The Best Deanna Durbin Movies
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1Deanna Durbin, Pat O'Brien, Franchot ToneDelighted by news from her half-brother Martin (Pat O'Brien) about his many successes in Manhattan, small-town Midwestern girl and aspiring singer Ann (Deanna Durbin) packs it up and heads to the Big Apple. Ann arrives at Martin's supposed address, only to discover him working as a butler in the home of a famed writer of Broadway musicals, Charles Gerard (Franchot Tone). When Martin refuses to get Ann a coveted audition with his employer, she schemes to meet the elusive composer.
2Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, Bob CummingsAfter Johnny Reynolds Jr. (Robert Cummings) arrives at the home of his very ill father, Jonathan (Charles Laughton), his father requests to meet his fiancée, Gloria (Margaret Tallichet). Unable to find her on short notice, Johnny desperately convinces a hatcheck girl and aspiring singer, Anne (Deanna Durbin), to pose as Gloria. Jonathan likes her very much, and, when his condition suddenly improves, Johnny is torn. If he admits the truth, he risks upsetting his father and his fragile health.
3Deanna Durbin, Herbert Marshall, Gail PatrickIn this musical, Gloria Harkinson (Deanna Durbin), the daughter of a widowed film star (Gail Patrick), is a boarding school girl with a big imagination. She spins daring adventures about her father, claiming he's not only alive but well worth the other girls' jealousy. When classmates begin to doubt Gloria's wild tales, she is forced to procure a fake father. At the local train station, she finds a dapper English composer (Herbert Marshall) who is charmed by her moxie.
4Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Eugene PalletteFirst Love is a 1939 American musical film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin. Based on the fairy tale Cinderella, the film is about an orphan who is sent to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle after graduating from boarding school. Her life is made difficult by her snobby cousin who arranges that she stay home while the rest of the family attends a major social ball. With the help of her uncle, she makes it to the ball, where she meets and falls in love with her cousin's boyfriend. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Music.
5Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Walter BrennanJane Dana (Deanna Durbin) is a cheerful teenager doing her best to survive the trials of youth. She's pursued by the eager Don Webb (Robert Stack), and the two seem well matched. Looming in the background, however, is Richard Calvert (Franchot Tone), a suave older man and a business associate of Jane's father. Unfortunately, Jane -- naive and untutored in the subtleties of courtship -- accidentally exposes her love triangle. The ensuing public scandal ushers her abruptly into adulthood.
6Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, David BruceYoung, pleasant Nikki Collins (Deanna Durbin) witnesses a brutal murder while riding on a train on her way to New York City. Though she desperately tries to inform others of what she saw, no one believes her. In her scramble to convince someone, anyone, of the crime, she finds an ally in a mystery writer named Wayne Morgan (David Bruce). Trapped as she is on the train, however, the more she tries to raise the alarm, the more attention she draws to herself -- and the killer is starting to notice.
7Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, Eugene PalletteOne Hundred Men and a Girl is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin. Written by Charles Kenyon, Bruce Manning, and James Mulhauser from a story by Hanns Kräly, the film is about the daughter of a struggling musician who forms a symphony orchestra consisting of his unemployed friends. Through persistence, charm, and a few misunderstandings, they are able to get famed conductor Leopold Stokowski to lead them in a concert, which leads to a radio contract. One Hundred Men and a Girl was the first of two motion pictures featuring Leopold Stokowski, and is also one of the films for which Durbin is best remembered as an actress and a singer.
8Deanna Durbin, Robert CummingsSpring Parade is a 1940 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin. Based on a story by Ernst Marischka, the film is about an Hungarian woman who attends a Viennese fair and buys a card from a gypsy fortune teller which says she will meet someone important and is destined for a happy marriage. Soon after the woman gets a job as a baker's assistant and meets a handsome army drummer who dreams of becoming a famous composer and conductor, but is held back by the military which discourages original music. Wanting to help the army drummer, the woman sends one of his waltzes to the Austrian Emperor with his weekly order of pastries, which leads to the tuneful and joyous fulfillment of the gypsy's prediction. Spring Parade received four Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Original Song, Best Musical Score, and Best Sound Recording. It is a remake of the 1934 film Spring Parade. Producer Joe Pasternak and screenwriter Ernst Marischka worked on both films.
