I always thought of Deanna Durbin as some darling of the musical cinema in the late 30s and 40s, although I think I've only seen her as a juvenile singing the "legit" contrast to Judy Garland's swing. Well, I got a double dose of adult Deanna with It Started with Eve and Can't Help Singing, two musical films Miss Durbin made for Universal in 1941.
Eve is a more a mad-cap comedy with a couple of songs interpolated into it. Durbin plays a young classically trained singer who through a series of misadventures and lies poses as the fiancee of a young, wealthy playboy from New York City (Robert Cummings). The four songs Durbin sings during the film are operetta standards or art songs (one in Spanish). No one else sings in the film--probably a blessing as Robert Cumming's father is played by Charles Laughton. While Durbin's singing is first rate, the material is really lacking in substance. In particular, the film could have used a big, showy finale number for its star; as it is the story just ends.
Can't Help Singing is more of a traditional film musical, although there are only four songs in it, provided from the pen of Jerome Kern and Yip Harburg. I don't know if these songs were used elsewhere. Only the title song caught my ear, although Durbin's co-star Robert Paige has a nice voice.
I very much like Deanna Durbin's voice and regret that she didn't have a bigger, glitzier film career. Her voice has much more character than Kathryn Grayson or Jeannette MacDonald.
Can't Help Singing
It Started with Eve
released by Universal Pictures in 1941 and 1944
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, Robert Paige, Charles Laughton
2 comments:
IT STARTED WITH EVE and the musical CAN'T HELP SINGING are both very entertaining! Deanna Durbin seems to have become popular again because of the Internet and DVD technology!! Last I heard, her mailbox is flooded with letters from fans!!!
www.deannadurbindevotees.com
Enjoyed your write-up a lot, but disagree re Durbin's performance in EVE. I thought she was excellent. Dunne (a favorite of mine) and Arthur (don't like her as much, but she was talented) would have been too old and inappropriate for this type of role.
Also, a slight correction: Deanna Durbin had a hugely successful career, that far outstripped those of her MGM contemporaries, most of whom owed initial studio interest in them to Durbin's success. Durbin's best films were among the most anticipated of their time, and even though Universal was struggling financially during the time she was under contract, it's a measure of her popularity and her value to them that for several years during the 1940s, she was among the highest paid women in the U.S., for a few years, the highest paid woman in the country.
Her first onscreen kiss in 1939 made headlines around the world, and she was such a worldwide favorite that Axis countries used false reports of her "tragic" death as a way of demoralizing Allied troops during World War II. She turned her back on Hollywood and celebrity when she retired at age 27, but during her heyday, there were few stars bigger or more beloved than Deanna Durbin.
I do agree with your comments re Durbin's voice. I thought it was beautiful. Thanks for the reviews.
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