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I actually thought that for most of their concurrent screen careers, Universal exhibited greater confidence in Deanna than MGM did in Judy. Because of the "legendary dimensions given her legacy in the decades since her tragic relatively early death, not to mention the regular availability and dissemination of her MGM films and screen image during the same period, I think many people consider Judy to have been a much bigger star at MGM than she actually was for most of her tenure with the studio. Mind you, I'm not saying that Judy WASN'T a big star, she certainly was, but I've seen no evidence that she was an iconic figure such as Deanna Durbin became quite quickly over at Universal. For example, while Durbin reached the top more or less with her first film, Garland didn't begin to obtain a similar eminence at MGM until 1942's FOR ME AND MY GAL, her fourteenth(?) feature film appearance and her first "adult" role. Prior to this, Judy had almost always appeared in either leading roles in "B" productions (e.g., EVERYBODY SING, LISTEN DARLING) or in prominent support to stars like Mickey Rooney and Lana Turner. Although THE WIZARD OF OZ's elaborate Technicolored production can be considered an "exception" to this rule, it's worth noting that OZ was not marketed as a Garland "star vehicle" as THREE SMART GIRLS and her subsequent Universal productions were for Durbin. Anyway, here's a nice write up on ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL by Anthony Slide. I agree that it's a delightful film and Deanna was a uniquely charismatic, talented and appealing performer, even at this early stage of her career. It's really remarkable how well she does with that rapid-fire "screwball comedy" dialogue. Winston Churchill was right: she was "a remarkable talent!" ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL BY ANTHONY SLIDE The Deanna Durbin screen phenomenon is not likely to be repeated. Within a year or two of this Canadian teenager's screen debut she had completely eclipsed the other major child stars of the 1930's to become one of the biggest box office stars of the decade. Although it is not strictly true that she was single-handedly responsible for saving Universal Pictures from bankruptcy, her films did account for seventeen percent of the studio's entire revenue during the late 1930's. Durbin brought to the screen a genuine warmth and charm which is unsurpassed; she made the awkward age look graceful. Credit for her success must be shared equally by her producer Joe Pasternak and her director Henry Koster, who understood her simple charm and never tried to overexploit it. There can be no question that her later films-such as His Butler's Sister (1944), Can't Help Singing (1945) and Something in the Wind (1947)-are far better than most would have one believe, but it is the films which she made for Pasternak and Koster-Three Smart Girls (1936), 100 Men and a Girl, First Love (1939), Three Smart Girls (1939), and Spring Parade (1940)-which, quite rightly, are remembered with particular fondness. Only Sonja Henie, who began her screen career concurrently with Durbin, had the same kind of naturalness which could transcend acting ability. 100 Men and a Girl was Deanna Durbin's third film appearance. In less than a year she had been featured in M-G-M's short Every Sunday, costarring Judy Garland, and had starred in her first Universal feature, Three Smart Girls. 100 Men and a Girl was one of only two "A" features produced by Universal in 1937. The nature of the company's financial problems can be gleaned from an industry joke of the period which claimed that the film was supposed to be called 120 Men and a Girl, but Univesal could not raise the money to pay for twenty more extras. The one hundred men of the title are members of an orchestra of unemployed musicians whom Patricia Cardwell (Deanna Durbin) has persuaded her father (Adolphe Menjou) to organize. In a performance which has elements of both cuteness and bratishness, Patricia sets out to find a sponsor for her orchestra. She apparently finds one in the wealthy and philanthropic Mrs. John G. Frost, beautifully played with fine comic breeziness by former stage and silent screen star Alice Brady, who has Patricia sing for her friends at a party which the young girl has "crashed." Mrs. Frost leaves for Europe, and her husband John G. Frost (Eugene Pallette) must cope with this problem child with a very large problem. He tells Patricia that she must find a conductor of the stature of Leopold Stokowski if she wants him to sponsor the orchestra on his radio program, and the girl, after many rebuffs, actually persuades Stokowski to lead the orchestra. In a final happy moment, Patricia is introduced by Stokowski to the concert-hall audience as "the little girl who made all this possible," and is persuaded to sing the drinking song from Verdi's La Traviata. In one of those marvelous moments that grace the film, during the middle of the aria, Patricia flashes an expression of happiness to her father, who responds in like fashion. In a sense, Stokowski's introduction goes beyond the film plot to credit Deanna Durbin as the girl who made a significant film possible and helped a studio to continue in operation. Henry Koster's direction is in the best Continental European tradition, and has close affinities to Ernst Lubitsch's style. From the moment Stokowski raises his hand to conduct the orchestra, and the camera glides through the audience picking out all the expressions on the faces of the listeners, one realizes that this is a very special motion picture. The cinematography is dazzling;one example is when the camera moves on a crane from a shot of the unemployed musicians in the lobby of Stokowski's house as they begin to play Lizst's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, up the stairs to an unsmiling maestro on the upper level. As the music plays and Patricia urges Stokowski to overcome his prejudices and accept the music, he slowly begins to move his hands in time to the music. As Liszt's music swells, Stokowski's hands take over and he begins to conduct. The camera ultimately comes to rest on the concentration on his face. Music, acting, cinematography editing and direction all work in perfect unison. Another wonderful moment occurs when Patricia sneaks into a rehearsal by Stokowski and his orchestra. As the orchestra plays the introduction to the Third act of Wagner's Lohengrin, and as the stage doorman tries to find her, the camera follows her progress around the theater by the feather on top of her hat, as it bobs up and down from one row of seats to the next. When Stokowski asks the orchestra to rehearse Mozart's Allelujah, Patricia begins to sing, not from one stationary position, but moving from one part of the theater to another, from the boxes to the balcony. After every break in the singing, she has moved to another section of the theater. This use of music to move along the plot is almost unique to 100 Men and a Girl. As one critic at the time wrote, it showed that, in the hands of the right director, Mozart could be as exciting as a murder hunt. In 100 Men and a Girl, Deanna Durbin brought serious music to a common level; for probably the first time, many filmgoers heard such great works as Tchaikowsky's Fifth Symphony and the overture to Herod by Zampa. Aside from classical music, 100 Men and a Girl featured two popular songs, "A Heart That's Free" (by Alfred G. Robyn and Thomas T. Railey) and the delightful "It's Raining Sunbeams" (by Frederick Hollander and Sam Coslow), which Patricia sings to cheer up her father afer he has been unsuccessful in finding a job. Credit should also go to the superb character actors in the film, particularly Mischa Auer as the out-of-work piccolo player Michael; Billy Gilbert as the put-upon owner of a garage where the unemployed musicians rehearse and whose cries of "I want my money" are drowned out by the music; and particularly Frank Jenks as the taxi driver who takes Patricia all over town as she desperately searches for a sponsor. Others worthy of note are Jameson Thomas, a former leading man in British silent films, who plays Stokowski's manager and Jed Prouty, a fellow clubmember friend of Eugene Pallette who enjoys playing practical jokes. The best character acting, however, comes from the nameless players who make up the orchestra of the unemployed; their expressive faces indicate better than any words the sorrow of their unemployment and the joy they derive from their music. Shortly before his death, Leopold Stokowski was asked his opinion of Deanna Durbin. He described her as "a wonderful singer with a good voice and a beautiful actress." 100 Men and a Girl demonstrates Durbin's talent at its' best, and proves that she was more than just another child star in the Shirley Temple or Judy Garland mold. She retired in 1948, and now lives in quiet seclusion in France with her third husband, Charles David, who had directed her in Lady on a Train in 1945. Durbin's films are seldom revived today; the happiness and unsophisticated charm which she displayed on screen have never been fully appreciated or equalled.

