Deanna Durbin: Sweetheart Pack

 

 

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Winnipeg,Canada's own Deanna Durbin is in the spotlight here in this six film-fest from Universal studios.However it is a curious mixture of both good and bad films with two of my faves The Amazing Mrs. Holiday and Three Smart Girls Grow Up,particularly noticeable due to their absence.Let us hope Universal comes clean with the rest of her entries sometime in the future.In the meantime we must "relish" what little dribs and drabs the big boys throw at us,mustn't we?
"Three Smart Girls"(released in Dec/36) was Deanna's major debut on screen and she,as they say,murdered them at the box office.Her major attributes were her freshness,her utterly disarming charm and of course that angelic voice.She could sing the NYC telephone book and it would have sounded beautiful.All the fabulous attributes that made her a star are here in spades for all to see,as we literally see a star born before our amazed eyes.The plot is relatively simple.Three girls who live with their mother in Switzerland,plot to get back their bon vivant of a father,engaged to be married to a boor of a social climber,in New York.It co-starred Mischa Auer,Charles Winninger,Nan Grey and a very young Ray Milland,among others.Five stars.
"Something in the Wind"(released in July/47)has Deanna as a female disc jockey by the name of Mary Collins(the camera really makes hay with her opening number perched on a desk.Maybe she should have been a desk jockey?).It seems the recently deceased owner of the radio station has left a substantial sum to a Ms.Collins;Deanna's aunt(who she lives with),not her.His grandson who now runs the station is none too happy about the situation and mistakenly thinks Deanna is the beneficiary.Alot of funny mistaken circumstances come out this film until it winds down to its conclusion.It co-stars Donald O'Connor,Jean Adair and Charles Winninger,among others.Three and a half stars.
"First Love"(released Nov/39)has Deanna as an unwanted orphan who is graduating from school and leaving to join a rich,snobby family who really have little or no interest in her.The daughter of the family she bunks with is in love with a handsome lad who,in the end,is of course the one Deanna will fall in love with and win.A terribly stodgy and see through plot.It co stars a young Robert Stack as her love interest and Leatrice Joy,among others.Two and a half stars.
"It Started with Eve"(released Sept/41)has Deanna working in a department store and roped in by a distraught young man,whose father lies deathly ill,to sub for his girlfriend who is not there.Well surprise,surprise,next morning pops makes a miraculous recovery and he is asking to see his sons girl! The film boasts a stellar cast including Robert(Bob)Cummings,Charles Laughton and Guy Kibbee,among others.A charmer of a film,four stars.
"Can't Help But Singing"(released Dec/44)stars Deanna as a spoiled daughter of a wealthy US senator set in the 1800s.He disapproves of her beau in the cavalry and she heads west to find him.In the end she falls in love with someone completely different.Another lame,see through and inane plot.It was her Technicolour debut but one of her worst films.Even Kern and Harburg couldn't help in the musical department.Two stars.
"Lady on a Train"(released Aug/45)has Deanna coming into Grand Central Station and witnessing a nasty murder in a window.She is a crime devotee',so her story goes unheeded with the cops.But she pokes around until she's deeply involved in this comedy/film noir.It co stars William Frawley,Ralph Bellamy,Allen Jenkins and the always delightful Edward Everett Horton.Three and a half to four stars.
Despite the ratings,good or bad,that I give each film here,it is always Deanna's vocals that continue to impress through out this uneven menagerie of flickers.She was as comfortable warbling a bit from an opera or swinging with a big band.The trouble is with some of these flicks,and what perturbed Deanna herself in real life,is that they became far too formulaic.In fact there are quite a few of her efforts that did NOT need her vocal talents at all and Lady on a Train is a great example.How many musical film noirs do you know of? Her vocal talents could have been put aside as her singing was superfluous to the plot,as good as they always were.Deanna didn't need to be always singing in EVERY film.You will hear that the public clamoured for her singing and wouldn't have liked it any differently.What a load of studio rubbish.Deanna could really act,I mean REALLY act.Like so many other actors who could sing,like Carmen Miranda,they were put into the same singing mold ,but unfortunately had studios who never could think past the next dollar sign.Given the chance,Carmen could ACT beautifully also.Like Deanna she was also multi talented,but the vocals and the image their respective studios created and coveted of their stars wouldn't let them do anything else.In today's lingo,they couldn't think outside the box.
That aside,we are lucky to have these films around to view and discuss.I just hope the studio will offer up more Durbin bon mots in the future.The world has largely forgotten about this HUGE talent and it needs to be brought up to speed for a new generation to fall in love with her all over again.
Technically the films are near their original a/r(full screen)and some look better than others.Three Smart Girls is the worst,as this print is one Universal has been using ever since the VHS days.C'mon Univeral,let's strike a new print and show us how good this film really looks. There are two discs here and both are the DDD's;dreaded double-sided discs,so beware of any potential scuffing and scratching that could occur.There are two films on one side and one on the other.
In conclusion,I highly recommend this set but it is really a mixed bag of films Universal has picked for us to view.They could have done better,but hey it is,after all,Deanna Durbin.I will end this review by doing something I don't usually do,and for which I apologize;a little bit of chest thumping.I have collected a few autographs of stars over the years,but Deanna Durbin is the ONLY one I have ever obtained that came directly from the star herself and from that era in film making.I will always proudly display it on my wall.She even typed me back a brief response to my letter(by using one finger yet!).I will end this review by using the exact words,a paraphrase of sorts from one of her famous songs,I used in the ending to MY letter to her those many,many years ago.
"We will be loving you....Always".

