Customer Reviews

100 Men & A Girl [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Criminally neglected actress these days. A wonderful, joyous performance by her in a wonderful, joyous movie.

Deann Durbin and Judy Garland were very alike in ages and in the way that studios used tham when they were young. But Deanna has a more operetic quality to her voice, she in fact studied opera. In 100 men and a girl you get the typical 1930's under dog winning from under what seems unsurmountable odds with the hopes and dreams of a young girl to lead them on.

100 Men and a Girl is the story of a group of musicians who are out of work. They seem to be led by one man (Adolph Menjou) whose energetic daughter Patsy (Deanna Durbin) will stop at nothing to see her father and their friends find work. She decides to bother famed conductor Leopold Stokowski for help, but he only becomes annoyed. Instead, she finds a rich woman who promises nonchalantly to sponsor an orchestra if it existed. Patsy proceeds to gain hope and organizes the orchestra only to find that the woman has left for Europe. Patsy decides that her only choice is to berate the woman's husband and Stokowski for support, ensuing great comedy.

Deanna Durbin is still a little girl in this film, bright and cheerful. She has a great sense of comic timing and displays her usual charm. The songs she sings "It's Raining Sunbeams," "A Heart That's Free," "Hallelujah in F Major," and "Traviata" are operatic but well sung.

Mischa Auer plays Michael, one of the musicians, and a very funny one at that. He adds plenty of laughs to the film.

There are a few spots where a black box rims the film during montage sequences. This is a bit distracting, but otherwise, the camerawork is excellent. One notable scene is where the unemployed orchestra congregates on a staircase to play the "Second Hungarian Rhapsody," photographed artistically and beautifully.

100 Men and a Girl is Rank Sentimentality with a Great Sound Track. It deserves to be on DVD for the sound track alone. Durbin's rendition of the Mozart Alleluia sends chllls down the spine.

A consortium of business types gathers in a Manhattan penthouse and sneers at the little people, a slightly overdrawn look at capitalism. These guys are so awful they make the capitalists in a Lars Von Trier film like MANDERLAY or DOGVILLE look like Albert Schweitzers. The fattest cat is John R. Frost, played by Eugene Pallette in an extremely broad mode, almost as though he were Tony Soprano as a hillbilly. He makes an unlikely financier!

Deanna Durbin has a tough part here, she's always in center stage but most of the time she just has to bug Stokowski until he finally relents, and you can sympathize with him, for she takes what we now call "stalking" to new lows. The two of them are equally good at acting, and Stokowski in particular is a surprise. He could have been a major screen actor on the model of, say, Claude Rains. His huge mop of white hair alone commands attention, and he speaks beautifully, losing dignity only (strangely enough) when he's conducting! As my pal Mac McGinnes points out, "When Oscar Levant was asked what great moment in musical history he wished he had witnessed he said, 'The day Leopold Stokowski discovered he had beautiful hands.'"

Durbin will wring tears from a stone when she is forced to retreat home without getting her way from the great conductor. She sits on her magnificent bed (looks very grand for a poor street urchin, with great golden rods forming a unique bedstead) and cries her heart out, insisting that Adolphe Menjou her dad deserves a job, he deserves "a fur collar on his coat, and, and, turkey on his birthday--instead of BEANS," she sobs, her pretty face contorting in what looks like real anguish. She is an rivetting performer.

One of the great shames of Hollywood cinema is that most folks have forgotten about this fabulous girl. There was a time when Deanna Durbin was more celebrated (and more highly paid) than her contemporaries, Judy Garland and Shirley Temple. In the late 1930s she was instrumental in pulling Universal Studios out of bankruptcy. And 100 MEN AND A GIRL - which isn't as smutty as it sounds - happens to be my favorite Deanna Durbin film.

Even back in the day, Hollywood was leery of signing off on a feature film heavy with classical music, and it took the unlikely combination of Durbin and famous conductor Leopold Stokowski for this movie to be green-lighted. Me, I'm no imperious toff pimping his Beethovens and Mozarts. And yet I thoroughly enjoyed the music in this film. 100 MEN AND A GIRL succeeds in making classical music accessible, whether it's because of Durbin's marvelous soprano voice or them raggedy, out-of-work gents gracefully doing the music justice or the fact that you just have to appreciate a hard-working guy like Stokowski being so invested in his craft.

Concerning Deanna Durbin, Universal never strayed too far from that successful formula. Deanna Durbin once more finds herself playing a high-spirited girl out to save the day thru pluck and cheerful determination. As Patsy Cardwell, daughter of an unemployed trombone player (a sad-faced Adolphe Menjou), she dashes from place to place, gate-crashing high society parties and private rehearsals and gentlemen's clubs, frantically trying to come up with sponsorship for her own symphony orchestra, composed of her father and 99 other impoverished musicians. The movie studio balked a bit about the plot, fretting that featuring desperate unemployed characters may hit too close to home, this the era of the Great Depression. But there's terrific escapism in watching someone in similar straits managing to win through. There's hope in that.

