mark.waltz Review of Winter Carnival

Winter Carnival (1939)

Ah, winter takes place outside, not inside.

[2/10 · 12 September 2018]

It is unfortunate that 90% of this film is set indoors, and that only a teeny tiny percentage shows actual winter sports going on, most obviously stock footage and not very detailed as that. This real life New Hampshire event is badly portrayed in this obscure curio that features Ann Sheridan and Helen Parrish as two sisters (Jill and Ann Baxter!) who meet up by chance at the event and argue over Ann's romantic life while Jill is reunited with old flame Richard Carlson. Nothing really much happens plot wise, and only Sheridan seems to be interested in adding any life to it, the rest of the cast there routinely going through their jobs to enjoy a holiday at the real location, Dartmouth College. A few future stars (Robert Walker and Joan Leslie among them) have walk-ons, but you have to stay awake in order to spot them. I have to call this one of the most disappointing old films out there waiting to be discovered, considering that as an Ann Sheridan fan, I'd been hoping for years to find it, and when I did, I found that instead of a snowy film, all I got was slush.