Sonja Henie in Anti-Nazi Film 1939

 

Sonja Henie in Anti-Nazi Film 1939:

Everything Happens at Night

Sonja Henie was among the top 10 box office Hollywood stars 1937-1939.

She was also the first major Hollywood star to be featured in an anti-nazi movie...

Released in 1939, it was banned by Germany!

It serves as a corrective to persistent rumours from Norwegian tabloid writers that she was too nazi friendly for comfort...

Through her 1940 marriage to Dan Topping, she had become an American citizen. As such, she was not eligible to speak to support Norway's cause.

But she did... with Norway`s ambassador Morgestierne in 1940...

Producer Alexander Korda was set to produce the propaganda film That Hamilton Woman, that could have resulted in him facing deportation. The Senate Subcommittee on (Senate Foreign Relations) dealt with such matters.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when America was no longer neutral, Henie pulled on uniform and visited and gave money to Little Norway. All Norwegians got free tickets to her shows during the war and she paid for and held parties for them.

During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, German troops saw Hitler's autographed photo prominently displayed at the piano in the Henie family home in Landøya, Asker. As a result, none of Henie's properties in Norway were confiscated or damaged by the Germans. Henie became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940. Like many Hollywood stars, she supported the U.S. war effort through USO and similar activities.

After the Japanese attack, she invited the boys from Little Norway to her ice shows, gave the mechanics a plane as well a substantial sum of money to their educational fund. But her first rejection before the US entered the war was never to be forgotten. For this, she was condemned by many Norwegians and Norwegian-Americans.

In the 1985 Norwegian biography "As In a Dream"(Som i en drøm), author Alf G. Andersen states that the exile Norwegian government was the first to decline Little Norway`s predicament and their need of funds and material...

Then they wrote and asked Sonja who then had to decline because of American citizenship..