Well, I read Gloria's book. Thank heaven I decided on the e-book option! While I agree that it's worth reading if you're a fan of Gloria Jean (and for that reason I'm glad I read it), it really didn't have anything new to tell or offer, at least where her career at Universal was concerned, which was the part I was most interested in. This was despite the fact that Gloria has alleged that almost everything written about her in past interviews is false or inaccurate, yet time and again, with very few exceptions, I felt as if I was re-reading the same comments and material that''ve been published about her over the past half century or more. I would describe the book as an uneasy mix of biography, autobiography and extended fan magazine article, and, as such, in my opinion, it didn't succeed as any of these venues. The writing style is very simplistic and by-the-numbers, and I found the research to be rudimentary and superficial at best. There is little, if any, citing to outside sources, with the authors' "scholarship" largely confined to transcribing Gloria's commentary (and that of her sister, Bonnie) and then attempting to back it up through speculative commentary. Not suprisingly, then, there are no footnotes and no Bibliography, though full credits and song listings are given for each of Gloria's films. The history and changes Unviersal and Hollywood were undergoing during Gloria's tenure with the studio (which included the Rogers, Blumberg/Work and Spitz & Goetz regimes) are barely touched upon, and, as a result, you get very little sense of the climate or industry in which she worked. Commentary from Gloria's contemporary concerning her films, her work and her talent is also almost non-existent, with the book re-gurgitating the same old "he was like a father to me" tales she's told about Crosby, Fields, Groucho Marx, etc., etc. To be fair, there were some interesting comments from Gloria concerning co-workers like Charles David that I hadn't read before, but such comments are the exception rather than the norrm and I wouldn't recommend anyone purchase the book (even the e-book edition), if you're expecting revelatory commentary on her co-workers. Objective evidence to support the authors' claims of Gloria's popularity is also almost non-existent. No receipt figures are cited for the grosses of her films,and no evidence published of her rankings among the leading box office attractions of the period other than a fleeting reference to her having been on the "Stars of Tomorrow" list for several years I was also most disappointed that there was so little discussion of Gloria's voice and training. I don't think her vocal classification was even mentioned (at least I didn't recall seeing it) and, although her first voice teacher, Leah Russell (who said she was going to "make [Gloria] a colortura") is mentioned, there's almost nothing about Gloria's vocal training/development at the studio, except for some scattershot comemntary from Gloria that she was often confused by the advice given by the various vocal instructors. Of course, I was probably most disappointed that Gloria and the authors discussed her relationship with Deanna Durbin in the book, especially as Gloria had indicated to me in early October that there "would be a section on Deanna Durbin" in the book which should answer readers' questions about their relationship. Instead, the few references to Durbin were scattershot and vague. In any passage that might be considered remotely "controversial," such as those detailing the backgrounds of FLESH AND FANTASY and DESTINY), Durbin is not even referred to by name, but rather as an "interfering stockholder" or an "important stockholder," with pointed reference to that "stockholder" being someone whose career might be threatened by Jean's potential success. It should also be noted that Jean is not afraid to "name names" when she knows the identity of someone she feels has wronged her. For example, she readily identifies "Eddie Sherman" as the agent who persuaded her to leave Universal to embark on a two year vaudeville tour and then pocketed the lions' share of the profits. Yet, after more than sixty years, not only do Gloria and her co-authors refuse to name Durbin directly, but the evidence offered against Durbin by the co-authors and Miss Jean is entirely based on supposition and speculation with not one scintilla of concrete, objective, evidence to support their allegations that Durbin interfered in any way in Jean's career, or, in fact, even owned any stock in Universal which would enable her to do so. (Ironically, the only concrete piece of "evidence" the authors offer concerning Durbin, Jean and FLESH AND FANTASY is an acknowledgement that Durbin sent Jean flowers congratulating her on her performance in the film.) Mind you, although my own substantial research into her career indicates there is little if any, evidence to support generalized claims that Durbin interfered in anyone else's career or jealously guarded her own pre-eminent status at Universal (from the material I've seen, the commentary on Durbin by her co-workers from the beginning to the end of her career at the studio is almost entirely admiring and affectionate, or, at worst, sympathetic), I do not deny the possiblity that Deanna Durbin (or any similarly pre-eminent Hollywood star) may have used her clout to protect her own interests at one time or another. I'm simply stating that you will not find any valid evidence to support such allegations in this book. Just as unfortunate, both the authors and Gloria Jean exhibit shocklingly little knowledge of Durbin's own career struggles at Universal, or of the studio contract player hierarchy at the studio in general. For example, in alleging that Deanna Durbin somehow sabotaged Jean's chances at dramatic stardom at Universal, there is no reference made to the plum assignments given to fellow soprano contemporaries Susanna Foster (in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) and Ann Blyth (MILDRED PIERCE) during the same period (1943/44), in roles that would be considered by most film buffs and fans to be the defining ones of their respective careers. The authors' lack of research extends not only to film, but to radio adaptations of films. Completely ignoring the fact that it was common practice for different stars to appear in radio adaptations of successful films, Jean also makes one of her few slightly "bitchy" comments, expressing her "surprise" that Deanna Durbin would have allowed her to appear in a 1944 radio adaptation of her 1938 hit, MAD ABOUT MUSIC. Not only was Gloria apparently unaware that, by 1944, Durbin was desperately trying to escape from her wholesome "Little Miss Fixit" persona, but she also fails to acknowledge that Durbin also "allowed" Susanna Foster and Ann Blyth to appear in radio adaptations of her films (IT STARTED WITH EVE and I'LL BE YOURS respectively), not to mention the non-singing Loretta Young's appearance in the radio version of 1944's CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY. Indeed, Durbin herself appeared in some radio adaptations of films made famous by other actresses including ALICE ADAMS (Katharine Hepburn), SHADOW OF A DOUBT (Theresa Wright) and THE GOOD FAIRY (Margaret Sullavan). For me, the most revelatory part of the book concerned Gloria's life and career after leaving Universal. Although she states that she was prompted to do so by her agent (Eddie Sherman) and that no one at the studio actually "asked her to leave," given the intended shift in emphasis away from "B" films toward prestige productions envisioned by new studio heads Leo Spitz and William Goetz (who also re-christened the studio Universal-International), it seems likely that the studio would have released Gloria shortly, as her manager strongly implicated they would. In any case, in managing to create a life and career for herself away from the spotlight, Gloria proved herself to be a woman of some substance and determination, although the seemingly endless litany of deceptions practiced upon her by various promoters, managers and dates would seem to earmark her as a very naive and trusting personality. I also found it unfortunate, that many of Gloria's former co-workers at Universal, including Robert Cummings and Joe Pasternak, literally turned their backs on her when she sought them out in the late 1940s/early 1950s in an attempt to regain a hold in the entertainment industry, but the determination with which she claims they did so, suggests that any problems she may have experienced at the studio, were largely of her own making. So there you have it. As the most extensive account of Gloria Jean's life and career to date, I would recommend that anyone interested in finding out more about her read the book, particularly if you want to see what her impressions were of each of her films and some of her co-stars and the triumphs, travails and tribulations she experienced in her personal and professional life. On the other hand, if you're looking for a thoroughly detailed, well-researched, objective and balanced piece of biography and film scholarship, I can guarantee you, you will not find it here and in all likelihood, will be most disappointed by the results. In my opinion, the definitive biography of this talented and unfairly neglected performer has yet to be written.

When was Judy G. ever a "child" onscreen as opposed to an adolescent? Even with all the doctoring MGM did to conceal her burgeoning "womanhood" in THE WIZARD OF OZ it seems to me that she was always an adolescent onscreen, though admittedly, in her earliest roles, a very young adolescent. And since the list has included some adolescents, I'll add a few more: Deanna Durbin (Pop Culture's First "Teen Idol" Like Judy G., a very young adolescent in her earliest films) Gloria Jean Jane Powell Elizabeth Taylor Roddy McDowall Virginia Weidler (like Taylor, I believe she began as a pre-adolescent) Dianna Lynn Donald O'Connor Peggy Ryan Jackie Moran Dickie Moore Bonita Granville Edith Fellows

Hi asakely: I've never read that Deanna had erbs palsey, but it's possible she did. Most biographical information I've seen on her states that her slightly crooked left arm was a consequence of a break she suffered as a toddler/infant that didn't heal properly. Some have said it was a birth defect, but don't go into detail on the type of birth defect.

