One in a Million 1936

Thaddeus Spencer, Adolphe Menjou, is a flashy showman whose luck has run thin. Stranded in the snowy Swiss Alps with his wife Billie, Arline Judge, a lively girls’ band, a comedy trio—the Ritz Brothers, Jimmy Ritz, Harry Ritz, and Al Ritz—and a budding harmonica prodigy, Borrah Minevitch, he learns that the Grand Palace Hotel in Ardetz has burned down just before they were due to perform. In a moment of opportunistic fantasy, Spencer spots Greta Muller, Sonja Henie, ice-skating and imagines a skating ballet so dazzling it could make him a fortune. He sets up a tryout at a St. Moritz casino for Greta, promising a payment of 950 francs if she performs.

American reporter Bob Harris, Don Ameche, arrives at the inn with the Paris Herald to investigate the hotel fire, which rumors say was part of a plot against a European premier. He tasks his photographer, Danny Simpson, Ned Sparks, with tailing the bearded guest, Montagu Love in the role of Ratoffsky, and he tries to win Greta’s trust, even as Greta seems wary after a band member has Bob massage her neck.

Greta’s father, Heinrich Muller, Jean Hersholt, a former Olympic figure skating champion who lost his medal for accepting money, has trained Greta for twelve years for the upcoming Olympics. Greta’s gratitude toward Bob grows as he accompanies the troupe to St. Moritz and he intervenes when Greta’s first number ends, warning that she is risking her Olympic eligibility. The ride back on a sleigh cements a fragile trust between Greta and Bob, even as Greta remains unaware that the exhibition in St. Moritz was tied to Spencer’s ambitions.

At the Olympics, Greta takes first place in figure skating, but she refuses to turn professional or skate in New York for Spencer. In response, Spencer threatens to expose Greta’s St. Moritz exhibition to the Olympic ruling committee. Heinrich returns Greta’s medals once he learns what happened in St. Moritz, but Bob steps in to arrange a conversation with the committee’s secretary, Sir Frederick Brooks, who had earlier been traveling incognito as Ratoffsky. With no payment in hand and Spencer already drained by expenses, Brooks rules Greta eligible, and the entire troupe—now with Greta as the star—performs in Madison Square Garden, sealing a triumph that blends showmanship, sacrifice, and a hard-won integrity.