9Deanna Durbin, Binnie Barnes, Alice BradyThis lighthearted musical follows the travails of 14-year-old Penny Craig (Deanna Durbin) and her two older sisters as they attempt to reignite a romance between their mother and their estranged father before he weds a fortune-hunter. Leaving their home in Switzerland, the three young women journey to New York City and hire a washed-up count (Mischa Auer) to break up their father's engagement, wreaking plenty of wholesome havoc for all concerned.
10Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, Nan GreyThree Smart Girls Grow Up is a 1939 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey, and Helen Parrish. Written by Felix Jackson and Bruce Manning, the film is about three sisters who believe life is going to be easy now that their parents are back together, until one sister falls in love with another's fiance, and the youngest sister plays matchmaker. Durbin and Grey reprise their roles from Three Smart Girls, and Parrish replaces Barbara Read in the role of the middle sister.
11Deanna Durbin, Robert Paige, Akim TamiroffIn the 1850s, Caroline (Deanna Durbin) is ready to marry military man Lt. Robert Latham (David Bruce). But Caroline's father, the powerful Sen. Martin Frost (Ray Collins), isn't too keen on the soldier. When the California Gold Rush hits, Martin ships Robert out West, only to see his daughter set out to track her love down. Halfway there, Caroline seems stranded, but card sharp Johnny Lawlor (Robert Paige) offers some help, and might just end up winning the young lady's heart in the process.
12Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, William BendixI'll Be Yours is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin. Based on the play A jó tündér by Ferenc Molnár, the film is about a small-town girl who tells a fib to a wealthy businessman, which then creates complications. The play had earlier been adapted for the 1935 film The Good Fairy by Preston Sturges.
13Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, Walter PidgeonMother and daughter stage performers Georgia Drake (Kay Francis) and Pamela Drake (Deanna Durbin) clash when they both fall in love with a dashing gentleman (Walter Pidgeon) and vie for the same part. Although Georgia was already cast in the role of a singing maid, young Pamela sings her heart out and steals the show during her audition, easily convincing the producers to give her the role instead. Pamela becomes a success, but show business, love and family make for a sometimes volatile mix.
14Deanna Durbin, Melvyn Douglas, Jackie CooperUnknown to his teenage daughter, Alice (Deanna Durbin), newspaper publisher Bill Warren (John Halliday) lends his country guest house to his star reporter, Vince Bullit (Melvyn Douglas), so he can write an article in quiet surroundings. Alice, who promised the house to a troop of Boy Scouts rehearsing a musical, at first tries to get rid of the unwanted Vince. But as she develops a crush on the older man, Alice schemes to keep him around, to the annoyance of her steady beau, Ken (Jackie Cooper).
15Judy Garland, Deanna DurbinEvery Sunday is a 1936 American short musical film. It tells the story of two young girls and their efforts to save a public concert series, which was being threatened by poor attendance. Directed by Felix E. Feist, the film served as a screen test for, and is the first significant screen appearance of, two young actresses who would go on to become major stars, Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin. Although only lightly reviewed at the time of its release, the film has garnered a generally positive reputation among Garland biographers.
16Gene Kelly, Deanna Durbin, Richard WhorfChristmas Holiday is a 1944 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, and Richard Whorf. Based on the 1939 novel Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham, the film is about a woman who marries a Southern aristocrat who inherited his family's streak of violence and instability and soon drags the woman into a life of misery. After he is arrested, the woman runs away from her husband's family, changes her name, and finds work as a singer in a New Orleans dive. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score for Hans J. Salter.
17The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, Barry FitzgeraldThe Amazing Mrs. Holliday is a 1943 American comedy drama film produced and directed by Bruce Manning and starring Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, and Barry Fitzgerald. Based on a story by Sonya Levien, the film is about a young idealistic missionary who smuggles a group of Chinese war orphans into the United States posing as the wife of a wealthy commodore who went missing after their ship was torpedoed and sunk. After safely sequestering the orphans in the commodore's family mansion, her plans start to unravel when she falls in love with commodore's grandson and the commodore himself turns up alive and well. Originally intended as Durbin's dramatic debut, Universal insisted on adding songs. The original director of the film was Jean Renoir, and though most of his completed footage was retained, final directorial credit was given to Bruce Manning, the film's producer. The Amazing Mrs. Holliday received an Academy Award nomination for Best Score.- 18Deanna Durbin, Joseph Cotten, Iris AdrianHers to Hold is a 1943 film directed by Frank Ryan.
19Love Is All
Deanna Durbin, Mia BucktonLove Is All is a 2000 short film directed by Oliver Harrison.
20Hollywood Singing and Dancing: The 1930s
Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple, Deanna Durbin
