For the complete schedule of films showing in December at the Stanford Theater:
http://www.stanfordtheatre.org/calendars/Deanna%20Durbin.html
http://www.stanfordtheatre.org/calendars/Deanna%20Durbin.html
WELCOME DEANNA FANS!
This blog was started in 2010 as a tribute to Deanna and her films. On this site you will find reviews, photos, articles, video clips, old time radio programs, news and more.
SINGER AND MOVIE STAR
Deanna Durbin had lead roles in 21 films from 1936-1948
DEANNA DURBIN AND JUDY GARLAND, 1936
Before they were stars, they appeared in one short subject together.
A SUPERSTAR OF UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Deanna is often credited with helping to save Universal from bankrupcy.
OSCAR RECIPIENT
She was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1938.
November 25, 2012
November 17, 2012
Coming in December to the Stanford Theater: the complete films of Deanna Durbin
According to the calendar of film screenings at Stanford Theater in Palo Alto, California, the Stanford will be showing a collection of Deanna Durbin films.
Details are not available yet; the calendar only announces that staring in December we can expect "The Complete Films of Deanna Durbin", so it sounds like all 21 of her films will be shown throughout December 2012, to coincide with Ms Durbin's 91st birthday.
I wish I lived close enough to attend them all. The Stanford has to be my favorite movie theater ever; it's like stepping back in time to another era.
Details are not available yet; the calendar only announces that staring in December we can expect "The Complete Films of Deanna Durbin", so it sounds like all 21 of her films will be shown throughout December 2012, to coincide with Ms Durbin's 91st birthday.
I wish I lived close enough to attend them all. The Stanford has to be my favorite movie theater ever; it's like stepping back in time to another era.
Visited the Stanford earlier this year, but I don't think I'll be able to go in December.
October 4, 2012
Where to find Deanna Durbin's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
No trip to Hollywood California is complete without visiting Deanna Durbin's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her star is located near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, just a short walk from the Hollywood/Vine Metro train stop.
The exact location is 1722 Vine Street. It is on the East side of the street.
The exact date the star was unveiled is unknown. Undoubtedly it was one of the original 1,500 stars installed in 1960, the inaugural year of the Walk of Fame.
When the stars were being put in, they didn't have big ceremonies like they have today; the stars just went in one after the other. Many radio stars can also be found within walking distance such as Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Mary Livingstone, Portland Hoffa, Edgar Bergen, William Bendix, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
Mickey Rooney's star is just a few steps away from Deanna's.
Next time you visit, be sure to see Deanna's star!
April 26, 2012
Patrick The Great (1945): Durbin's Hand-Me-Down to Donald O'Connor
Deanna Durbin's playful romp It's A Date (1940) at Universal Studios is an original story written by Ralph Block, Jane Hall and Frederick Kohner. MGM famously remade the vehicle for Jane Powell in Nancy Goes to Rio (1950). Between these two releases, in 1945, another remake was released from Durbin's studio - Patrick The Great.
It's the early 1940s and vaudevillian actor, dancer and movie sensation, Donald O'Connor, is joining the war effort. Universal will soon be without one half of a popular duo (the Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland of the lot) - O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. To quell potential rioting of teens at the thought of never seeing their dreamboat onscreen again, and to squeeze as much revenue out of this entertainer as they can before his youth and fame (and possibly, his life) are gone, studio bosses slap together several O'Connor films to be rationed throughout the emergency like meat or vegetables.
According to the American Film Institute, the last of these short order films boasts a production date of mid-October 1943 to mid-November 1943, and was released two years later. Considering that Durbin [who would later work with O'Connor after the war in Something In the Wind (1947)] played in the original a scant three years prior to the remake's production schedule, Universal seems to have been scrambling for material.
The original story makes the gender switch well. Instead of a girl and her actress mother inadvertently vying for the same Broadway role, it's a fellow and his father (Donald Cook). New York Times critic Bosley Crowther deems the film "promising" but ultimately disappointing and "all too familiar." The critic goes on to call O' Connor's aggressive manner "irritating," but he couldn't be farther from the truth. This rehashed story is redeemed by Ryan's and O' Connor's vivacity and charm.
It's the early 1940s and vaudevillian actor, dancer and movie sensation, Donald O'Connor, is joining the war effort. Universal will soon be without one half of a popular duo (the Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland of the lot) - O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. To quell potential rioting of teens at the thought of never seeing their dreamboat onscreen again, and to squeeze as much revenue out of this entertainer as they can before his youth and fame (and possibly, his life) are gone, studio bosses slap together several O'Connor films to be rationed throughout the emergency like meat or vegetables.
 |
| O'Connor with Frances Dee and Donald Cook |
The original story makes the gender switch well. Instead of a girl and her actress mother inadvertently vying for the same Broadway role, it's a fellow and his father (Donald Cook). New York Times critic Bosley Crowther deems the film "promising" but ultimately disappointing and "all too familiar." The critic goes on to call O' Connor's aggressive manner "irritating," but he couldn't be farther from the truth. This rehashed story is redeemed by Ryan's and O' Connor's vivacity and charm.
Originally posted at Java's Journey
January 15, 2012
Fans from Milwaukee, Wisconsin can see Deanna on the big screen in March
If you live in or near Milwaukee Wisconsin USA, you will have a chance to see Deanna on the big screen in the movie First Love when it screens in March at the Charles Allis Art Museum. Film Historian Dale Kuntz has an entire series planned on 1930s musicals, and First Love is part of the series! He will lecture on the film and there will be a discussion afterward.
More information here:
http://www.charlesallis.org/movietime.html
More information here:
http://www.charlesallis.org/movietime.html
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