Starring Deanna Durbin, Donald O'Connor, John Dall, and Charles Winninger
Directed by Irving Pichel
Music and Lyrics by various
Durbin's popularity continued after the war years. She expanded her range with the semi-musical drama The Amazing Mrs. Holliday and the non-musical thrillers Christmas Holiday and Lady In a Train, but the public continued to prefer her musicals. Changes were afoot at Universal as they merged with the smaller B studio International Pictures to become Universal-International. Universal lost interest in musicals, preferring action movies and comedy series that cost less and required less specialized personnel. Durbin wasn't happy when they pushed her back into the same kind of fluff she'd appeared in before the war...but was she right to write off this one, or is there more to this story than meets the eye? Let's begin at the radio station with popular disc jockey Mary Collins (Durbin) and find out...
The Story: Mary is addressed by young millionaire Donald Read (Dall), who thinks she was the mistress of his late grandfather. She was nothing of the kind...but her Aunt Mary (Jean Adair) was. Donald and his grandmother (Margaret Wycherly) have her brought to their home and won't let her go until she signs papers claiming it. His bored younger brother Charlie (O'Connor) is more interested in listening to Mary's protests that she doesn't know anything about it. They hatch a scheme to make Donald look ridiculous in the eyes of his fiancee Clarissa (Helena Carter) and let her go, but Mary doesn't expect to fall in love with him in the process.
The Song and Dance: Durbin may not have enjoyed making this, but it's actually one of her better later vehicles. Disc jockeys and television, which figures into the finale, were both relatively new concepts at the time, and they make the movie a bit more unique. Maybe it comes from those thrillers Durbin made during the war years, but this also feels a little tougher than some of her earlier movies. Mary willingly joins in on Charlie's extortion plot and has no difficulty attacking the cops who keep dragging her away. Durbin also gets to show her vocal range, singing everything from an opera duet with tenor Jan Peerce as a singing cop to a hot swing number at a nightclub.
I also give props to O'Connor, who may be the only male co-star Durbin's age to have equal weight in one of her movies. He's clearly happy to be back from his stint in the Army and jumps into his three comic numbers with abandon. His "I Love a Mystery" in particular is an absolute gem, one of the best numbers from Durbin's films to not involve her.
Favorite Number: "The Turntable Song" would be the last original hit from any of Durbin's movies as she sings to all her favorite listeners in the studio. Charlie later reprises it under her balcony with none other than the Williams Brothers, including a very young Andy Williams. Charlie explains to Mary why "I Love a Mystery," and he's enjoying helping her, with him enacting radio mystery shows and showing off his physical dexterity in a way that previews his "Make 'Em Laugh" number from Singin' In the Rain five years later. Durbin sings the title number twice, for Donald after the balcony serenade, and later during the TV show in the finale.
She tries to annoy Donald and make Clarissa jealous by reminding them why "You Wanna Keep Your Baby Looking Right" after the fashion show, especially when he's already been admiring the models. Durbin performs the duet "Misere" from the opera Il Trovatore with the cop who is watching over her in jail (real-life opera tenor Jan Peerce) in order to distract him and get his keys. Charlie's "Happy Go Lucky and Free" as he trips around the ballerinas in the TV dance number, then attempts to actually sing, before Durbin takes over.
What I Don't Like: If this were two or three years later, Mary probably would have ended up with Charlie. She has far more chemistry and a lot more fun with O'Connor than she does with the stiff and pompous Dall, but O'Connor was still an up-and-comer at this point. It feels more like their characters fall for each other because the script calls for it and because Dall was the more traditional leading man, not because they worked well together. The story can get too convoluted for its own good at times as well, especially near the end when she ends up in jail a second time and his uncle (Winninger) tries to get her to give him half the money.
The Big Finale: One of Durbin's best later vehicles is highly recommended for fans of her or O'Connor or someone looking for a truly unique romantic comedy with songs.
Home Media: Out of print on Universal Vault DVD, but the Blu-Ray is available.
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