Hi MarilynMonoreFan: I like all the movie sopraons but Deanna is my favorite. In fact, I have a Group on Yahoo! dedicated to her, so I can probably answer all (or most) of your questions, assuming you're still interested given that your post was ten days ago. Here's some information on her background which you might find interesting, as it often gets short shrift in biographical write-ups on her: Deanna was born Edna May (not "Mae" as it's often spelled) Durbin on December 4, 1921, the second child of James and Ada (Read) Durbin in Winnipeg Canada. The couple's other child, Deanna's sister Edith, was eleven years older. The family had emigrated to Canada from Britain and would subsequently move to California when Deanna was just over a year old when Mr. Durbin's health concerns necessitated they find a more temperate climate. However, before the family moved, Edna May was awarded a plaque for the "Loudest Crying Baby" at the Winnipeg Fair, which I guess one could say was the first manifestation of her remarkable voice; Although Edna May's remarkable singing voice began to manifest itself when she was quite young, she was not able to begin formal vocal study until after Edith had graduated from school and begun her career as a teacher, using her earnings to finance Deanna's lessons at the local Ralph Thomas Academy, beginning in 1933. A local actor turned agent, Jack Sherrill, heard Edna May perform "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes" at a student voice recital and took her to Walt Disney studios for an audition for the voice of Snow White. The thirteen year-old Edna May ultimately failed to get the role because Disney thought she "didn't sing like a child."; Sherrill subsequently heard that MGM was looking for a young girl to play the renowned opera singer Eva Schumann-Heink as a child in a projected film biography of the diva and brought Edna May to the studio for an audition. Deanna later recalled that she "must have sung for at least ten" different studio executives but the audition was successful and she was placed under contract to the studio at $100 a week. Although L.B. Mayer was out of town at the time of the audition, his stand-in, Metro executive Sam Katz, was so impressed with Edna May's voice that he had her sing to Mayer over the phone and Katz was immediately given authority sign her without a screen test.; A few weeks after signing her contract with MGM, Edna May made her national radio debut on the MGM sponsored SHELL CHATEAU HOUR in late December 1935. Although she was a few weeks past her fourteenth birthday, she was introduced by host Wallace Beery as "thirteen year-old Edna May Durbin." Her performance of the title song from the Columbia smash, ONE NIGHT OF LOVE prompted the star of that picture, temperamental Metropolitan Opera star Grace Moore to comment: "That little girl is a better singer than I am!"; The proposed film biography of Mme Schumann-Heink was cancelled when the elderly diva passed away and, Edna May's contract was not renewed by MGM when her six month option came up in June 1936. Whether this was by accident or design is not clear. However, Rufus LeMaire, who had been at MGM during Edna May's tenure with the studio and had recently moved over to Universal as a casting director, remembered "the beautiful blue-eyed youngster with the blue white diamaond of a voice" and immediately had her signed to a contract by Universal in mid-June 1936. Reportedly, a clause in Edna May's contract stated that the studio could not drop her before she had appeared in at least one feature film. Some sources state that LeMaire was so impressed by Edna May that he placed her under personal contract at $300 a week prior to negotiating the deal with Universal. A July 1, 1936 report in the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER stated that Universal had changed "Edna Mae's" first name to "Deanna"; Producer Joe Pasternak and director Henry Koster, newly arrived from Universal's recently shut down European branches, were looking for a "young Mary Pickford" to play a small but key role as one of a trio of sisters who re-unite their divorced parents in a minor family comedy they planned to produce called THREE SMART GIRLS. According to Pasternak's memoir (and most biographical accounts on both Deanna and Judy Garland), Pasternak was told by Rufus LeMaire of both Durbin and Garland and LeMaire arranged for an exhibitor's reel of a series of tests of Durbin and Garland to be sent to Universal for Pasternak and Koster to view. Pasternak recalled that they first saw Judy's film (an acting/singing test) and were immediately enchanted with both her voice and personality and wanted her for the role only to be told that she was not available by LeMaire. Although momentarily dejected, Pasternak recalled that he eventually acquiesced to LeMaire's entreaties that he view Deanna's film. Although this was only a singing test, Pasternak and Koster were immediately struck by Deanna's remarkable voice, presence and charm and immediately sought to engage her for the film. Nevertheless, several contemporary sources suggest that Pasternak (who also reportedly was considering child star Edith Fellows) did not have final approval in casting the role, that Universal always had signed Deanna with a view to casting her in the film and imposing her on Pasternak and Koster and that Universal (which had recently undergone a coporate takeover by its' investors and was on the verge of bankruptcy) had no intention of permitting Pasternak to go outside the studio roster to sign Judy Garland (an MGM contract player) for the part. Several sources indicate that it was actually Rufus LeMaire who instigated Deanna's being cast in the film. In any case, Deanna was ultimately signed to a contract by Universal, however, as THREE SMART GIRLS was not yet ready to begin production, MGM chose to exercise a clause in her MGM contract which allowed the studio to recall her for up to sixty days following the contract's termination providing she wasn't working on a film at her new studio. Thus, in early July 1936, Deanna found herself back on the MGM lot filming the short that would become EVERY SUNDAY opposite Judy Garland. Although most sources on Durbin and Garland characterize this short as a " sort of screen test" to help MGM decide which of its' talented girl singers to keep under contract, the fact that Deanna had already been signed by Universal by the time the short went into production makes this version somewhat suspect. This also might explain why EVERY SUNDAY seems slanted to favor Judy in several scenes, since it seems unlikely that MGM would go to the trouble of working up a prominent role for a performer under contract to a rival studio as Deanna was at that time. Following completion of her EVERY SUNDAY assignment, Edna May returned to Universal. As THREE SMART GIRLS was still not ready to begin production, Sherill arranged for Deanna to audition for a featured role on showman Eddie Cantor's top-rated radio show, TEXACO TOWN. Amazed by Deanna's poise, charm and remarkable soprano voice, Cantor signed her on the spot and twenty-five years later would recall: "I knew she would be a great star from the moment I heard that voice. It was a thrill to present her." Deanna created an immediate sensation when she debuted on the program on September 26, 1936. When Cantor "inadvertently" failed to introduce her by her full name it resulted in CBS being flooded with 5,000 letters from captivated listeners demanding to know more about her. By the end of 1936, Deanna had been universally hailed as "The Radio Discovery of the Year," a fact later acknowledged by RADIO GUIDE Magazine when she won their "Favorite New Artist of the Year Award" with a remarkable 5,000,000 votes. When production began on THREE SMART GIRLS in September 1936, studio executives, screening the first few days' rushes, were amazed by Deanna's poise and charm and immediately began re-writing her small featured role to the main role of the film, now envisioning it as a star vehicle for the film neophyte. Advertising for the film was now geared to focus exclusively on Deanna, "Radio's Sensational Songbird!" and, in December 1936, when the film was ready for release (it would not go into general release until January 1937), Deanna was instantly acclaimed as a new superstar by prominent newspapers like THE NEW YORK TIMES and periodicals like TIME Magazine. The film, which billed her in the opening credits as "Universal's New Discovery," was also nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award and Deanna received several prizes for her debut performance including a "Best Actress" Award from the Screen Actor's Guild.

