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The Sport Parade: Snow Thrills (1945)
Reviews
Personally, I love winter. Summer is about 45 days too long as far as I'm concerned. That said, it's hard to understand just what the purpose of this vintage newsreel-style film was. I can only guess it was commissioned by the government to retain the tax base in states where winter hits with a vengeance, and to boost migration to these frigid climes. Screening it in markets like Arizona and Florida showed the perpetually sun-bound what they were missing in the winter, never mind the fact that a lot of people who migrate south do it because they hate snow. On the other hand, people already living in winter wonderlands may have needed convincing that life in the snow was never-ending fun and games in order to keep them from leaving.
Amid standard and marginally interesting scenes of skiing, skating, and sledding (the narrator checks out for a few minutes at one point, probably assuming we're sufficiently entertained without him), the movie veers into left field to show those Polar Bear Club weirdos who bathe in ice water. I hear it's quite invigorating, and I will absolutely take the word of anyone who has tried it. This must have provoked screams in the theaters where it was shown. It looks even more painful than the footage of ski jumpers and bobsledders wiping out.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 rescues this short from the cultural Siberia into which it otherwise would have disappeared.