Customer Reviews

Three Smart Girls [REGION 2]

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Deanna Durbin is a treasure not well known to today's generation but was well loved in her time. If you enjoy movies like Parent Trap you will love the original take on children trying to get their parents together. This hilarious movie includes the fabulous singing voice of Deanna that makes it the tops with me. A definate 'must see' if you enjoy comedy and music. If you like this one you will adore the sequal Three Smart Grow Up.

Deanna Durbin simply burst on to the screen for the first time as Penny, the youngest of three sisters who attempt to break up their father's impending nuptuals so they can get him back together with their mother. This delightful romp made Deanna a star and saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy. The film itself moves at a breakneck pace, following Durbin's lead as she blows like a joyous and funny hurricane right into our hearts.

Nan Grey is Penny's sister, Joan, and Barbara Read is Kay. Charles Winninger is good as always as the parent who hasn't seen his children in ten years, and has forgotten what it means to be a father. But Penny's strong minded enthusiasm is infectious, and it isn't long before the shallow babe after his money doesn't seem near as important as his daughters.

There are some hilarious moments in this fast and furious comedy and Deanna gets to sing "Someone to Care For Me" and a couple of others, as one plot after another is hatched to get rid of the fiance. Mischa Auer is a hoot as the inebriated Count paid to romance away the fiance. But it is a young Ray Milland as Lord Michael Stuart who gets the most laughs when a mix-up occurs and the girls think he is the one they've paid to lure "Precious" away. Stuart is the real deal but plays along with the charade so he can romance Penny's sister, Kay.

An infectious joy runs all through this film and it is easy to see why this was such a hugh hit. It launched the career of one of the most fondly remembered stars of all time. This film begins with Penny, Joan and Kay sailing in Switzerland and it will sail right into your heart when you see it for the first time. A fresh and timeless treasure.

Although she is little known today, Deanna Durbin was one of the most popular stars of the 1930s, a pretty teenager with a perky personality and a much-admired operatic singing voice. This 1937 was her first major film, and it proved a box-office bonanza for beleaguered Universal Studios.

THREE SMART GIRLS concerns three daughters of a divorced couple who rush to their long-unseen father when their still-faithful mother reveals he may soon remarry--with the firm intention of undermining his gold-digger girlfriend and returning him to their mother. Although the story is slight, the script is witty and the expert cast plays it with a neat screwball touch. Durbin has a pleasing voice and appealing personality, and such enjoyable character actors as Charles Winninger, Alice Brady, Lucile Watson, and Mischa Auer round out the cast. A an ultra-light amusement for fans of 1930s film.

When the MGM studio dropped their option to extend a contract for young soprano Deanna Durbin, rival studio Universal snapped her up and starred her in THREE SMART GIRLS (1936). The film was a huge success which helped reverse the financial losses of the studio, and established Deanna Durbin as a bright new movie musical star.

Deanna plays enterprising little Penny Craig. When she learns that her divorced, New York-based father (Charles Winninger) is about to marry a younger woman (Binnie Barnes), Penny and her two older sisters (Nan Grey and Barbara Read) set off to derail his plans--and hopefully arrange a tearful reunion for their parents.

Originally meant as a vehicle for blonde comedienne Binnie Barnes, THREE SMART GIRLS instead became re-tooled as a showcase for 13 year old soprano Deanna Durbin after studio execs became charmed by her infectious screen persona. Her role of Penny was expanded, and though she never received top billing in the cast, it became all too clear that it was Durbin who truly carried this picture. Deanna gets to sing "My Heart is Singing", "Il bacio", and "Someone to Care for Me".

The movie's incredible worldwide success ensured that Deanna would reprise her role of Penny Craig for two lovely sequels - "Three Smart Girls Grow Up" (1939), and "Hers to Hold" (1943).

