Flashback 1941: Betty Grable vs Sonja Henie
Proving that big things come in small packages, the two diminutive starlets tore into one another like wildcats. In addition to the instant animosity between Betty and Sonja, pride was on the line: both blondes were in competition for who had the best pair of legs in Hollywood, and tonight's catfight would settle that issue once and for all.
After a long and bruising battle, it looked as if the matter would be settled in Sonja's favor; the Norwegian ice skater managed to snake her steely gams around the seated American from behind, locking her ankles and squeezing for all she was worth. Grable's eyes went wide with panic and pain, as it felt as if she was being cut in half at the waist! (No surprise, considering that it was claimed Sonja could crush pineapples between her thighs!) "You may beg for mercy all you want, svekling," Henie sneered at her seemingly helpless victim. "But you'll get no mercy from me!"
But Betty wasn't about to beg, no matter how great the agony she was in. Instead, recalling a move she had used more than once as a scrappy and ambitious chorus girl, she threw her left elbow back, blindly slamming it into Sonja's jaw. The blow startled the Scandanavian, weakening her scissors a bit. The next two elbow smashes stunned her enough for her legs to snap open and for Henie to fall dazed onto her back. Had Grable been in any condition to take advantage of the situation, she could have won the battle then and there. But she was still reeling from the scissors, and knew she needed precious time to catch her breath and gather what strength she had left. Both lay on the floor panting heavily, their bodies glistening with sweat.
It took nearly three full minutes before the two beauties were able to get back into the fight. They battled to a stalemate for nearly ten minutes more, calling upon what few dregs of power they still had in their lush bodies.
Suddenly, so swiftly that the spectators didn't realize what was happening at first, both blondes managed to snare one another in headscissors. Both instantly began to moan from the pressure as the two most celebrated sets of gams in the movie colony squeezed for all they were worth. Their bodies trembled from the strain, and their moans became punctuated with sharp cries, followed by anguished mewls. One minute ticked by...then two...and still neither would relent. And then came a loud sob, followed by a pitiful sigh, and Sonja's body went limp. Immediately Betty knew she had won, but it took several more seconds before her brain could convince her legs to stop crushing her rival. When she finally did so, Grable very nearly passed out from exhaustion, but she rallied herself. However, she couldn't help but laugh at the irony that the now undisputed 'Million Dollar Legs' of Hollywood were too numb and weak to let her stand up and accept the ovation of the elite audience. One of MGM's top male stars tenderly picked her up in his arms and held her as the onlookers jumped up to applaud and cheer. All the while, the barely-conscious Sonja lay there on the carpet, a single tear trickling from the eye of the Nordic ice queen.