I agree that the "Little Miss Fixit" screen persona could become grating and saccharine in the hands of some actresses such as in some of the later star vehicles of the maturing Shirley Temple (e.g., LITTLE MISS BROADWAY, REBECCA OF SUNNBROOK FARM, SUSANNA OF THE MOUNTIES) or in the lachrymose emoting of the lozenge-challenged June Allyson (e.g., TWO GIRLS AND A SAILOR, HER HIGHNESS AND THE BELLBOY), but I suppose I enjoy and admire Durbin's performances so much because both she and largely, by extension, her films, manage to avoid these "too good to be true" pitfalls, despite the overtly wholesome nature of the films overall. As pop culture historian Ethan Mordden notes in comparing the images of Durbin and Temple: "She [Durbin] is no goody-goody, and unlike Temple, who always handled adults with a 'dear whim,' Durbin constantly gets into trouble." Two commentaries on the enduring appeal of Durbin's films and performances probably best summarize my attitude toward her work and talent. The first is an excerpt from Professor Georgeanne Schreier's treatiste on the impact Durbin's uniquely independent and feisty screen characterizations had on her adolescent female fans during the 1930s and 1940s, inspiring them to reject long-held passive strictures on femininity and to become more pro-active by example: "Although Durbin?s screen characterizations changed according to the material conditions of the 1930s and ?40s, both Durbin?s adolescent and young adult film characterizations appear to go against the dominant ideology of femininity. Durbin?s comedic skills have often been overlooked by film historians in favor of her singing talent. Yet the Durbin persona was funny sarcastic, mischievous, outspoken, argumentative and bossy. In 100 MEN AND A GIRL, grown men are rendered impotent by the impending economic crisis, but the depression simply makes Patsy more capable and effective. She has no compunctions about standing up to the adults in her life. Cab drivers, butlers, society matrons, industrialists, symphony orchestra conductors, fathers-all are leveled by her determination. She demands to be taken seriously. That same single-mindedness of purpose is apparent in IT STARTED WITH EVE, as she bulldozes Reynolds into arranging an audition with Stokowski and foils Johnny?s efforts to get her out of his father?s life. She is more agile, physically and mentally than Johnny, and even though they are the romantic leads, it is clear that Anne and the elder Reynolds are the true soul mates and Anne will never be a docile wife. Durbin?s films did not position spectators as passive objects of the male gaze. Instead, spectators were given agency, an agency that corresponded to their fan activities." The second is by film critic/historian Charles Affron and focuses more fully on Durbin's particular talents as an actress in this area: Durbin's sweet voice and sound musical instincts take on particularvalue when she is compared to her 1940s counterparts, the "legit" sopranos Jane Powell and Kathryn Grayson. Like Garland, Durbin was also a very talented actress with an individual, recognizable style. That style, related to her musical discipline, is perceived in her fluent, rapid-fire, but utterly clear delivery of dialogue, in a diction with irresistible impetus and energy, in irony that never smacks of brattishness but rather, of real intelligence, and in a warmth of personality that echoes her singing/speaking voice. One of her first "grown-up" roles, in IT STARTED WITH EVE, pits her against the formidable Charles Laughton, and the modulations of their relationship is one of the joys of this romantic comedy. Her dramatic roles in CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY and LADY ON A TRAIN suggest that at a different studio--and perhaps with a different level of ambition onher part--Durbin's career would not have been truncated so abruptly. Her pluckiness remains a significant image of America in the late 1930s." Unfortunately, the "too good to be true"/"wise beyond her years" persona of Gloria's screen character in A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN appears to have stuck in the minds of some critics who later evaluated her work overall. In a 1970s essay on Durbin's career, the late film historian William K. Everson noted that while Deanna "always played someone of her own age," Gloria "was often cast as an unusually sensitive child, wise beyond her years." Still, I find Gloria a likeable and talented performer, even in these roles, if, in my opinion, a less spectacularly charismatic and gifted one than Durbin: more relaxed and self-assured than the nascent but versatile Jane Powell, less prim than the lovely but, at times. too sedate Kathryn Grayson, and less arch and mannered than the blessedly brief Gloria Warren, I think Gloria Jean was one of the most talented and likeable of the "Durbin follow-ups" (to use Everson's term). As far as the "Little Miss Fixit" screen characterization is concerned, while it undoubtedly helped to assuage worldwide fears in the 1930s and 40s over an enduring economic crisis (The Great Depression) and a potentially cataclysmic political stalemate (World War II), it has proven to be a surprisingly durable one in the decades since. For example, what are the "Maria Von Trapp" and "Millie Dilmount" characters embodied by 1960s musical favorite Julie Andrews but "Little Miss Fixit" characters set in the center of the 1960s musical roadshow spectaculars? And vestiges of this screen images also appear in the screen images of later musical and non-musical Girl Next Door actresses on both screen (e.g., Debbie Reynolds, Sandra Dee, Julia Roberts, Rickie Lake, Sandra Bullock) and television (e.g., Sally Field in GIDGET, THE FLYING NUN, Alexis Bledel in GILMORE GIRLS, etc.) Indeed, more than one sharp-eyed reviewer characterized Bullock's star making vehicle, WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING as "a Deanna Durbin movie except that Sandra Bullock doesn't sing." Of course, you're absolutely correct that we all see things differently (hence the enjoyment of forums such as this one where we can compare our different perspectives). Suffice to say that I find all of the Teen Sopranos to be very attractive and talented performers, enjoy their work and appreciate their film legacies, as I know many others do. They are all, in my opinion, underrated in one way or another, and Gloria Jean is certainly among the most unjustly neglected in this regard.

I've considered the e-book option at amazon, but as my office computer is a Macmini, I was concerned that downloading the entire book would consume too much "space" on my computer. I do have a Mac at home as well, but it's an older model with a dial-up connection, so I suspect it may be much more difficult to download the book on that computer. The hardcover edition costs a little over $30 and there's also a paperback edition for a little more than $20. Interestingly the various private booksellers who advertise through amazon seem to be offering "used" copies at higher prices than the new ones at amazon. I am very interested in Gloria's life and career, so, barring getting a copy from my local library (and it seems unlikely the library would order it), I'll probably purchase the book in some form at some point. Thanks for the information on the quality of the tapes offered at Gloria's website. They are a little pricey, but I may order some of them as well given that it seems unlikely they will appear on television or be released on DVD any time soon. From the little you've written here, it seems that, contrary to her comments to me, Gloria does not go into any greater detail concerning her relationship with Deanna Durbin or Deanna's alleged machinations to impede her career at Universal, settling for the same sort of generalized inuendo she's suggested in interviews for decades. I'm not certain of the extent of Donald O'Connor's knowledge concerning the reasons for excising Gloria's footage from "Flesh and Fantasy," but it sounds as if he had no concrete information as to whether Deanna was involved in any decision to do so as well. In any case, other comments O'Connor made about Deanna suggest that his opinion of her is contradictory at best. Although Deanna herself acknowledged in her 1980s interview with David Shipman that O'Connor found her somewhat aloof ("Donald O'Connor said that I was a professional, which, coming from him, pleased me, but that at the time we worked together (in 1947's SOMETHING IN THE WIND), I was unapproachable, 'in a funk.' With my second marriage in the process of breaking up, I'm sure he was right."), O'Connor offered a much more sympathetic impression of Deanna during this period in Dick Moore's book on child stars: "What happened to Mrs. Durbin's daughter was that 'she felt she was a stock issue and never grew up as a person,' Donald O'Connor said with quiet conviction when our conversation turned to Deanna. Donald knew Deanna well: "You hear a lot of stories about how she was stuck up, temperamental, hard to get along with. It wasn't that way at all. It got to a point where she could no longer perform. She could no longer work if there were any strangers around. The first picture I made when I got out of the service was with Deanna, SOMEHTING IN THE WIND. We were in the isolation booth of the recording stage and the orchestra was outside. We were getting along just fine, singing and telling jokes, when a couple of tourists walked onto the set. Deanna started to shake and sweat. It had nothing to do with temperament. She was going through a traumatic situation. Personally and professionally she couldn't cope with it. She got to a point where she had to make a decision: to keep on like that or quit. She chose not to work anymore." However, in addition to O'Connor, Deanna's co-stars during this period also speak of her with affection including SOMETHING IN THE WIND co-stars Helena Carter and John Dall and UP IN CENTRAL PARK co-star Dick Haymes. As it's well-documented that Durbin was a very shy and private individual offscreen, it's possibile that those who didn't work directly with her, like Peggy Ryan, mistook Deanna's private nature for arrogance or aloofness. Of course, it's also possible that, particularly during the late 1940s when she was both personally unhappy and professionally frustrated, Deanna did exhibit some unadmirable "diva-like" behavior, but personally I find it difficult to believe that her behind-the-scenes economic clout could extend to sabotaging Gloria Jean's career, when she couldn't do anything to incite Universal executives to bolster her own. In fact, in her interview with Shipman, Deanna makes it clear that her frustrations over Universal-International's unwillingness to provide her with better material was a factor in her decision to retire: :"Why did I give up my career? Well, for one thing, take a look at my last four films and you'll appreciate that the stories I had to defend were mediocre, near impossible. Whenever I complained or asked for better material, the studio refused. I was the highest paid star with the poorest material. Today I consider my salary as damages for having to cope with such utter lack of quality." While I agree that all of the Teen Sopranos had their strengths and weaknesses, I'm afraid I can't share your high opinion of Foster's acting abilities. I've usually found her to be a slightly arch, mannered, and somewhat waxen onscreen personality, a competent actress, at best,and a somewhat stolid commedienne. She didn't seem to have the comedic sparkle that Durbin, Jean or (at MGM) Jane Powell had. Her stratospheric vocal range was certainly impressive, but I also found her voice to be a "white" sound without a great deal of body or variety. I enjoy her films and performances (at least those I've seen), but I can also understand why she didn't excite a great deal of interest in Hollywood beyond her Universal tenure. Durbin was the last of the movie's Teen Sopranos whose work I saw, but I do generally consider her to have been the best singer/actress of the lot, really in a class by herself. Her vocal qualities were unencumbered by the omnipresent vibrato which characterized much of the singing of Gloria, Jeanette MacDonald, Kathryn Grayson, Jane Powell and most other movie sopranos, and her voice had more body and color to it, as well as a richer and firmer tone than the others. While her essentially lyric soprano lacked the stratospheric high notes of coloraturas Foster and Grayson, and her richer voice was not as agile as the much lighter ones of Jean and Jane Powell, in terms of purity of tone, and the artless ease and confidence which she displayed onscreen in both singing and acting, she strikes me as easily the most naturally gifted in embodying the "Little Miss Fixit' image the studios were always trying to impose upon adolescent vocalists

