Must See Movie...

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I wonder how many movies I have in my collection on this same theme. It has to be more than a dozen, all languages included, with minor changes here and there. With a mésalliance on the horizon, the girl escapes the iron-grip of her progenitor and goes off in a wild run (the field differs. Here it is wild-wild west, in "It happened One Night" it was just country-side, Roman Holiday it is town, and so on. On the way she meets some-one who was never in her scheme of things (nor her fathers obviously) and finds that this was the true love, the other one was just the rebellion, and naturally in the end, probably in all the cases, all has to lead to logical conclusion (except in Roman Holiday of course). Of all the versions (naturally Bollywood or other Indian versions excluded), I think only this one is musical. Naturally (as one would expect), almost none of the movies give credit to where it is due. In fact most likely even the very first one has been plagiarized ? I am not too sure, but there has to be one of the fairy tales of this model, by Grimms or Andersson, or some other. If it is, at the moment, it is missing the neuron connection in my brain. When I talk of the very first one, it is not 'It happened One Night (1934), who does give credit to Samuel Hopkins Adams - though not mentioned, for his short story Night Bus (1933), This one too credits "Girl Of the Overland Trail" of Warshawsky (Brothers?), Roman Holiday doesn't credit any external person. The first one, in my list, is Jessie Matthew's - There Goes The Bride - which is of 1932, that is one year senior to even the short story 'Night Bus' . The only difference is that here Jessie runs away to escape the mésalliance and not to jump into it (which the father tries to impose onto her). After this, whether the story, or the movies were all 'Influenced' by this. The movie story is known in first five minutes. The moment a rich girl, the main protagonist, wants to marry a handsome in look but not in character man, and it is hinted, or clearly said, that it is only since the father hates, she wants to do it, we know where it is going to lead. However with the interest gone, it still is watchable, mainly due to Deanna, though she looks too sweet to be of rebellious kind (Colbert had a tougher look, Audrey had a whimsical one), but still the movie didn't become too dull., and that was despite big holes in the plot, in fact some of these could have been well avoided, for example the Marshall failing to recognize., with her photograph published everywhere ? Even the India scene was a bit too derogatory, but at least that was better than other westerns, where they are shown as blood-thirsty killing machines... or was this depiction worse? Well I can give 2 stars to Deanna, and about 4 to 4.5 for the execution, and it goes to just above average, but watchable, that is not boring.

Copyright 11 December 1944 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at Loew's Criterion: 25 December 1944. U.S. release: 29 December 1944. U.K. release: 2 April 1945. Australian release: 12 April 1945. 9 reels. 8,155 feet. 90 minutes. NOTES: Number 3 at Australian ticket windows for 1945. Although the movie certainly took good money, this level of success was not duplicated elsewhere in the world. Kern and Salter were nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, losing to Anchors Aweigh. "More and More" was nominated for Best Song, losing to "It Might As Well Be Spring" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair. COMMENT: One can't help liking Deanna's first in color. Admittedly, as was the fashion at the time, she is overly made up with far too accentuated lips, but with the added attraction of period costumes, she still looks fresh, pretty and vibrant nonetheless. She's in fine voice too, getting her light soprano pleasingly around three attractive Kern-Harburg melodies.The surrounding story not only offers the opportunity for pretty dresses and comedy, but some mighty fetching outdoor scenery as well. Director Frank Ryan admirably demonstrates that although he co-wrote the script, he is no stickler for the dialogue-is-god school of film-making, but has handled the camera with panache and style. Stunning Technicolor photography and an abundant budget helps too. Supporting players include many of our favorites such as Ray Collins at his wheedling and dyspeptic best, Olin Howland as a wagon-master yet, Andrew Tombes as a confidence shark, Akim Tamiroff as a phoney highness, and Leonid Kinskey in one of the biggest roles of his career as the latter's Laurel-like accomplice. Despite her prominence in the credits, June Vincent has a miniscule part - two brief shots, no more than forty or fifty seconds in total! OTHER VIEWS: Very bland if very prettily photographed Technicolor musical. Ray Collins manages to put his scenes and his comedy across with both expertise and charm - qualities which are somewhat lacking in other members of the cast, most notably hero Robert Paige, but also to a lesser extent (because their roles are smaller), Thomas Gomez and David Bruce. Even Akim Tamiroff and Leonid Kinskey often seem labored and strained, though they do contrive at least two fairly amusing moments, when they try to break open Deanna's trunk in front of Marshal George Cleveland, and when they attempt to flee from the Indians, only to have the natives overtake them and leave them behind! A pity the wearisome storyline and the equally tedious Mr Paige take up so much time. After all, a crowd-pleaser of a musical like this deserves a really simple plot that serves only as an excuse for gorgeous studio and location photography, plus the all-important presentation of attractive song interludes. Here we have a score by Kern and Harburg no less. True, both are slightly below form. The most catchy number, fortunately, is the title tune. The others all seem somewhat derivative, though leading to an agreeable reprise at the fade-out. Miss Durbin who not unexpectedly handles the prima-donna's share of the score, sings as prettily as she is photographed and as charmingly as she's dressed (in attractive period costumes loaded with lace), hair styled and made up. Frank Ryan's direction often rates as most stylish. -- JHR writing as George Addison.

I saw this film twice in 1945 when I was in the US Navy. Enjoyed it immensely! Most of the "film data" ignore listing the various songs and the artists who wrote them: Jerome Kern, music, and E. Y. Harburg, lyrics. There are very few citations to the actual lyrics. It would be helpful if someone would give an Internet site for getting the lyrics. Google isn't much help.E.Y. Harburg was a most talented lyricist. I attended a talk by his son, who was plugging a biography of his late father, several years (about 15) ago in California. Even bought the book, which I never regretted. It has some detailed lyrics, but not from the "Can't Help Singing" film. Harburg collaborated with many famous songwriters, but usually only once with each: Harold Arlen for "The Wizard of Oz", and someone else for the stage (and film) "Finian's Rainbow", his two most notable achievements.Has Deanna Durbin died? She was truly a gem!

Deanna Durbin's one Technicolor movie gives her a decent showcase, and adds a Jerome Kern score plus plenty of good settings and scenery, to make for enjoyable light entertainment and pleasant viewing. Its pluses include Durbin's singing and the colorful outdoors photography.The period setting makes it different from the stories in most of Durbin's other movies, but fortunately her character (an independent-minded Senator's daughter) is similar enough to many of her other roles, in giving her a lively character with a variety of material to work with. (It wasn't really necessary, though, to make her hair so much lighter - her dark hair would have looked great in color.) The settings range from 1840s Washington DC to the unsettled expanses of the Old West. In itself, the period atmosphere works pretty well, and it also throws in one or two ironic details along the way.As Durbin's co-star, Robert Paige is a bit bland as a character, but his singing is up to par. Akim Tamiroff has a good role as one of the scamps heading west with Durbin's character. In smaller roles, Ray Collins and Thomas Gomez give good performances. The combination of Durbin's voice, energy, and charm with the period story and settings works rather well.