It has been said that Deanna Durbin invented teenagery. This first film was one of the best. The humorous story presented a delightful 14 year old Deanna, a little beauty with a gorgeous voice, as the "Miss Fixit" in a family split by divorce. For plot summary, see other IMDb entries, but quickly Deanna and her two older sisters plan to go to America from Switzerland to prevent their father from remarrying. With an excellent supporting cast especially Barbara Read and Nan Grey as the sisters, good direction and editing, the film succeeds in captivating one even on subsequent viewings. Of Deanna's three songs, only "Il Bacio" is from the classical repertoire, but when she sings it in that police station scene, the film's place in history is assured. At least it was for this viewer who at the age of 15 was smitten for life with both Deanna and classical music. One of the many nice touches that occur throughout THREE SMART GIRLS is the brief glimpse of the drunk stretching his neck for a final glimpse of Deanna as the cops hustle him by! One unfortunate result of the success of this film was that subsequent writers for Durbin vehicles became locked into the "Miss Fixit" theme, which quickly became stale. Deanna herself never did. Her stature as an actress is more questionable than her charisma, which she certainly had. It seems to me that, like many another film personality, she substituted "naturalness" for the histrionic ability that she lacked. The ploy worked well for 21 feature films.
31 Reviews
And introducing Universal's new discovery
blanche-25 December 2007
Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey and Barbara Read are "Three Smart Girls" in this Universal film from 1936, which introduces Deanna Durbin to film audiences. It also stars Ray Milland, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, John King, Binnie Barnes and Alice Brady. It's a sweet story about three young women, now living in Switzerland with their divorced mother, who hear their father (Winninger) is marrying again. Not having seen him in 10 years and knowing their mother still loves him, they board a ship to America, with the help of the housekeeper/nanny, determined to stop the wedding. Realizing that the intended, called "Precious" (Barnes) is nothing but a gold-digger aided and abetted by her mother (Brady), they arrange for her to be introduced to a wealthy Count. This is arranged by their father's accountant (King). The man he chooses is a full-time drunk (Auer), but the girls mistake him for an actual wealthy count (Milland). What a mess.
This is a delightful film, not cloying or overly sugary at all, with some nice performances, particularly by Auer, Milland, Barnes and Brady. The young women are pretty and all do good work. The emphasis, of course, is on young Durbin, who is a natural actress and a beautifully-trained singer. In fact, her voice as a youngster is much more even than it would be as an adult - she has no trouble with the high notes, as she did later on because she put too much weight in the middle voice. She sings a delightful "Il Bacio" in a police station.
One of the nicest things about the film is to see the father, played by Charles Winninger, not want his children around - until he sees them and gets to know them. Barnes as the gold-digger isn't all that young, but the girls' mother looks way up there, so the inference probably was the older man seeking his youth with a younger, more glamorous woman. In fact, he finds the youth he was seeking in his daughters.
Universal gives Durbin the big star buildup here - she has the final shot in the movie. Ray Milland at this point was still paying his dues, and it will probably be a surprise even to film fans how young and attractive he is.
Very entertaining and of course, this led to a sequel and big stardom for Deanna.
This is a delightful film, not cloying or overly sugary at all, with some nice performances, particularly by Auer, Milland, Barnes and Brady. The young women are pretty and all do good work. The emphasis, of course, is on young Durbin, who is a natural actress and a beautifully-trained singer. In fact, her voice as a youngster is much more even than it would be as an adult - she has no trouble with the high notes, as she did later on because she put too much weight in the middle voice. She sings a delightful "Il Bacio" in a police station.
One of the nicest things about the film is to see the father, played by Charles Winninger, not want his children around - until he sees them and gets to know them. Barnes as the gold-digger isn't all that young, but the girls' mother looks way up there, so the inference probably was the older man seeking his youth with a younger, more glamorous woman. In fact, he finds the youth he was seeking in his daughters.
Universal gives Durbin the big star buildup here - she has the final shot in the movie. Ray Milland at this point was still paying his dues, and it will probably be a surprise even to film fans how young and attractive he is.
Very entertaining and of course, this led to a sequel and big stardom for Deanna.
Light, Amusing; A Minor Classic of Its Kind
gftbiloxi4 May 2005
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.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Charming & Funny
Snow Leopard14 July 2004
This charming, funny movie combines Deanna Durbin's numerous talents with a far-fetched but enjoyable story, a set of interesting characters, and a cast and settings that make it all work. It combines the feel of the old screwball comedies with a little of the pace of a vintage musical, and a dash of commentary on family life. The combination works well, and is not as easy as it looks, as is so often demonstrated by the numerous gauche, hammy "family comedies" of more recent years.
Although she was quite young at the time, Durbin already had quite a singing voice, and she also had the kind of stage presence that allows her young character to take command of a scene in ways that would otherwise seem forced. She and the other two of the "Three Smart Girls" make a winning and energetic set of heroines. The rest of the cast members do well, too, and several of them have some very good moments. Charles Winninger makes the indecisive father very believable, Ray Milland's smooth, slightly exaggerated performance fits in nicely, Mischa Auer steals a number of scenes, and Binnie Barnes keeps her "other woman" character from being a stereotype.
