Starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, SZ Sakall, and Mischa Aurer
Directed by Henry Koster
Music by Robert Stoltz and Henry J. Salter; Lyrics by Gus Kahn
We're returning to the world of Deanna Durbin for our first two reviews this week. Up to this point, Durbin's vehicles had all been modern romantic comedies with her performing the occasional song. She was popular enough by 1940 for Universal to try her in a genuine operetta, based on a 1934 German romantic comedy. This would also be Durbin's first try at a period piece. How well does she do in this story of a little girl from a Hungarian town who ends up falling for a soldier in old Vienna? Let's begin as that girl, Ilonka Tolnay (Durbin), takes her goat to a local fair to sell and find out...
The Story: Ilonka is skeptical at first when a fortune teller claims she'll marry an artist in Vienna after he hits her with a stick and meet an important man who'll help her. Her doubts vanish quickly when she falls asleep after a wild dance contest in a hay cart on its way to Vienna. The cart is owned by kindly baker Latislav Tescheck (Sakall), who takes her in and gives her a job. She befriends Tescheck's clerk Jenny (Anne Gwynne), who intends to marry the stuffy Count Zorndorf (Allyn Joslyn).
Jenny catches the eye of handsome soldier Corporal Harry Marten (Cummings), who tries to woo her. She turns him to Ilonka, who makes the Count believe she's his sweetheart. He asks her to dinner; she almost turns it down due to the fortune claiming she'll marry an artist. Turns out the soldier is a type of artist. He's a frustrated composer who can't write songs in the Army, due to military regulations. The waltz they write that night goes over so well, she sends it in a salt stick to Emperor Franz Joseph (Henry Stephenson) himself. The Emperor thinks Tescheck is trying to poison him and has him arrested. Thanks to a friend of the Count's, Ilonka persuades him to free the baker. She almost doesn't go to the ball he's holding...but there's someone special waiting for her there...
The Song and Dance: Durbin is charming and funny in this lovely middle European romp. Sakall is adorable as the sweet old baker who takes her in. I appreciate seeing how well Jenny is portrayed. There's no animosity between her and Ilonka at all; it's Jenny who convinces the count's friend Wieldemeyer (Franklin Pangborn) to help save Tescheck. Cummings is also far more personable than many of the men who turn up in Durbin's films. He's especially funny trying to find paper and pens to write his magnum opuses at the most inopportune moments. There's also some gorgeous costumes, both the Hungarian peasant dresses in the country, and the lavish frills and starched uniforms of Vienna.
Favorite Number: We open with Durbin's sprightly comic number "It's Foolish but It's Fun," as she describes things that may seem silly, but still put a smile on her face. She sings it at least three times, including after she's sent her note to the Emperor. The Oscar-nominated "Waltzing In the Clouds" is heard twice, when Cummings and Durbin introduce it during their date at the club, and at the royal ball in the finale. Both feature kaleidoscopes of couples gliding to the waltz as Durbin's soprano soars over them. She performs "When April Sings" a bit later. "Blue Danube Dream" is performed by Durbin at the ball.
What I Don't Like: The story and title apparently made more sense in its original German version, where Ilonka sent a rousing march, not a waltz, to the Emperor. "It's Foolish, but it's Fun" describes Ilonka in more than one way. Her attempts to push Marten into the spotlight and get him out of the army come off as more annoying and silly than well-meaning, especially towards the end, when it gets the innocent Tescheck into trouble. Dull music doesn't help; the two big songs are performed at least three times each.
The Big Finale: Not Durbin's best musical, but not bad for fans of her or old-fashioned European operetta.
Home Media: Legal difficulties with the 1934 German film keeps this from being released on disc in the US. YouTube is currently the only place you can find it.
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