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Sun Valley Serenade Screening to Include Historical Background
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Monday, November 24, 2025
 

BY KAREN BOSSICK

The movie that put Sun Valley on the map for many will be screened Tuesday night at Ketchum’s Community Library.

“Sun Valley Serenade” will be shown at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, as The Community Library and the Wood River Museum of History & Culture wrap up their screenings of three classic films featuring footage shot in Sun Valley.

Kristine Bretall, the museum’s community engagement manager, will offer an introduction providing the historical context and background story of how the film came to be in Sun Valley and which locals were involved.

The 1941 musical romance shows what happens when a publicity manager for a band decides the band should adopt a foreign refugee for good press. But, upon traveling to Ellis Island, the band realizes the refugee is not the 10-year-old girl they had expected but a young woman played by Norway’s Olympic figure skating medalist Sonja Henie.

The band’s pianist played by John Payne warms up to the young girl’s schemes to win the heart of her new sponsor much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, who is a soloist with the band. And when his girlfriend quits, the young refugee stages an elaborate ice show to fill her place.

The movie features the Glenn Miller Orchestra playing the “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” which went on to become a hit. That song was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and awarded the first Gold Record for sales of 1.2 million.

Another hit was “In the Mood.” And Sun Valley residents will be sure to recognize “It Happened in Sun Valley,” which is a mainstay of Sun Valley Resort’s Christmas tree lighting concert.

The 90-minute movie stars Sonja Henie, whose helter skelter ski run featured Sun Valley’s Olympic Gold Medalist Gretchen Fraser as the double. Others stars are John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle and Lynn Bari.

Reserve your free seat at https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/15428036.

 

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