Despite having a short career, Deanna Durbin left behind several very pleasant, enjoyable pictures that are worth the trouble to find for fans of classic cinema. This early feature is particularly charming.
Although she was quite young at the time, Durbin already had quite a singing voice, and she also had the kind of stage presence that allows her young character to take command of a scene in ways that would otherwise seem forced. She and the other two of the "Three Smart Girls" make a winning and energetic set of heroines. The rest of the cast members do well, too, and several of them have some very good moments. Charles Winninger makes the indecisive father very believable, Ray Milland's smooth, slightly exaggerated performance fits in nicely, Mischa Auer steals a number of scenes, and Binnie Barnes keeps her "other woman" character from being a stereotype.
Despite having a short career, Deanna Durbin left behind several very pleasant, enjoyable pictures that are worth the trouble to find for fans of classic cinema. This early feature is particularly charming.
Universal's New Singing Sensation
bkoganbing22 October 2011
MGM's loss was Universal Studio's gain when Louis B. Mayer sold Deanna Durbin's contract to Carl Laemmle and Universal gave her a grand debut in Three Smart Girls. The three are the Craig sisters played by Nan Grey, Barbara Read, and Durbin as the youngest and the one with the musical talent. But all three are on a mission to bring their mother and father back together.
The girls are vacationing in Switzerland when word comes that dear old dad who's been divorced from mom for years is about to be married again. Back to New York come the sisters to save father Charles Winninger from the clutches of mercenary Binnie Barnes and her even more mercenary mother Alice Brady.
While on the mission Grey and Read get themselves some romantic involvement also with Dusty King and Ray Milland. It gets a bit complicated though when Read thinks that Milland is a no account count that King hired to woo Barnes away from Winninger. Actually Milland is a titled gent, the guy that King hired was Mischa Auer.
In the first of her many roles in the guise, Deanna Durbin plays little Miss Fix-it and solves everybody's problems in the end with a few songs to go with it. It was a formula that worked well for Universal, pulling the studio back from inherent bankruptcy. Abbott&Costello would later make it turn a profit.
Three Smart Girls got Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Original Story. The fashions and mores of the time place it firmly in the Depression Thirties. I doubt it could ever be made today again.
Where would you find a voice like Deanna Durbin's?
The girls are vacationing in Switzerland when word comes that dear old dad who's been divorced from mom for years is about to be married again. Back to New York come the sisters to save father Charles Winninger from the clutches of mercenary Binnie Barnes and her even more mercenary mother Alice Brady.
While on the mission Grey and Read get themselves some romantic involvement also with Dusty King and Ray Milland. It gets a bit complicated though when Read thinks that Milland is a no account count that King hired to woo Barnes away from Winninger. Actually Milland is a titled gent, the guy that King hired was Mischa Auer.
In the first of her many roles in the guise, Deanna Durbin plays little Miss Fix-it and solves everybody's problems in the end with a few songs to go with it. It was a formula that worked well for Universal, pulling the studio back from inherent bankruptcy. Abbott&Costello would later make it turn a profit.
Three Smart Girls got Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Original Story. The fashions and mores of the time place it firmly in the Depression Thirties. I doubt it could ever be made today again.
Where would you find a voice like Deanna Durbin's?
Deanna Durbin's Feature Film Debut
HarlowMGM15 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This movie made 14-year-old Deanna Durbin a big star in 1936 and was such a hit it was one of the ten films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award that year. It's easy to see why audiences took to Deanna so quickly, she was a beautiful little girl with a stunning voice and she's an appealing young actress even if the script occasionally calls for her to occasionally behave perilously close to a brat or saddles her with predictable "movie kid" wisecracks or self-consciously cute bits. The movie itself is actually not one of Deanna's better films although it remains perhaps her most famous. I personally prefer Deanna as an elegant young romantic lead in her twenties in her 1940's films rather than her early films as a chirpy teen sensation.
The biggest problem with the movie is the plot and sketchily written characters. Very little of the story rings true. The movie opens with Deanna and her sisters in Switzerland (!!!) where they have lived with their mother for a decade following her divorce from a prominent New York businessman. "Mummy" (the girl's saccharine name for her) has been pining away for Daddy darling all the years and now is devastated to learn he is about to remarry. The girls plot to go to New York and stop the impending marriage. Just why they should care is curious - Daddy clearly hasn't given them a thought in ten years and indeed upon their return to the states fails to express any genuine delight at seeing them again and in fact wants them to go back where they came from almost as much as his fiancée Binnie Barnes and her plotting mother Alice Brady does. The girls behave rather horribly for young women supposedly brought up well (although it's played for "cutes"), screaming and running in restaurants and making nasty cracks about someone they don't know at all. Daddy's complete lack of warmth toward them in the first reels doesn't faze them a bit and they don't even seem to notice it nor is the audience apparently supposed to. Binnie Barnes as the other woman is almost (unintentionally) sympathetic given that old man and his kids.