Patsy's plan ultimately hinges on whether she can persuade the great Leopold Stokowski to conduct her makeshift orchestra, even for one night (Stokowski's name recognition is required to cement a radio contract for Patsy's orchestra). This gives us a fantastic scene in which Patsy startles Stokowski with her wonderful rendition of Mozart's "Allelujah in F Major." And once Patsy's dazzled Stokowski with her singing, you'd think it's all gravy from then on. But there are more obstacles to surmount.

100 MEN AND A GIRL was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1937, and while it didn't win, it's still a hell of an accolade for a struggling studio like Universal. But you can see why critics and movie audiences all were so captivated. It's an enchanting family film, funny and at times genuinely moving. The camera does a great job of capturing the despair on these poor men's faces, and your heart breaks a little. One of the best moments in the film (and maybe THE best) is the one in which Patsy's orchestra sneaks into the great conductor's home and performs for him. It's such a wonderfully staged sequence and just may be the most joyous expression of classical music ever put to film.

Deanna Durbin had this ability for being sweet and cute but not cloying. And I don't know that I've ever seen her as energetic in other films. She's a natural, and even more of a natural when she's singing. Here, she sings two songs of the mainstream "popular" persuasion: "It's Raining Sunbeams" and "A Heart That's Free." But she also graces us with her version of the aforementioned "Allelujah in F Major" from Mozart's "Exultate Jubilate," as well as "Libiamo Ne Liete Lauci" from Verdi's "La Traviata." Leopold Stokowski, a bit stiff but generally benevolent, gets ample screen time and leads his Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in playing Wagner's "Lohengrin" and, later, the Unemployed Orchestra thru Liszt's "Second Hungarian Rhapsody."

The supporting cast is really good. Besides Adolphe Menjou, there's the delightfully distracted Alice Brady as Patsy's would-be sponsor, Mrs. Frost. Eugene Palette is his usual cranky self as Mr. Frost, who gets ambushed by Patsy. And I really liked Frank Jenks, hilarious as the cab driver with operatic aspirations and yet without the actual vocal skills. This cabbie ends up being Patsy's most enthusiastic supporter. Even if Patsy never did pay him his cab fare.

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen and I am 89 years old. For a young actor, Deana Durbin is unbelievable. Her voice is great. What a pity she did not continue with her film career. The orchestral music is fine and a joy to listen to over and over, along with Durbin and Mozart's Alleluia.

Amazon did a good job.

"100 men and a Girl" is the second film which catapulted teenage Deanna Durbin to superstardom in 1937. It is a brilliant showcase for the young star who plays with a self confidence and versatility rare in such performers. With her crystal clear pure singing voice, her natural warmth and charm and all the exuberance of youth, she was a natural. The only gripe is that her speaking voice is rather shrill here but in later films, this was clearly "corrected".

The film is a depression fairy tale whereby young Deanna obtains work for 100 unemployed musicians via a wealthy benefactor, (marvellous Eugene Pallette) and superstar conductor Leopold Stokowsky, playing himself. The supporting cast are fine and the film is fast moving and amusing.

The DVD is a British production (not for US regions), contains a good enough print and the only extra is a selection of on set shots. In the US, it is hideously expensive on Amazon but there are alternatives!

Word has it that 100 MEN AND A GIRL saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy. And after you view this sweet, uplifting picture you'll understand why. Deanna Durbin was the greatest operatic star of the cinema in the 1930's. Likewise Leopold Stokowski was the most brilliant and recorded conductor of his time, having led
the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1912 through 1940. The pairing of the two is a sublime alchemy seldom witnessed on the screen. Listen to Deanna sing "It's Raining Rainbows" or "A Heart's That Free." Just lovely melodies. My favourite moment is when Stokowski leads the orchestra in a stirring rendition of Liszt's "Second Hungarian Rhapsody." Just watch as the maestro's hands spontaneously contort as if animated by magic. It is a supreme toe tapping moment wherein a depression era orchestra of unemployed musicians brings forth marvelous sounds.
Technically, the VHS transfer is very good as is the audio quality. It's a charming story, the kind Hollywood doesn't turn out anymore combined with an endearing cast you care about. FIVE STARS. It's a real treat!

I first saw this movie on TMC and didn't expect it to be such a good movie, but wow! this is a sleeper. I ams so glad I was able to find it again and at such a reasonable price.