Updated; Oslo, Norway, June 9 2020.
A great, but neglected part of Norwegian film history and our Norwegian cultural heritage.
WHO ............ is Susan Dahl??? Was she famous??? What? Where? Who? Ok, calm down dear reader and I will enlighten you hehe....
Sonja Henie in the 1960s
I grew up watching Swedish television pay homage to their greatest stars. Especially Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman comes to mind. I always thought our country had contributed with Sonja Henie only - in sending out a superstar to the Golden Age of Hollywood.
In the late 70s and into the 80s I discovered forgotten names such as Greta Gynt, Vera Zorina and Sigrid Gurie. They were all Norwegians(true, Vera`s father was German) and they were never superstars in the movies - but well known nevertheless. And they all spoke Norwegian...
Arlene Dahl was born in the US to Norwegian parents and hence - fit the bill...
I have also included films filmed in Norway, Norwegian themes and adaptions based on Roald Dahl(born to Norwegian immigrants) & the masterpieces of Henrik Ibsen---
So - in short - Susan Dahl is a pseudonym I`ve been using for years(I found an album of movie clippings from 1991 bearing that name) concerning Norwegian themes and stars in English language films up until 1990....
It has been stated in articles, books and documentaries that Sonja`s star shone brief in Hollywood and that her 40s films were failures---- Sun Valley Serenade obviously wasn`t, but I have included clippings from Quigley Top 10 Money Making Stars and Variety that indeed show otherwise.... I have also checked with Ultimate Movie Rankings(UMR) as a supplement.... Be sure to check out that site as well-....
Eight stars from AFI`s Greatest 50 Stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood appear on this list: Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Gary Cooper, Edward G. Robinson and John Wayne.
This list also include Oscar winners Ray Milland, Ernest Borgnine, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Glenda Jackson, Ruth Gordon, Van Heflin, Charles Coburn, Walter and Anjelica Huston & Don Ameche as well as Tyrone Power, Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr, Adolphe Menjou, Robert Cummings, Basil Rathbone, Bob Hope(Oscar Honorary Awards 1940, 1944, 1952 and 1965 - Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 1959), Jean Hersholt, Cesar Romero, Carole Landis, George Balanchine, Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Richard Greene, Jack Oakie, Walter Huston, Judith Anderson, Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, Margaret O`Brien(Special Juvenile Oscar 1944), Peter Lorre, Erich Von Stroheim, Marius Goring, Hugh Williams, Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Red Skelton, Vera-Ellen, Rudy Vallee, Donald Wolfit, William Hartnell, Clifton Webb, Lauren Bacall(Oscar Honorary Award 2010), Cornel Wilde, June Allyson, Fred MacMurray, Herbert Lom, Rhonda Fleming, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, The Nicholas Brothers, Dorothy Dandridge, Victor Moore, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, James Mason, Pat Boone, Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson, Toralv Maurstad, Florence Henderson, Christina Schollin, Julie Ege, Marty Feldman, Shelley Berman, Binnie Barnes, Eddie and Edward Albert, Deborah Raffin, Claire Bloom, Denholm Elliott, Dame Edith Evans, Kurt Russell, Mai Zetterling, Ann Todd, Patrick Stewart and Robert Morley
The selection is personal and after all these years, may I ad, is final....
And the better for it....
I hope you`ll enjoy this and maybe seek out some of the titles....