At last Universal Pictures is going to release six of Deanna Durbin's movies on DVD i am certinly looking forward to her movies, finaly coming to DVD, "Three Smart Girls", "100 Men and a Girl", "First Love", "It Started With Eve", and her only movie in Tecnicolor "Can't Help Singing", and "Lady On a Train". Let's have the rest of Deanna's movies released on DVD, Universal.

This was a great find with musicals, drama, comedy, and a "whodunit". I didn't know what to expect when I ordered it as sadly I had never heard of her, even though I have grown up in Canada and watched "old" films ever since I was little.

I found it to be a great buy, witty and charming, and enjoyed by various age groups. I wanted to purchase more of her movies however, although you can buy all of them (about 21) on the United Kingdom Amazon site, this is the only one avaliable in Canada so far. The ones in England are in zone 2 and not playable on most DVD's in Canada. Sadly Canada does not boost Canadian artists or recognize contributions by many of their own, unless there is some sort of controversy created. I never knew that she once was more popular/well known than Shirley Temple or that she was Winston Churchill's favorite star. (She also held the highest paid actress title for decades)

For a little more background I am attaching a clip from the IMDb site:
"The girl who would be known as "Winnipeg's Sweetheart" was born at Grace Hospital on December 4, 1921, as Edna Mae Durbin. In her early childhood there were no obvious signs that one day she would be a bigger box office attraction than Shirley Temple. Renamed Deanna Durbin for show business purposes, by age 14 she was the most highly paid female star in the world. Her major motion pictures were Three Smart Girls (1936), Mad About Music (1938) and That Certain Age (1938). By the time she was 18 her income was $250,000 a year. Her voice was often described as "natural and beautiful" and her version of "One Fine Day" from Madame Butterfly, with Leopold Stokowski conducting the orchestra, became a classic. Deanna was a Hollywood star in every way. There were Deanna Durbin dolls and dresses. An engineering firm named its so-called dream home in her honor. Her first screen kiss was described in a headline story across the continent. What makes Deanna Durbin's story different is that she was never comfortable with adulation. Deanna was such a hit that she shared the Academy Award's 1939 Juvenile Award with Mickey Rooney "for their significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth, and as juvenile players, setting high standards of ability and achievement". Deanna's singing and acting ability had the world talking. There was no doubt she was the most popular performer of her day. She was, however, by nature a very private individual, never comfortable with the glitz, glamor and publicity that came with stardom. Despite her uneasiness, she continued to churn out hits and kept the public enthralled. In 1943 she played Penny Craig again, for the third time, in Hers to Hold (1943). Deanna's final film was For the Love of Mary (1948), whereupon, at the age of 27, she simply walked away. For a star of her stature, that took a tremendous amount of courage. All she wanted was to be anonymous. Today Deanna lives in France, just outside Paris, with her third husband, French director Charles David, whom she wed in 1950. She has had numerous offers to return to the screen and has turned them all down. She has not even been interviewed since 1949. Such is her appeal, however, even after all these years, that she still gets fan mail and requests for autographs."

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4.0 out of 5 stars Deanna Dubdin DVD's
Well finally some movies that I have waited for from those old years are coming out. I have Three Smart Girls, and Three Smart Girls Grow Up. Read more

Published on July 8 2004 by Bruce Holt

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last!!
Finally! We, devoted fans of Deanna Durbin, will be able to own her wonderful movies on DVD! I disagree, though, with the reviewer who stated that SOMETHING IN THE WIND was one of... Read more

Published on Jun 21 2004 by R. Gerlach

5.0 out of 5 stars Three cheers for Deanna Durbin
I am so happy to hear that these Deanna Durbin movies are coming to dvd.I have seen all of these movies. I agree with the viewer from Ventura California. Read more

Published on Jun 14 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Note: "100 Men and a Girl" no longer in DVD set
Unlike what Amazon's page and another reviewer indicate, it seems that in this DVD set "100 Men and a Girl" has now been replaced by "Something in the Wind. Read more

Published on May 30 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars A Simple Charmer
Although she is little known today, Deanna Durbin was one of the most popular stars of the 1930s, a pretty teenager with a perky personality and a much-admired operatic singing... Read more

Published on May 14 2002 by Gary F. Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars Deanna Durbin is a treasure
Deanna Durbin is a treasure not well known to today's generation but was well loved in her time. If you enjoy movies like Parent Trap you will love the original take on children... Read more

Published on Jun 14 2000 by Joyce G. Lobb

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