This is a rare, hard to find video clip of the actual newsreel footage from February 1939.
Deanna receives her miniature Oscar from none other than Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy.
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.
June 30, 2014
April 7, 2014
January 26, 2014
Blog Link: review of Because of Him
MC of the blog Happy Thoughts Darling posted a review of Because of Him recently.
Don't forget to subscribe to Happy Thoughts Darling
August 11, 2013
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Art Museum to screen Lady on A Train in December
According to the schedule posted on the Charles Allis Art Museum's website, Lady on a Train will be this year's Christmas movie screened on December 4, 2013.
The Charles Allis Art Museum is located at 1801 N. Prospect in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Milwaukee Film Historian - and lifelong Deanna Durbin fan - Dale Kuntz will be hosting the screening beginning at 7:30 PM.
The Charles Allis Art Museum is located at 1801 N. Prospect in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Milwaukee Film Historian - and lifelong Deanna Durbin fan - Dale Kuntz will be hosting the screening beginning at 7:30 PM.
June 29, 2013
Deanna Movie Posters on Display at the Stanford Theater
Earlier this month while visiting the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto, I was delighted to see 12 full-size Deanna posters hanging on the wall of the main gallery (a Deanna film fest took place at the theater last winter).
When you see these magnificent posters close-up, there's no doubting the star power of Deanna Durbin.
Here's a favorite of many: Lady on a Train
Here's Deanna's earliest film: Three Smart Girls
It's fun to see the small details on the poster: "A New Universal Picture"
and the Universal globe logo
After the sad news of Deanna's passing last month, it was rather comforting to see all of these lovely posters in their full-size glory, just as they were meant to be seen and enjoyed. And in a grand old movie palace that once screened these films when they were first released.
Thank you, Stanford Theater, for displaying these wonderful posters of Deanna.
May 5, 2013
The Guardian: France remembers Deanna
The website for The Guardian (France Edition) featured the news of Deanna's passing at the very top of their website this week. This was the only major news website that featured the news about Deanna so prominently. See below - taken from my iPad.
Deanna lived in France for most of her life, and was married to French filmmaker Charles David for five decades.
As of May 5, 2013, the link to Deanna's obituary is still on the main news page, but you have to scroll down a little bit more - check out the main page here.
Here's a link to the Full Story on The Guardian
 |
| Source: The Guardian (Accessed 5-1-13) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/france |
As of May 5, 2013, the link to Deanna's obituary is still on the main news page, but you have to scroll down a little bit more - check out the main page here.
Here's a link to the Full Story on The Guardian
May 4, 2013
Deanna honored at Boot Hill (blog)
The blog Boot Hill remembers all those associated with Western films, and honors them when they pass away.
Though Deanna's only Western film was Can't Help Singing, she has nonetheless earned her place in Boot Hill.
Visit Deanna's spot here
Boot Hill Graveyard in Tombstone, AZ (1940)
May 3, 2013
The Telegraph remembers Deanna
The Telegraph's David Gritten pays tribute to Deanna here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10030616/Deanna-Durbin-the-public-flocked-to-her-films.html, and notes that she lived a long, full life – but the period of her success as a star lasted barely six years.
May 2, 2013
NPR remembers Deanna
The May 1, 2013 edition of All Things Considered featured a tribute to Deanna, and played some clips of her movies and her singing.
To listen to the segment, go to the NPR page here:
It's a wonderful tribute. I'm so delighted that she was remembered by NPR and All Things Considered. Thank you so much!
May 1, 2013
The Winnipeg Sun remembers Deanna
The Winnipeg Sun featured Deanna on the front of their news page today. She is fondly remembered as "Winnipeg's Sweetheart". Read the news piece here
April 30, 2013
Deanna Durbin (1921-2013)
Variety has reported the passing of Deanna Durbin [Read Here]
The New York Times remembers her as the "plucky" movie star of the Depression era [Read Here]
Goodbye, Deanna
November 25, 2012
Complete Schedule for Deanna on the Big Screen!
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
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
December 4, 2011
Happy Birthday Deanna!
Today is Deanna Durbin's 90th birthday!
There is a wonderful birthday series going on at the blog West End Dumplings:
Go to Part 1: From Winnipeg to Hollywood (1921 - 1936)
Go to Part 2: A smashing career (1936 - 1949)
Go to Part 3: Whatever happened to Winnepeg's Sweetheart?
Go to Part 3: Whatever happened to Winnepeg's Sweetheart?
December 1, 2011
West End Dumplings: Deanna Durbin, Winnipeg's Sweetheart, Turns 90 !
Click here to read a wonderful 90th birthday post
from Christian Cassidy of the blog West End Dumplings:
West End Dumplings: Deanna Durbin, Winnipeg's Sweetheart, Turns 90 !: December 4, 1947, Winnipeg Free Press On December 4, 1921 Edna Mae Durbin , was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba .
November 27, 2011
"Christmas Holiday" shows this Fri in LA
Thanks Laura for the reminder that Christmas Holiday will be
showing this Friday night at the Aero Theater in Los Angeles,
a great theater (I've been there) that screens classics year-round.
If you live in the Los Angeles/Southern California area, well worth checking out,
and a nice way to celebrate Deanna's 90th birthday!
Check out the link here for more details:
Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Fri, December 2
7:30pm
Tickets are $11 General Admission, with reduced rates for students and seniors.
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