power with Edna May Oliver); [0:49] When Winter Comes (instrumental portion skated by Sonja Henie and Stewart Reburn on a beautiful black-and-white set; final chorus sung by Rudy Vallee); [0:54] I Poured My Heart Into a Song (sung by Tyrone Power as he composes the song); [0:57] I Poured My Heart Into a Song (instrumental arrangement danced by Rudy Valle and Sonja Henie, then sung by Rudy Vallee); [1:03] I'm Sorry for Myself (sung by Mary Healy, unidentified male quintet, the King Sisters and Chorus); [1:13] I Poured My Heart Into a Song (instrumental arrangement skated by Sonja Henie)