The Amazing Mrs. Holliday 1943  N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Bruce Manning, Jean Renoir
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, Barry Fitzgerald, Arthur Treacher, Harry Davenport, Grant Mitchell, Frieda Inescort, Elisabeth Risdon, Jonathan Hale, Esther Dale
This World War II comedy/drama/musical features Deanna Durbin as a missionary involved with Chinese orphans. A weak plot, but Deanna's singing helps.
|  | |
Because of Him 1946 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Wallace
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Helen Broderick, Stanley Ridges, Donald Meek, Charles Halton, Regina Wallace, Douglas Wood, Lynn Whitney
Kim (Deanna Durbin), an aspiring actress, is trying to get a role in playwright Paul's (Franchot Tone) Broadway show opposite Broadway legend Sheridan (Charles Laughton). But Paul is not at all pleased to have an unknown star in his play. All ends well, with Deanna still in good voice with the songs and Laughton putting in another fine performance.
| | |
Can't Help Singing 1944  N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Frank Ryan
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Robert Paige, Akim Tamiroff, David Bruce, Leonid Kinskey, June Vincent, Ray Collins, Andrew Tombes, Thomas Gomez, Clara Blandick
The senator's daughter (Deanna Durbin) loves a U.S. Army officer, but the senator, not caring for him, sends his unit to California. Now she is on the way West by all sorts of transportation, picking up companions on the way. Not much plot, but Deanna's singing is great, and Jerome Kern's musical score won an Academy Award nomination. This is Deanna's only Technicolor film.
| | |
First Love 1939 N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Eugene Pallette, Helen Parrish, Lewis Howard, Leatrice Joy, June Storey, Frank Jenks, Kathleen Howard, Thurston Hall, Samuel S. Hinds, Marcia Mae Jones
Orphaned Connie (Deanna Durbin) lives with her rich aunt and uncle and their children. The family accepts an invitation to a lavish social ball, but the family tells Connie to stay home. Connie does come to the ball and meets "Prince Charming" (Robert Stack) who just happens to be her wicked cousin's boyfriend. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards.
| | |
It Started with Eve 1941 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, Robert Cummings, Guy Kibbee, Margaret Tallichet, Catherine Doucet, Walter Catlett, Charles Coleman, Leonard Elliott, Irving Bacon, Gus Schilling, Wade Boteler
Rich playboy Jonathan Reynolds Jr. (Robert Cummings) asks hatcheck girl Anne Terry (Deanna Durbin) to stand in for his fiancee to please his dying father (Charles Laughton) who wants to meet his daughter-in-law-to-be But Dad gets well and, having taken a liking to Anne, the pretense puts Junior in quite a spot. A fun-filled comedy/musical with Laughton at his best.
| | |
I'll Be Yours 1947 N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Musical / Drama / Romance
Director: William A. Seiter
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Tom Drake, Adolphe Menjou, William Bendix, Walter Catlett, Franklin Pangborn, William Trenk, Joan Shawlee, Patricia Alphin, William Brooks
This musical remake of 1935's "The Good Fairy" stars Deanna Durbin as a small-town girl who heads to NYC in hopes of making it big in show business. She takes a job as an usherette at a music hall where she meets a millionaire (Adolphe Menjou) and a struggling lawyer (Tom Drake). She falls in love with the lawyer and tries to get the millionaire to give a job to her love. Deanna sings her heart out.
| | |
Lady on a Train 1945 N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles David
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, Edward Everett Horton, David Bruce, George Coulouris, Allen Jenkins, Dan Duryea, Jacqueline deWit, Patricia Morison, Elizabeth Patterson, Samuel S. Hinds, William Frawley
As her train pulls into Grand Central Station, Nikki (Deanna Durbin) glimpses a murder being committed in a nearby building. She reports the crime, but the police won't listen. So, Nikki investigates and gets involved with the dead man's off-beat family.
| | |
Mad About Music 1938  N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Herbert Marshall, Gail Patrick, Arthur Treacher, Helen Parrish, William Frawley, Jackie Moran, Elisabeth Risdon, Franklin Pangborn, Marcia Mae Jones
A young girl boards at a Swiss girls' school while her socialite mother pretends her daughter does not exist–all ends well when the daughter plays cupid and finds the ideal mate for her mother.
| | |
Nice Girl? 1941 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: William A. Seiter
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Walter Brennan, Robert Stack, Robert Benchley, Helen Broderick, Ann Gillis, Anne Gwynne, Elisabeth Risdon, Nana Bryant
In this first "adult" role for Deanna Durbin, she plays Jane Dana–who falls asleep in Richard Calvert's (Franchot Tone) home and must now protect her reputation.
| | |
One Hundred Men and a Girl 1937 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, Alice Brady, Eugene Pallette, Mischa Auer, Billy Gilbert, Alma Kruger, Jed Prouty, Jameson Thomas, Howard C. Hickman, Frank Jenks, Leopold Stokowski
When musician John Cardwell (Adolphe Menjou) finds himself struggling financially, his daughter Patricia (Deanna Durbin) steps in, forms an orchestra from John's unemployed musician friends, and convinces Leopold Stokowski (himself) to conduct. The concert is so well-performed that it leads to a radio contract, and all ends well. The film won an Academy Award for Best Score and was nominated for four others, including Best Picture. For her work in this film, Deanna Durbin won a special Academy Award for her "spirit and personification of youth."
| | |
Three Smart Girls 1936  N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Binnie Barnes, Alice Brady, Ray Milland, Charles Winninger, Deanna Durbin, Mischa Auer, Nan Grey, Barbara Read, Ernest Cossart, Hobart Cavanaugh
When their divorced father plans to marry a gold-digging woman, his daughters step in to prevent the upcoming wedding. "Someone to Watch Over Me" is a featured song in this film. This picture received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and was Deanna Durbin's feature film debut. Followed by "Three Smart Girls Grow Up."
| | |
Three Smart Girls Grow Up 1939 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Charles Winninger, Nan Grey, Helen Parrish, Robert Cummings, William Lundigan, Ernest Cossart, Nella Walker, Felix Bressart, Grady Sutton
The song "Because" was introduced in this sequel to "Three Smart Girls" as the youngest sibling, Penny (Deanna Durbin), interferes in her sisters' romances.
| | |
Up in Central Park 1948 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: William A. Seiter
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Dick Haymes, Vincent Price, Albert Sharpe, Tom Powers, Hobart Cavanaugh, Thurston Hall, Mary Field, Moroni Olsen, Howard Freeman
Set in the early 1900s, this musical is about a reporter (Dick Haymes) who exposes the evils of Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed (Vincent Price).
| | |
| 1. The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943)
2. Because of Him (1946)
3. Can't Help Singing (1944)
4. Christmas Holiday (1944)
5. First Love (1939)
6. It Started with Eve (1941)
7. I'll Be Yours (1947)
8. Lady on a Train (1945)
9. Mad About Music (1938)
10. Nice Girl? (1941)
11. One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
12. Three Smart Girls (1936)
13. Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939)
14. Up in Central Park (1948)
In The News
|