Hi Tom: Thanks for the reply and the commentary on Gloria's book. Based on an e-mail I received from Gloria when I wrote her a few months back inquiring on the status of the book, I thought it might turn out as you described (e.g., "some interesting points with a good deal of filler"). As far as the production histories of FLESH AND FANTASY and DESTINY are concerned, while it makes for an interesting anecdote, personally I doubt that Deanna Durbin had anything to do with Universal's decision to edit Gloria's segment out of FLESH AND FANTASY and release it on its' own as a separate "B" movie with a tacked on (more optimistic) ending. I've done a good deal of research into the careers of both Gloria and Deanna at Universal and while I'm well aware that Gloria has (allegedly) made inferences in the past that Deanna used her superstar clout to thwart the studio's plan to star Gloria in a Technicolor production, these intimations on Gloria's part are of the most generalized and vaguest sort, with no names or concrete references given to support her allegations, and none of them have concerned the production of FLESH AND FANTASY, nor DESTINY. When referring to this issue Gloria has always stated that the decision was entirely Universal's with no reference whatsoever to Deanna. Moreover, Susanna Foster's contemporaneous triumph in the lavish Technicolored remake of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA would seem to refute any reports of subterfuge on Durbin's part. Although a lavish remake of PHANTOM had been much-anticipated and discussed in the press practically from the date Deanna signed her contract with the studio in 1936, after Durbin turned the role of "Christine Dubis" down she apparently did nothing to prevent Universal from casting newcomer Foster in the part opposite star baritone Nelson Eddy and leading character actor Claude Rains, nor did Durbin apparently prevent Foster from appearing in a similarly Technicolored grand guignol follow up the following year: 1944's THE CLIMAX. Rather, my own research into Gloria's career at Universal suggests that, for whatever reason, she was never held in the same high regard/esteem as Durbin by either the studio or her mentor, Joe Pasternak not to mention the public, and that her somewhat blighted career at the studio was more a consequence of studio politics and changes within the film industry that had nothing to do with Deanna Durbin. For example, although by all accounts Gloria made a very successful debut in THE UNDER-PUP, several contemporary reports on her second feature A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN, describe the returns as "disappointing." Attempts by DECCA records to turn Gloria into a recording superstar along the lines of Durbin, Garland and Crosby (who were all under contract to the company at the time) with the release of a couple of test recordings, apepar to have led to nothing more, and, even after Pasternak left Universal in 1941, when Deanna Durbin subsequently went on suspension in a dispute with the studio, Universal did nothing to promote Gloria in her absence, nor did it do so upon her return. Moreover, when Gloria sought Pasternak out for work at MGM in the late 1940s (following an extensive concert tour), Pasternak refused to hire her, although she would have been approximately the same age as soprano contractees Kathryn Grayson and Jane Powell (According to Professor Bernard F. Dick's history of Universal, Pasternak pointedly told Gloria to "get out of the business.") Later comments by Pasternak that he was never as close personally to Gloria and her parents as he was to the Durbins, his failure to include any references whatsoever to her in his 1950s memoir, EASY THE HARD WAY, nor in later interviews in which he stated he was only interested in the "truly gifted" performers, suggest that he was not as admiring of Gloria's talents as he was of Deanna's, and there is much information to indicate that Universal felt the same. Rather, I suspect that Gloria's somewhat disappointing career at Universal was more the consequence of studio politics which had little, if anything to do with Deanna Durbin. Although Gloria has claimed that she declined to sign with the studio in 1945, given that Universal disbanded and dismissed practically its' entire retinue of "Youth Unit" stars (e.g., Susanna Foster, Patsy O'Connor, Peggy Ryan, Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, etc.) retaining only Durbin, Donald O'Connor and Ann Blyth, I suspect that the studio would have dropped Gloria anyway following it's successful alignment with Universal-International. The overall philosophy of this new studio regime seems to have been to move away from "B" and "Teen" oriented movies and into "A" list productions, and the younger stars were almost all completely removed from the studio roster as a consequence of this rationale. Indeed, when Susanna Foster returned to the studio in the late 1940s following further vocal study in Europe (financed with a loan from U-I), the only role the studio offered her was a minor one as Sonja Henie's maid in the "B" movie, THE COUNTESS OF MONTE CRISTO. Given that the studio retained not only Durbin, but the similarly lyrically attractive Ann Blyth, I suspect that it would ultimately have released Gloria along with the majority of her "Youth Unit" co-stars even had she elected to stay with the studio, but I seriously doubt that this had anything to do with any actions on Deanna Durbin's part. She's a convenient and intriguing scapegoat, but much of the background on Universal suggests that Gloria's career was entirely a byproduct of studio neglect/oversight rather than any interference by Deanna. Mind you, I'm not saying that my interpretation of Gloria's career is "definitive," only that it's my interpretation based on a good deal of research into her career. As I'm well aware that "anything's possible" in Hollywood (and Gloria herself has dismissed much of the material written on her as inaccurate), I'd be most interested to see any information you have (including the names of others who feel as you do) that Gloria's career was, in any way, personally impacted by Deanna Durbin's alleged "jealousy." In her e-mail reply to my request that she explain/elaborate on reports that she and Deanna did not get along at Universal and that Deanna sabotaged some of her career opportunities, Gloria responded that there would be a chapter in her book on Deanna which should answer my questions. Perhaps her book does go into more concrete and elaborate detail on this issue, but, until I've read it, given that all I've seen to date appears to be entirely unsubstantiated inuendo, I can't say it's accurate or valid at this time. As the above undoubtedly suggests, I've also visited the Schoonover sisters' website. The comments I've heard on the videos of her fims available there have not been as favorable as yours. Others have described them as watchable, but not well-produced and looking as if Gloria made them herself recording them from one VCR to another. Given that they are rather pricey, I've been reluctant to order any of them though your favorable comment may make me change my mind. It would be nice if TCM would show some of Gloria's movies. They have shown a couple of Deanna's (IT'S A DATE, which they own outright and LADY ON A TRAIN) in the past and are scheduled to show 100 MEN AND A GIRL in February and March, but it appears that MCA/UNIVERSAL is sitting tight on the other Durbin films, for whatever reason.(It was AMC that showed a handful of Deanna's films in the mid-1990s). I'd certainly enjoy seeing some of Gloria's films on TCM. She was a talented performer and both her talents and her films should be given a fair chance for re-appraisal. Oh, and I have read your reviews of Gloria's early films on IMDB. Although I don't agree with all your comments (I think Deanna had the purer tone of the two girls), they're excellent and I thank you for posting them.

I'd enjoy seeing more of Gloria's movies on TCM, too. Perhaps her book will generate some interest along these lines. Deanna Durbin is my favorite movie soprano too, but I also pretty much like them all, and I thought Gloria had a lovely light lyric coloratura voice. She was also very pretty in a wholesome "Durbin-esque" way, so I can see why Joe Pasternak signed her for Universal when he began easing Deanna into adult roles. I've seen the three films you've listed and I agree they're all fine showcases for Gloria's talent. She gives a good dramatic performance in DESTINY, even though I understand that the film itself was severely edited after original being set for one of the segments in Julien Duvivier's FLESH AND FANTASY (1943). For some reason, Universal decided to cut the segment out of the film, rework the plot, add a few additional scenes and release it as a feature film, where it wasn't well-received, so unfortunately Gloria's performance (she plays a blind farm girl) didn't get the attention it deserved. By the way, has anyone had the opportunity to read Gloria's memoir, A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN, and if you did, what did you think of it? I'd like to read it, but don't want to spend the $35 or so it would cost to get a good copy of it.