* = The core from this collection - 22 films
1. One in a Million 1936*
2. Thin Ice 1937*
3. The Goldwyn Follies 1938*
4. Happy Landing 1938*
5. My Lucky Star 1938*
6. The Adventures of Marco Polo 1938
7. Algiers 1938
8. Second Fiddle 1939*
9. Everything Happens at Night 1939*
10. On Your Toes 1939*
11. I Was an Adventuress 1940*
12. Three Faces West 1940
13. Sun Valley Serenade 1941*
14. Louisiana Purchase 1941*
15. Iceland 1942*
16. Wintertime 1943*
17. The Moon is Down 1943
18. Edge of Darkness 1943
19. First Comes Courage 1943
20. Mr Emmanuel 1944*
21. It`s a Pleasure 1945*
22. Our Vines Have Tender Grapes 1945
23. Take My Life 1947*
24. Dear Murderer 1947*
25. Easy Money 1948*
26. I Remember Mama 1948
27. Three Little Words 1950
28. The Ringer 1952*
29. Woman`s World 1954
30. Slightly Scarlet 1956
31. The Vikings 1958*
32. Journey to the Centre of the Earth 1959
33. Hedda Gabler(TV) 1963
34. The Heroes of Telemark 1965*
35. Song of Norway 1969*
36. Every Home Should Have One 1970
37. A Doll`s House 1973
38. 40 Carats 1973
39. Ransom(US title - The Terrorists) 1974
40. Hedda 1975
41. The Thing 1982
42. Maelstrom(TV series) 1985
43. The Witches 1989
Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power
Putting her hands and skateprints in cement outside the Grauman`s Chinese Theatre, June 28, 1937
Jan Greftegreff and Karin Mustvedt-Pluss sending some memories to a proud man
Jan 2016
Karin 2013
Tyrone Power
Two young people romancing 1937 - Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power
Top 10 1937
Don Ameche, Sonja and Cesar Romero
Ethel Merman
Sonja and Richard Greene
Top 10 1938
Sigrid Gurie and Gary Cooper
Sonja and Gary
Sigrid Gurie, Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr
Charles Boyer
Ines(Sigrid Gurie) betrayes Pepe and is confronted by Inspector Slimane(Joseph Calleia)
Sigrid Gurie, Samuel Goldwyn and Vera Zorina ca 1938
A jealous Ines(Sigrid Gurie) destroys the reunion between Pepe Le Moko(Charles Boyer) and Gaby(Hedy Lamarr)
Hedy Lamarr
Vera Zorina
Rudy Vallee and Sonja
Ray Milland
Ray Milland, Sonja and Robert Cummings
Top 10 1939
George Balanchine choreographs his wife Vera Zorina 1939 during the production of ON YOUR TOES
Director Fritz Lang, Countess Dorothy di Frasso, Marlene Dietrich, Vera Zorina and Raven E Barnerow mid 1930s
Vera Zorina
Fritz Feld, Peter Lorre and Vera Zorina
Richard Greene and Vera
Erich Von Stroheim, Peter, Vera & Richard
Charles Coburn and Spencer Charters
Spencer, John Wayne, Sigrid Gurie and Charles
John Wayne
John Payne and Sonja Henie
She only made 11 films and one travelogue(Hello London 1958)
Sonja, John and Lynn Bari
Victor Moore, Bob Hope and Vera Zorina
The magnificent Mardi Gras sequence from Louisiana Purchase 1941.... Bob Hope is on the throne.
Vera Zorina aged 86 in 2003.... she passed away shortly afterwards.... Later, Shirley MacLaine bought her home
Sonja and John
with Jack Oakie
Sonja, Carole Landis and Cornel Wilde
Jack Oakie, Carole and Cesar
Sonja and Cesar
Sonja and Carole
Henry Travers and Lee J Cobb
Henry Travers(right)
Peter van Eyck and Dorris Bowdon
E.J Ballantine and Sir Cedric Hardwicke
Henry Brandon and Helmut Dantine
Ann Sheridan and Errol Flynn
Walter Huston, Ann, Errol and Judith Anderson digging their own grave
Errol Flynn
Ann Sheridan and Errol Flynn with the book
Merle Oberon
Brian Aherne and Merle
Greta Gynt
Sonja Henie and Marie McDonald
Sonja and Michael O`Shea
Sonja Henie with Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha 1945
Margaret O`Brien, Edward G Robinson and Jackie "Butch" Jenkins
Agnes Moorehead as Mother
Greta Gynt and Hugh Williams
Director Ronald Neame and Greta Gynt at the opening.... In 1947 she paid her home town of Oslo a visit and watched Take My Life at the Klingenberg cinema
Greta and Marius Goring
Greta and Maxwell Reed
Greta and Eric Portman
Dennis Price and Greta
Irene Dunne in a bravura performance earning her a fifth Oscar nomination. Her accent is flawless and she sings in Norwegian as well... She never won an Oscar for Best Actress
Oscar Homolka & Barbara Bel Geddes... She went on to be the original Miss Ellie Ewing in the Dallas-series
Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl and Fred Astaire
Arlene, Red, Fred and Vera-Ellen
Greta Gynt and Donald Wolfit
Herbert Lom
Dora Bryan and William Hartnell
Lauren Bacall, June Allyson & Arlene Dahl in Woman`s World
Autograph of Arlene Dahl; a gift from Andrew Barnes
Photos by courtesy of Georg Sandvik when Arlene Dahl visited him and his family at Buvika, Norway, 2003. Here she and daughter Carole is pictured with his mother - Arlene`s second-cousin:-)
From the church book - Arlene`s mother Ingeborg is child nr 10 - born in Melhus, Buvika, 1895 while her parents visited their native land of Norway. Ingeborg died in Hennepin, Minnesota, 1943.
