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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Deanna Durbin: Sweetheart
Pack" is Universal's celebration of the adolescent
soprano that MGM discarded after screen testing
her opposite Judy Garland in the musical short
"Every Sunday."
In hindsight MGM's decision to can Durbin was
sound, though after the success of her debut film
L.B Mayer was probably kicking himself. Although
Durbin was a pre-teen operatic sensation she
lacked the star power or dramatic acting chops
needed to make her a full-fledged musical star.
Not that anyone noticed during her tenure at
Universal. Durbin was one of the most popular and
most successful of that studio's stars. But her
films lack the effervescent abandonment and
stunning creativity behind MGM's Jane Powell film
vehicles. (Aside: This collection of Deanna's
greatest hits does not contain the film "100 Men &
A Girl," currently advertised on some web sites as
part of this collection and undoubtedly the best
film Durbin ever made during her tenure. One can
only assume that its absence from this collection
will result in "Deanna Durbin: Sweethearts #2.")
This collection begins with "Three Smart Girls,"
Deanna's entrée into films at Universal. There is
a definite sense from studio big wigs that they
were testing the waters for Durbin's public
appeal. She stars as Penny Craig, a precocious
youngster who conspires with her two sisters to
unite their divorced parents. The script is
chockfull of musical numbers to cleverly hide the
fact that Durbin's primary asset is her singing
ability. As standard musical tripe this film trips
tunefully by, but it has no staying power once
you've finished with it.
"Something in the Wind" is a grossly misleading
premise for a film musical. Durbin plays Mary, a
disc jockey that is mistaken for her mother, also
named Mary. Mary Sr. has been collecting support
payments from her dead lover's estate for some
time. However, when relatives mistake young Mary
as the beneficiary, they plot to destroy Mary's
credibility as a means of getting the support
payments to stop. Once again, it's the musical
program that rescues this film from melodramatic
oblivion.
"First Love" is the best film in this collection:
a Cinderella fable in which Durbin is Connie
Harding, an orphan sent to finishing school by a
philanthropic uncle. There she finds true romance
with Ted Drake (Robert Stack). Ironically, the
solid story is buttressed by only a few songs.
Clearly, Universal knew the dramatic portion of
this film was above par for a Durbin vehicle and
tempered their urge to go all out on a songfest.
"It Started With Eve" is a close runner up to
"First Date." When the son of a millionaire,
Jonathan Reynolds (Robert Cummings), suspects that
his father (Charles Laughton) is dying, Jonathan
is determined to fulfill a last request; namely,
that his father should meet his fiancée. However,
when she isn't available, Jonathan grabs hatcheck
girl, Anne-Terry (Durbin) as a quickie
replacement. But his deception backfires when dad
makes a speedy recovery.
"Can't Help Singing" is aptly the only reason why
one would invest time in this trite little tale of
Caroline Frost (Durbin), a headstrong girl from
back East who tackles the old West and romance
with a cavalry officer (David Bruce).
Finally, there's "Lady on a Train," a curiously
sour note in Durbin's repertoire. She plays a
sleuth in a murder mystery opposite a handsome
writer (David Bruce, again). There's more than the
prerequisite of twists and turns in this
convoluted tale but this film is no "Strangers on
a Train" and, with the inclusion of predictable
songs, it really can't decide whether to play as a
musical or a suspense thriller. Ultimately it
winds up being a mutt, half-and-half: uninspired
and forgettable.
Universal hasn't paid much attention to quality on
this collection. The grayscale on almost all films
in this set is poorly balanced with low contrast
levels, weak blacks and very unclean whites. With
the exception of "First Love," the rest of the
films in this batch are riddled with age-related
artifacts and a considerable amount of film grain.
Some edge enhancement, pixelization and shimmering
of fine details crops up now and then to further
degrade the image quality. There's also a complete
lack of tonal quality in the audio. Durbin sounds
exceptionally shrill when she sings, and dialogue
is often buried under a barrage of pops and
hisses.
Ultimately this isn't an outstanding effort --
from either Durbin, Universal or the stellar
capabilities of the digital format. I don't
recommend this set to anyone who is not a diehard
Deanna Durbin fan.
One final note: the insert for this collection is
merely tucked in between the gatefold, making it
easy to misplace or damage. |