You're welcome, Alan: I agree, it's to Deanna's credit that the crooked arm wasn't very noticable. Usually, the only times I'm aware of it is when she's performing a musical number like "Happy Go Lucky and Free" in SOMETHING IN THE WIND where she's swaying in time to the music and has both of her arms raised and out in front of her. But since I was aware that her left arm was slightly bent before I saw one of her movies (other than EVERY SUNDAY where it really isn't an issue), I can't really say I "noticed" it on my own. lol!

You're welcome, Crispycomment: Here's a 1939 rebuke from the NEW YORK TIMES to Universal for advertising Deanna's fifth film, THREE SMART GIRLS GTOW UP, as the occasion of her "first glamorous role." The vehement tone of the editorial and the fervor with which it's expressed, lend credence to producer Joe Pasternak's comment, "She is one of those personalities the world will insist on regarding as its' personal property.": A UNIVERSAL ERROR ABOUT GLAMOUR With Special Reference to the Appeal of Deanna Durbin By Frank S. Nugent Spring seems to be a little late this year, so until it arrives we'll have to get along with Deanna Durbin, the closest thing to this side of the equinox. A couple of books could be written on Miss Durbin's singular appeal, but none of them would contain the horrible epithet Universal's advertising staff fastened on the miss last week. "Glamorous" was the word they dared employ and we haven't said a civil word to Universal since. It doesn't matter how the dictionary defines it--some literal poppycock about "a charm or enchantment working on the vision and causing things to seem different from what they are." We know what Hollywood means by glamour and we won't have our Deanna playing in the same category as Hedy, Marlene, Greta, Joan, Carole, Loretta, Merle and Tyronne. Glamour indeed! As if it had not been her very freedom from glamour, Hollywood style, that has endeared her to her millions. Glamour! as if that were a quality more precious than the freshness, the gay vitality, the artful artlessness and youthful radiance she has brought to the screen! Glamour! as if that were what we wanted of the perfect kid sister (not that there really ever was one). Glamour forsooth! and was it glamour that made Judge Hardy and his brood, or glamour we found in the late Marie Dressler and Will Rogers, or glamour in Mr. Deeds or Zola or Pasteur, or glamour for that matter (though we hate to mention it) which keeps little Mistress Temple as the nation's four time box office champion? What is this thing, glamour, anyway, that it has grown so great? Deanna, to put an end to the libel, is not the least bit glamorous in her latest delight "Three Smart Girls Grow Up," and she has not grown up so much herself. She leaves that, and the romantic troubles, to the older sisters, contenting herself with being the matrimonial broker of the family. Usually we dread these Little-Miss-Fixit roles. The brats are all so superior about it all and so right--like George Arlis as Disraeli or somebody. But Deanna manages to make even a half-grown meddler attractive. She is guility of the most awful blunders; she quite forgets her manners; she sulks and has tantrums when her plans go agley; and eventually she has to call on father. And that, of course, is the way it should be, and would be unless the Miss Fix It had been Shirley Temple. No, Deanna is all right, up to par or better, and when Universal next says 'G.....r' it had better smile.

Deanna had what they used to refer to as a "withered" left arm. Whether this was a consequence of a birth defect, or of a break she suffered as a young child that never healed properly is unclear, but she learned how to conceal it pretty well overall, and it certainly didn't detract from her appeal. An interesting trivia note: In his biography of Judy Garland, RAINBOW: THE STORMY LIFE OF JUDY GARLAND, author Christopher Finch says that in later year, Judy used to do a "cruel" imitation of Deanna's singing posture, emphasizing her crooked left arm. I don't know whether this is true or not, and I've read some very flattering comments by Judy on Deanna, but it does suggest that Judy was a pretty complex personality.

You're welcome. Here's another blurb the TIMES published on Deanna and Judy in December 1936. Note that the paper and Universal have elevated Deanna to top stardom even though THREE SMART GIRLS would not go into general release until January 1937, lending credence to Deanna's status as popular culture's first "Teen Idol": From "A Corner of Hollywood Talent" By Douglas W. Churchill December 13, 1936: "The success of two new youngsters in recent films promises to lift the ban from half-grown girls, and possibly start a cycle of pictures involving singing ingenues. Girls in their early and mid teens have never interested producers, but since Judy Garland attracted attention in PIGSKIN PARADE, and the industry became aware of Deanna Durbin in Universal's THREE SMART GIRLS, scouting activity has been noted. Young Miss Durbin's success has been the more pronounced. Charles R. Rogers, Universal's head, regards her as one of the important discoveries of several seasons and is making elaborate plans for her future. There is talk of reviving "The Phantom of the Opera" in which she will be starred and Hans Kraly has been commissioned to write an untitled original for her. Following Hollywood custom, most of those connected with a successful film are being advanced to high places. With "Three Smart Girls" Miss Durbin has been skyrocketed to stardom, and Adele Commandini who wrote the original, Joseph Pasternak, who produced it, and Henry Koster who directed the picture are accorded the title of geniuses of the month.... Miss Durbin, Miss Commandini's script, Pasternak and Koster were thrown together to make a B picture. Pasternak saw the possibilities in the yarn and while he was pleading for an enlarged budget, Joseph I. Breen of the Hays office, to whom the scenario had been sent for approval, called Rogers and complimented him on it. As a result, without fanfare or announcement, the picture was put on the A list, money was spent on it and now everyone connected with the project is in great demand." Here's a few more bits of "Deanna Trivia": When she made her debut on Eddie Cantor's TEXACO TOWN radio show on September 26, 1936, Deanna created an immediate sensation. When Cantor "inadvertently" failed to introduce her by her full name, CBS was bombarded with 5,000 letters from captivated listeners demanding to know more about her. In July 1937, Deanna was awarded RADIO GUIDE's "Favorite Newcomer of the Year Award" with an astonishing 5,000,000 votes. Following the expiration of her contract with Cantor, CBS reportedly offered Deanna her own radio show, but she turned it down reportedly due to her already wildly overcrowded professional schedule; Following the release of THREE SMART GIRLS, which received an Oscar-nomination for Best Picture, Deanna was awarded the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Actress for her performance. Deanna's second film, 100 MEN AND A GIRL, also received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and, among many other accolades, Deanna was a nominee from the New York Drama Critics Circle for Best Actress for her perfomance. She also was one of the nominees for TIME Magazine's "Person of the Year"; According to published reports (e.g., FORTUNE MAGAZINE) Deanna's films accounted for 17 percent of Universal's entire revenue during the late 1930s; Deanna was Prime Minister Winston Churchill's favorite movie star. He reportedly insisted on being permitted to screen her films privately before they went into release in Britain, and, according to novelist Eric Ambler, would run ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL to celebrate British victories during the War; Deanna was Britain's top female box office draw from 1939 through 1942. She was so popular that in 1942, the Odeon Theatre Circuit arranged a week long "Deanna Durbin Film Festival" during which her films were shown exclusively on the circuit throughout Britain for a week, a feat which has never been duplicated for any other star; Deanna was also a favorite of Russian dictator Josef Stalin, who reportedly a special translator to translate the dialogue of her films into Russian while he watched them. She had been a top box office star in Russia from the first appearance of her films there in the early 1940s and has remained so to this day. Reportedly, Deanna is the only non-Russian performer to have been adopted as "Russian" by the Russian government and during the 1950s and 1960s, the KGB reportedly cited her as the "vocal ideal" for young girls interested in studying singing. Following glasnot under Gorbachev in the 1980s, the Russian government, which had invited dignitaries from all over the world to celebrate the event, had the KGB Social Club run "a program of films dedicated to Deanna Durbin" for a week.; In 1941, Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini, published an open fan letter to Deanna in his personal newspaper, IL POPOLO, urging her to intercede with President Roosevelt on behalf of American Youth to dissuade him from being America into the "European Conflict," which, of course, became World War II after America entered the fray in December 1941. When Deanna's film IT STARTED WITH EVE was released in Paris in late 1944 following the liberation of that city, jubilant patrons became so numerous and excited that riot police had to be called in to control the crowds; Although often wrongly cited as a box office flop, Deanna's 1944 film, CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY, was, in fact, the highest grossing film in Universal's history up to that point; Following the defeat of the Japanese in 1945, Deanna's 1943 film, HIS BUTLER'S SISTER, was the first American film chosen by General Douglas MacArthur, head of the Allied Occupation Forces, to be screened in Japan. The film (with its' title changed to PRELUDE TO SPRING) created a box office sensation (prior to America's declaration of War on Japan in 1941, Deanna's films had been wildly popular there). The impact of the War had led many Japanese to question and abandon centuries old strictures of propriety, including the ban on kissing in public, and many Japanese reportedly used Deanna's films as a "guide" for learning how to do so appropriately. I agree it would be nice if TCM would dedicate a day, days, month to Pasternak's Soprano film stars, but I don't know how many of Deanna's films they own for such a project. Hopefully, their showing of ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL will lead to more of her films being shown by the network. She's definitely worth checking out!