Deanna Durbin, then 14 and just under contract to MGM, made a short feature in 1936 which paired her with Judy Garland, a year younger, in the first film for both of them. Louis B. Mayer then decided he didn't need two competing young singers, placed his bet on Garland and let Durbin go. Universal immediately signed Durbin, rushed her into Three Smart Girls and rewrote the screenplay to pump up her part. She's billed last, but with the typographic equivalent of neon lights around her name. Universal was convinced Durbin would be a smash, and they were right. Three Smart Girls is less a musical and more a screwball comedy, and Durbin, 15 when the movie was released, carries it with aplomb. She's Penny Craig, and she and her older sisters, Joan and Kay, are determined to save their father, who had divorced their mother, from the clutches of an elegant gold digger with a fierce mother. They talk their way from Switzerland, where they live, to New York City, where their father lives. They plan not just to break up their father's wedding but to reunite their father with their mother, who after ten years apart still loves the guy. Is there any doubt that Durbin will sing a song or two in her warm, luscious soprano? Nope. Is there any doubt the girls will succeed...with Kay and Joan finding love and matrimonial material along the way? Nope, again. Years later Durbin was quoted as saying that she couldn't keep playing little Miss Fixit forever. She was right, of course, but in Three Smart Girls, her first feature movie, she has little Miss Fixit down pat. Durbin is funny, determined, resourceful, energetic and, of all things, natural. Her personality is so genuine that it makes this comedy -- a mix of farce, confusion, good intentions and cheerful avarice -- downright endearing.

Durbin carries the movie with ease. It's a lot of fun watching her hold her own against the likes of Binnie Barnes as Donna Lyon, the woman with her hooks in Penny's rich father, played by Charles Winninger, who was no slouch at stealing scenes, either. Alice Brady, who played the dithering matron in My Man Godfrey, plays Donna Lyons' mother, who is even more of a gold digger than her daughter. The last of the accomplished farceurs is Ray Milland as Lord Michael Stuart, who through a contrived and amusing mixup is mistaken for Mischa Auer.

Three Smart Girls holds up well as a light-weight and amusing comedy of manners and mix-ups. So does Deanna Durbin as a brand-new star, who with her huge success saved Universal's bacon. The DVD I watched looks very good until the last 15 minutes or so when, to my eye, it becomes a bit soft. It's one of six Durbin movies which are on two DVDs as part of the Deanna Durbin Sweetheart Pack, a title which is far ickier than any of the films.

Deanna Durbin's freshness, youth, and energy sets up the mood for this fun, light hearted movie.
She plays Penny, the youngest of three daughters who, in order to bring back together their divorced parents, goes to New York with her older sisters and tries to dissuade their rich father from marrying his fortune-hunting fiance.
In their attempt to separate their father from his future bride, they stumble upon two handsome young men who fall in love with the two older sisters, Joan and Kay. (Note: Kay is the lucky one who steals the heart of the handsomest of the two men, Lord Stuart, played by a very young and gorgeous Ray Milland).
Joan's Beau, Bill Evans, tries to help the three girls by hiring an out of work, alcoholic Hungarian to play the part of a rich Hungarian Count so he can lure their father's fiance away with his make-believe millions. But things don't turn out quite as planned when Lord Stuart is accidentally mistaken as the hired Hungarian.
Very funny plot twists, entertaining music, and an overall enjoyable movie!! Highly recommended for Durbin fans and for anyone who enjoys funny romantic musicals!

Three young girls hear the news that their father (Charles Winninger) is going to be re-married, and it is a shame too because their mother (Nella Walker) still loves him. The three girls, Joan (Nan Grey), Kay (Barbara Read), and Penny (Deanna Durbin) make a plan to break up their father's engagement and set him back up with their mother. They enlist the help of Michael Stuart (Ray Milland), Bill Evans (John King), and Count Arisztid (Mischa Auer) which heeds some mixed up results.

Three Smart Girls is the first feature film with Durbin, and it is no wonder she soon became a big star. The movie showcases her singing talents with several different numbers ranging from operatic to popular. Her sweet smile and knack for carrying out schemes are exhibited at full force. She is flanked by two beautiful but less charming actresses whose careers never really took off. Winninger is especially good in his part as the father; He is really lovable.

It is funny that I didn't like this movie the first time I saw it. I thought the plot was implausible and that Durbin was too saccharine for my taste. It is true that the events would probably never happen, but that is no reason not to like the movie. It is silly, enjoyable, and sweet. What is great is that it is appropriate for both children and adults, a real gem.