Deanna Durbin Collection 1
Deanna Durbin was a child actress who had a somewhat of a short-lived Hollywood career as a singer and actress. She was mainly known for starring in romantic musical comedy films with her heyday being in the late 1930s. A few years later Durbin, as she was getting older, wanted to be in more serious pictures, leaving musical melodramas behind, starred in a couple of Film Noirs, Christmas Holiday and Lady on a Train, those films were not nearly as well-received as her earlier films. Her career, which began in 1936 lasted for 13 years, after appearing in just over 20 films. By 1949 she had gone off the grid and out of the public eye.
Kino Lorber has released three of her more noteworthy films in a box set that celebrates the great singer and actress that was Deanna Durbin. All three films in this set are musical comedies that she starred in, and all them were directed by Henry Koster, who used her regularly in his films.
100 Men and a Girl (1937) is the tale of a young girl’s determination to be a success in music. Patricia “Patsy” Caldwell (Deanna Durban) , the daughter of a struggling unemployed musician John Caldwell (Adolphe Menjou, A Bill of Divorcement, A Farewell to Arms) wants to help her father. She wants to form symphony orchestra made up of her father and one hundred of his friends, who are also looking to work. It happens all unexpectedly. Patsy, when returning a purse that belongs Mrs. Frost (Alice White) who left it behind accidentally, learns that her husband John R. Frost (funny man Eugene Pallette, The Kennel Murder Case) happens to own a radio station. When Pasty asks Mr. Frost for her orchestra to be sponsored by him, he says he will only do that if she recruits one hundred musicians and a well-known conductor for her orchestra. This was meant to be a joke, but not to Patsy. Using her persistence, her wit, and her charm Patricia finds a way to not only get the musicians but also a name conductor, Leopold Stokowski (as himself) to lead them. This is a well-done classic, both amusing and heart felt. The veteran cast along with Durbin make a magical picture with top of the line acting, a simple story and superb direction.
In the 1939 musical comedy, Three Smart Girls Grow Up, a follow up to the 1936 film Three Smart Girls, the main story arc is about three sisters Penny (Durbin), Joan(Nan Grey, The Invisible ManReturns) and Katherine “Kay” (Helen Parrish, They All Kissed the Bride) Craig who are living life in harmony, until Key falls in love falls in love with Joan’s fiancé, Richard Watkins(William Lundigan, Follow Me Quietly). Penny, not wanting to see a conflict tries to find a new boyfriend for Joan, so Kay and Richard can be together without any issues. Could musician Harry Loren (Robert Cummings, Dial M for Murder) be the new love for Joan or has her sister Penny fallen in love with him? Penny’s matchmaking skills fail miserably leading to dissention and sadness between the sisters. Things go from bad to worse, until Penny asks for her father to intervene.
Three Smart Girls Grow Up is a nice charming film with great performances by the cast. Deanna Durbin and Robert Cummings do have chemistry together, along with the high-quality acting from the rest of the performers. Durbin again sings with her heart out with that lovely singing voice of hers.
Robert Cummings and Deanna Durbin team-up again, this time with screen legend Charles Laughton in the 1941 film It Started with Eve. Because he wants to please his father Jonathan Reynolds(Charles Laughton, The Big Clock, Island of Lost Souls, The Old Dark House) who apparently is near death, Johnathan “Johnny” Reynolds Jr (Cummings) convinces a hat-check girl Anne Terry(Durban) to impersonate his fiancé as his real bride to be, Gloria Pennington (Margaret Tallichet, Stranger on the Third Floor), has left town to take care of her mother Mrs. Pennington (Catherine Doucet, These Three). The fake-fiancé scheme by Anne was supposed to only last a few moments, but Jonathan Reynolds’ health improves and would like to see her again causing the charade to go on longer than expected and gets even more complicated when Reynolds discovers the truth about Anne Terry.
It Started with Eve is a GREAT film, the best in the set in my opinion. The acting is superb, with Charles Laughton stealing the show and enjoying his role as an elderly supposedly near-death father. The music is also wonderful, so good in fact that the picture received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score!
Kino Lorber presents all three Deanna Durban films on Blu-ray in a lavish box set. Each movie comes in its own Blu-ray disc with exquisite sleeve-art. All three films are quite similar in terms of the image quality. The video presentation for all the films are clear and smooth throughout, looking cleaned up with a polished smooth look to them all. The grey scale is balanced, and the black levels are rich. I detected no DNR or other artificial enhancements. I thought the video presentation for the films was outstanding for each film.
English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 tracks were applied to all three films and again they are all similar with the dialog coming in loud and clear, with the musical numbers, not limited to Deanna Durbin’s singing being more robust. Optional English subtitles are available for this release.
Extras are few but still of great value to fans of these fans.
100 Men and a Girl features an audio commentary by Stephan Vagg and a trailer for The Bride Wore Boots. The commentary track is another great on filled with information about the film, with some fascinating history about Deanna Durbin
Three Smart Girls Grow Up includes a trailer for the film, plus trailers for Christmas in July and The Young in Heart are also included.
It started with Eve features an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. This commentary has a lot of detailed information, again about Deanna Durbin, who at this point in her career was tired of the same role in musical comedies and her desire to be in more serious dramas. Deighan would cover her career until the end in this commentary. A trailer for the film is also included.
This box set is essential to fans of Deanna Durbin and for those who love classical musicals from this era. Great films, with great audio and video to go along with some insightful commentary tracks makes this collection highly recommended!
100 Men and a Girl
Director- Henry Coster
Cast- Deanna Durbin
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
Director- Henry Koster
Cast- Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, Charles Winninger
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
It Started with Eve
Director- Henry Coster
Cast- Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, Charles Laughton
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 8/7/20