Here are some contemporary notices from THE NEW YORK TIMES which indicate some of the impact Durbin's tremendous and instantaneous success had on MGM's pursuit and promotion of adolescent vocalists. As noted in the last one, Pasternak was signed by Metro specifically in hopes that he would be able to duplicate the success he had with Deanna with Kathryn Grayson and other Metro songbirds.: February 22, 1937: "Metro Will Sign Betty Jaynes, 15 Year-old Opera Singer": Betty Jaynes, 15-year-old opera singer discovered by the Chicago Grand Opera Company, has been engaged by MGM, giving that studio someone to compete with Universal's Deanna Durbin. Miss Jaynes will be allowed several months of freedom each year for concert and opera work."; March 2, 1937: "Metro is thinking seriously about offering Judy Garland as a threat to Universal's Deanna Durbin, and after the youngster's appearance with Charles Gorin, ne Igor Gorin, in "Broadway Melody," the studio will present them as a team in an untitled comedy which Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allen Woolf are writing."; (This was apparently EVERYBODY SING, for which, as Judy fans know, Gorin was replaced by Allan Jones); June 20, 1941: "Pasternak Will Join Metro Production Staff": "Joe Pasternak, producer of the Deanna Durbin pictures at Universal, today joined the production staff at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He will report to the studio on Sept 1 after he completes Miss Durbin's "Almost an Angel" ("It Started With Eve"). While Metro withheld details of the contract, it is understood to be for five years, starting at $3,500. Although other studios were negotiating with Pasternak, it was learned that Louis B. Mayer insisted on the acquisition, making several unusual concessions in the agreement which Pasternak requested. "It is expected at Metro that Kathryn Grayson will be assigned to the Pasternak unit. Miss Grayson, the studio feels, is capable of developing along the lines that brought Miss Durbin to prominence. She has been seen in but one picture, "Andy Hardy's Private Secretary," in wihch she sang four songs. Although she has been tentatively assigned to two films, she will be withdrawn from them and not cast in anything until Pasternak's arrival on the lot."

It was Joe Pasternak's idea to purchase the rights to IT'S A DATE and remake the film as NANCY GOES TO RIO as a vehicle for Jane Powell. This is why MGM owns the rights to IT'S A DATE, even though the film was produced by Universal. Pasternak also quasi-remade Durbin's first film, THREE SMART GIRLS at MGM in 1949 as THREE DARING DAUGHTERS starring Powell, Jeanette MacDonald and Jose Iturbi, and, of course, plot elements and musical elements from the Durbin ouvre were re-used in many of Pasternak's MGM vehicles for Powell, Grayson, Garland, et. al.. TCM has shown both IT'S A DATE and LADY ON A TRAIN on Deanna's birthday in the past, but, for whatever reason, decided not to do so this time around. I believe 100 MEN AND A GIRL is also scheduled to be shown on February 20th at 8:00. It's a terrific movie and well worth checking out if you're a classical music fan or want to see what all the fuss over Durbin is about. As David Shipman said of Deanna and the film: "Of the many films in which Deanna Durbin appeared, the one most fondly rmembered is 100 MEN AND A GIRL. That a fifteen year-old child should have had such a clarity in singing and first-rate musicianship is remarkable, but combined with a similar instinct for acting is nothing short of miraculous." Hopefully the showing of 100 MEN will be the beginning of TCM's acquiring more of Deanna's films. I agree that they're wonderful and deserve to be better known.

The finale of ZIEGFELD FOLLIES with all those chorus girls twirling through the giant mounds of soap suds while poor Kathryn Grayson warbles that silly "There's Beauty Everywhere" is pretty far out. Also the "It's Gonna Be a Great Day" number from FUNNY LADY with Streisand dressed in a gold lame laundry bag and a bunch of girls writhing at her feet, and lest we forget the infamous "The Lady With the Tutti-Frutti Hat" number from THE GANG'S ALL HERE featuring Carmen Miranda and a bunch of chorus girls waving giant bananas. I don't think a good psychiatrist would touch those numbers with a ten foot couch. That number featuring those triple jointed triplets tumbling all over the place from BROADWAY RHYTHM.

I think Davis gave a marvelous performance in ALL ABOUT EVE, one of her finest. But in this case, I think the Academy got it right in giving the Best Actress Award to the marvelous Judy Holliday for her wonderful characterization of "Billie Dawn" in BORN YESTERDAY. Davis's and Swanson's roles were cutting edge, even somewhat avant garde, but of the three Holliday is the only one who took a stock characterization (the dumb blonde broad with a heart of gold) and made it into a memorable, uniquely appealing characterization. Holliday deserved that Oscar more than Davis, Swanson, and the others combined, in my opinion. It's odd that brilliant comedic performances like Holliday's are almost never considered as difficult, impressive or worthy of attention or respect as "dramatic" ones like Davis's and Swanson's, even by film buffs, especially as actors almost universally acknowledge that comedy is much more difficult to play than drama. Birdie: "What a story. Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end!"

You're welcome. On the issue of TCM showing some of Deanna's movies, here's a tribute TCM host and HOLLYWOOD REPORTER did to Deanna on the occasion of her 80th birthday i 2001. It appears that Mr. Osborne is a great admirer of Deanna's talent and legacy, even if TCM as a corporation and its' programmers may not be: A half-century later, still no showbiz regrets NEW YORK -- Today marks the birthday for many showbiz notables, including Jeff Bridges and Marisa Tomei, but one who deserves an extra drumroll is Deanna Durbin, who on this Dec. 4 celebrates her 80th natal day. (Deanna Durbin 80? Unimaginable!) For those who might not be aware of Durbin's name or work, let's just say you've been shortchanged. She was, without question, one of the most infectious and likable personalities and singers Hollywood both developed and exploited; she also became the industry's highest-paid woman star at a time the film world was swarming with provocative females. Durbin's films not only turned Universal from a second-class company to a big gun but actually saved the studio from bankruptcy with her first two features (1936's "Three Smart Girls" and 1937's "100 Men and a Girl"), after which she starred in not musicals per se but a stream of brightly written, neatly executed Universal comedies (and a drama or two) in which music was a predominate feature but not the focus. Durbin received a special Academy Award in 1938 "for bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth." She was considered Exhibit A as "the big one that got away" from MGM. At age 14, the Canada-born Edna Mae Durbin had been recommended to MGM by a talent scout and was promptly cast in a musical short, "Every Sunday," along with another potential contractee, 13-year-old Judy Garland. MGM, figuring it had room for only one singing juvenile, picked Garland to stay and waved goodbye to Durbin. Universal immediately snapped her up and, within months, was making a fortune because of her. (It was another seven years before Garland's boxoffice potency or fame began to equal Durbin's.) But at age 27, at the top of her game, Durbin did the unthinkable. She bolted. After 12 years of being Universal's top boxoffice draw, Durbin did a Garbo. She left Hollywood, moved to France, married third husband Charles David and never looked back. Nor has Hollywood ever been able to lure her back. Not for other films (Joe Pasternak offered her the moon to do "Kiss Me Kate" in 1953), nor for passage on a "Love Boat," not to pick up a plaque at any award party. So completely has Durbin dissociated herself with the film industry that she has not given an interview in the past 53 years. And long ago she began signing her letters to chums not as Deanna but by her pre-Hollywood name, Edna Mae. Durbin will be celebrating this natal day in Paris in her spacious Left Bank apartment, one with a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower, and one she has shared with her husband lo these many years. Said Garland many years ago, "She was the smartest one of us all."