Arlene with her parents Ingeborg and Rudolf Dahl
I det norske miljøet i Minneapolis traff Ingeborg, som ung dame, Rudolf Dahl. Han hadde slekta si fra Bergenskanten. Omkring 1920 ble de to gift. Noen år senere fikk det unge paret dattera Arlene.
Sonja Henie parties from the late 1940s to the mid 1950s
Cole Porter, Sonja & Clark Gable
Liberace, Sonja & Judy Garland
Sonja Henie, Liberace & Susan Hayward
Sonja Henie, Marcel Cerdan & Edith Piaf
Sonja and Clark
Sonja with another Scandinavian, Ingrid Bergman late 1940s
with her former boss, head of 20th Century-Fox, Darryl F Zanuck
Joan Crawford and Sonja Henie
Clark Gable and Sonja Henie
Faye Emerson, Sonja, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland & Ginger Rogers after a Piaf show 1950
Ann Blyth, Joan & Sonja
Joan Crawford, Sonja & George Reeves
From a Sonja Henie ice-show
Clark Gable and Sonja Henie
Oleg Cassini, Grace Kelly, Sonja Henie & Cesar Romero, Cannes 1955
They always remained friends even though their romance ebbed out.... Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power
Rhonda Fleming and Arlene
1975 King Olav V of Norway and Arlene Dahl
"We`re Off To See The Wiz,,,,,"... eh Norway hehe
The opening in New York
Kirk Douglas as Einar
Kirk and Tony having fun at the fjord
Janet Leigh
Ernest Borgnine, Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas & Janet Leigh pay a visit to the Viking Musum in Oslo 1957
Tony Curtis
Sevre Børslid gave me these family photos snapped during production in 1957
James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Pat Boone and Peter Ronson
Arlene Dahl
Ingrid Bergman enveloped between Trevor Howard, Michael Redgrave and Ralph Richardson
Ingrid Bergman as Hedda Gabler, June 1962
Kirk Douglas and Ulla Jacobsson
Kirk and Richard Harris
Christina Schollin and Toralv Maurstad
Florence Henderson and Toralv
Robert Morley and Christina
Edward G Robinson
Toralv, Florence and Frank Porretta
Florence Henderson and Edward G Robinson
Julie Ege
Edward Albert, Deborah Raffin, Binnie Barnes and Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann and Gene Kelly
Meeting Liv Ullmann during the intermission of our Sandefjord show, Summer In The City. Saturday, July 8, 1989
Liv and Deborah Raffin
Liv Ullmann and Gene Kelly
Claire Bloom in her role of a lifetime
Anthony Hopkins
US title
Knut Wigert and Sean Connery
Peter Eyre and Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson and Timothy West
Glenda won her fourth Oscar nomination with this role... She won twice for Women in Love and A Touch of Class
The Norwegian tries to warn the Americans....
Kurt Russell
Susan Gilmore, Tusse Silberg & Edita Brychta
Tusse Silberg and Ann Todd
Tusse and David Beams
Elsie Eide as the ill-fated Erika
Mai Zetterling as Jasen Fisher`s Grandmother
Anjelica Huston and Jane Horrocks
Susan Dahl Designs by Jim Robin 2008
At last I`m finished with this collection---- May, 4 2020