Universal songbird Deanna Durbin turns 84 today. In addition to being the only performer in film history to be publicly credited with singlehandedly saving her studio (Universal) from bankruptcy and sustaining it as a Hollywood power duirng its' darkest economic days, she was also popular culture's first "Teen Idol," the first adolescent film superstar, the first great cinematic child star to make the transition from child to adult star without losing her popularity, and, practically from the time of her film debut, one of the highest paid performers in the world. It is undisputed that in 1945 and 1947 Deanna Durbin was the highest paid woman in the United States, but several sources indicate that she achieved this accolade for the first time as early as the late 1930s. In addition, Durbin was a spectacularly gifted natural singer actress. With almost no professional expereince to speak of, aside from two years of vocal lessons, she became a superstar with her first film, THREE SMART GIRLS, and retained that status until she chose to retire from public performing in 1949. She was said to have the biggest fan club in the world, and, during her career, introduced millions of fans and admirers, including Dame Joan Sutherland, Mel Torme, Rita Moreno, Angela Lansbury and Mel Torme to the joys of singing and classical music. Her success was so immediate and so spectacular, that she started other studios scrambling to develop other talented young adolescent stars, including Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Jane Powell, and, at Deanna's own studio, Gloria Jean and Ann Blyth. In contemporary interviews, Garland herself publicly thanked Deanna for creating interest in Hollywood for leading roles for adolescent girls. After a spectacularly successful career, and despite several subsequent tempting offers which included the female lead in the film version of KISS ME KATE and the original Broadway production of MY FAIR LADY, Deanna Durbin chose to retire from public life in 1949 and devote herself to her family. Shortly after, she married French director Charles David (her third marriage), a union which endured for 49 years until Mr. David's death in March, 1999. Hopefully, she's had a wonderful day celebrating with family and friends. She certainly deserves it!

I think HIGH SOCIETY is a cute film with a nice score and a genial cast, but I agree with the general critical concensus that it's drained all the bite out of the original PHILADELPHIA STORY script. Kelly is gorgeous, of course, but petulant and pouty where Hepburn was brittle and disdainful, and though she and Crosby generate some genuine onscreen chemistry during the lovely "True Love" flashback, otherwise he seems too old for her (not too surprising, given that he was 25 years older than she was). The girl who played "Dinah" in the remake was atrocious: coy, arch mannered and bland, and a blight on the memory of Virginia Weidler in the original film. In fact, the only one of the lead performances I thought measured up to the original was Celeste Holm's in the "Liz Imbrie" role played by Ruth Hussey, and Louis Calhern didn't do a bad job as "Uncle Willie," though even he wasn't as good as Roland Young Unfortunately, both Holm and Calhern were given too little to do in the film. I do enjoy the score, particularly "Now You Has Jazz," "True Love" and "Well, Did You Evah?" but, otherwise I feel HIGH SOCIETY is marred by the same sort of sated sluggish, smug superficiality which characterized most '50s remakes of classic '30s & '40s films which never should have been remade in the first place.

Yes, it's nice to see those Pre-Code films, isn't it? Even though I do enjoy the "Post Code" muscials as well. On the other hand, I recall reading in one of Peter Bogdanovich's books his opinion that LMT was not as well-crafted as the Lubitsch musicals such as THE LOVE PARADE and ONE HOUR WITH YOU (even though they obviously inspired LMT). It thus didn't surprise me when the Chevalier/MacDonald THE MERRY WIDOW showed up as one of Bogdanovich's choices on TCM's "The Essentials" a few months back. I don't believe he cited this as the "best" or his "favorite" musical during his commentary on the film, but I'm sure he regards it more highly than the oft-cited "Freed Unit" musicals of MGM.

<> Aw g'wan, I'm blushing! Seriously, thanks for the nice compliment, ML. I'm flattered you enjoyed reading my comments.

Agreed, Feaito: Lubitsch was the first director to focus on character-driven musicals over lavish production number, and with THE LOVE PARADE he proved that such intimate musical films could be successful and admired. I love Astaire and Rogers, but they're often inaccurately credited with making the musical film a more intimate and character-driven art form when in fact Lubitsch, Mamoulian, Chevalier and MacDonald beat them to it be a few years. Incidentally, have you listened to Miles Kreuger's commentary on the LOVE ME TONIGHT DVD? In it I believe he states that LOVE ME TONIGHT is, in his opinion, the best musical ever made. It's certainly one of them.

Well said, Kevin. As I was reading SWEETHEARTS, an image of an old Foghorn Leghorn cartoon kept flashing in my mind in which he offers a baseball to a child prodigy "chick" who proceeds to try to eat it. After Foghorn pulls the ball from the boy's mouth, he is incredulous to discover that the kid has never seen a baseball or played baseball before Foghorn looks into the camera and mutters: "There's something, I say, there's something kinda "YEEEEEEE-UH" about a kid that never played baseball!" I felt the same way reading Rich's book...It was creepy. But it's worth a look for those seeking a surreal biographical experience, so long as they don't give credibility to Rich's claims. Just don't buy a copy, take it out of the library, so you're not validating Rich's work by purchasing the book. It's perhaps somewhat harsh to judge Rich's work this way,but not only did I find her claims incredulous, but the writing style was so melodramatic and overwrought I just found the whole thing completely unbelievable. I understand there was a "new edition" published of the book a few years ago, but I haven't seen that one...Thankfully.

The Kern/Hamemrstein production of SHOW BOAT (1927) is actually considered to be the first great American musical to integrate song and dance elements into a genuinely mature and dramatic piece of musical theater. OKLAHOMA!, with its' Agnes DeMille dream ballets expressing the character's inner emotions and feelings, brought the integration to another level, but in so doing it was building upon the groundwork laid not only by SHOW BOAT, but also such shows as the Gershwins' OF THEE I SING and Rodgers & Hart's PAL JOEY (which, incidentally, made a Broadway star of a pre-Hollywood Gene Kelly). Two film musicals which pre-date MEET ME IN ST LOUIS in their integration of song and other musical elements to advance the plotline were Ernst Lubitsch's ONE HOUR WITH YOU (1932) and Rouben Mamoulian's LOVE ME TONIGHT (1932), both starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. The former, a modern marital farce, also has Chevalier breaking the "fourth wall" in addressing the audience directly on occasion. The latter, with its' score of Rodgers and Hart standards including "Mimi," "Isn't It Romantic?," and "Lover," also times the movement of the camera to a musical underscoring as is evident in the film's first musical "number," "Song of Paree" in which various mechanical and working sounds of an early Paris workday (e.g., a factory whistle, a sweeper's broom, a laborer's hammer, etc.) combine to create a rhythmic musical number as other citizens of the city awaken and begin their workday, culminating in tailor Maurice Chevalier's waking up and singing "The Song of Paree." Minnelli, like most other great directors, was heavily influenced by these musicals, especially LOVE ME TONIGHT, and it's likely that the passing of the title song from family member to family member in MEET ME IN ST LOUIS was inspired by Mamoulian's staging of "Isn't It Romantic?" in LOVE ME TONIGHT. The song is begun by tailor Maurice Chevalier in his shop as he waits for a bridegroom to emerge from the dressing room with the suit he's tailored for him. The customer then picks up the refrain as he leaves the shop and is overheard by a musician as he gets into a waitng cab. The musician then starts transposing the song into notes while he rides a train which includes a troop of soldiers among the passengers (conveniently in the next car from the musician.) The soldiers then sing the song in chorus as they march through the French countryside and are overheard by a passing gypsy, who runs back to his camp and plays it for his fellow gypsies on his violin. The strains of the violin are then overheard by Princess Jeanette MacDonald in her chalet and she concludes the song. Thus, entirely through music and movement, the two leading characters, Chevalier and MacDonald) are romantically linked long before they have actually met. After tailor-in-disguise Chevalier is later billetted at the chateau, Mamoulian uses the passing from household member to household member device again to show the cathartic effect the young man's presence has had on the household as various members sing choruses of "Mimi," a song Chevalier introduces to MacDonald, and finally, after Chevalier's ruse is discovered and he leaves the chalet, the various residents express their surprise, shock and, in some cases, disdain, for his ruse in the marvelously witty, "The Son-of-a-Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor." As this song and the others in the score prove, no one wrote wittier or more brilliant lyrics than Lorenz Hart!