Deanna sings several numbers and dominates the proceedings but the actresses playing her sisters have a good bit of screen time too, both of them having romances with adult men although they are clearly teen-aged (though the movie tells us they are "grown up"). Neither Nan Grey or Barbara Read however can overcome the script's traps quite as successfully as Deanna but it's possible the director didn't bother much with helping them out of them since the movie is clearly a star vehicle for Miss Durbin. Ray Milland (shortly before reaching stardom) is featured as one of the girl's conquests, a dashing young man who turns out to be even richer than daddy. He is also a decade older than the actress who plays his love interest and it's kind of unseemly watching the 31-year-old Milland wooing Barbara Read (18 and looking younger) although Milland's friendly, likable personality overcomes much of this. Alice Brady is Deanna's main competition as far as being the film's greatest asset, with Brady playing a decidedly more bitchy version of her scatterbrain mother role from so many other films. But is is Deanna's film and she manages perform sincerely in an artificial story and in the last scene is downright true and touching at as she cries to herself for having successfully accomplished her mission.
The biggest problem with the movie is the plot and sketchily written characters. Very little of the story rings true. The movie opens with Deanna and her sisters in Switzerland (!!!) where they have lived with their mother for a decade following her divorce from a prominent New York businessman. "Mummy" (the girl's saccharine name for her) has been pining away for Daddy darling all the years and now is devastated to learn he is about to remarry. The girls plot to go to New York and stop the impending marriage. Just why they should care is curious - Daddy clearly hasn't given them a thought in ten years and indeed upon their return to the states fails to express any genuine delight at seeing them again and in fact wants them to go back where they came from almost as much as his fiancée Binnie Barnes and her plotting mother Alice Brady does. The girls behave rather horribly for young women supposedly brought up well (although it's played for "cutes"), screaming and running in restaurants and making nasty cracks about someone they don't know at all. Daddy's complete lack of warmth toward them in the first reels doesn't faze them a bit and they don't even seem to notice it nor is the audience apparently supposed to. Binnie Barnes as the other woman is almost (unintentionally) sympathetic given that old man and his kids.
Deanna sings several numbers and dominates the proceedings but the actresses playing her sisters have a good bit of screen time too, both of them having romances with adult men although they are clearly teen-aged (though the movie tells us they are "grown up"). Neither Nan Grey or Barbara Read however can overcome the script's traps quite as successfully as Deanna but it's possible the director didn't bother much with helping them out of them since the movie is clearly a star vehicle for Miss Durbin. Ray Milland (shortly before reaching stardom) is featured as one of the girl's conquests, a dashing young man who turns out to be even richer than daddy. He is also a decade older than the actress who plays his love interest and it's kind of unseemly watching the 31-year-old Milland wooing Barbara Read (18 and looking younger) although Milland's friendly, likable personality overcomes much of this. Alice Brady is Deanna's main competition as far as being the film's greatest asset, with Brady playing a decidedly more bitchy version of her scatterbrain mother role from so many other films. But is is Deanna's film and she manages perform sincerely in an artificial story and in the last scene is downright true and touching at as she cries to herself for having successfully accomplished her mission.
"The Parent Trap", Thirties Style
movingpicturegal15 January 2007
Cute film about three lively sisters from Switzerland (often seen running about in matching outfits) who want to get their parents back together (seems mom is still carrying the torch for dad) - so they sail off to New York to stop the dad from marrying a blonde gold-digger he calls "Precious". Dad hasn't seen his daughters in ten years, they (oddly enough) don't seem to mind and think he's wonderful, and meanwhile Precious seems to lead a life mainly run by her overbearing mother (Alice Brady), a woman who just wants to see to it her daughter marries a rich man. The sisters get the idea of pushing Precious into the path of a drunken Hungarian count, tricking the two gold-digging women into thinking he is one of the richest men in Europe. But a case of mistaken identity makes the girls think the count is good-looking Ray Milland, who goes along with the scheme 'cause he has a crush on sister Kay.
This film is enjoyable, light fare. Barbara Read as Kay comes across as sweet and pretty, Ray Milland looks oh so young and handsome here (though, unfortunately, is given little to do), Alice Brady is quite good as the scheming mother - but it is Deanna Durbin, a real charmer and cute as a button playing youngest sister Penny, who pretty much steals the show. With absolutely beautiful vocals, she sings several songs throughout the film, though I actually would have liked to have seen them feature her even more in this. The plot in this film is a bit silly, but nevertheless, I found the film to be entertaining and fun.
This film is enjoyable, light fare. Barbara Read as Kay comes across as sweet and pretty, Ray Milland looks oh so young and handsome here (though, unfortunately, is given little to do), Alice Brady is quite good as the scheming mother - but it is Deanna Durbin, a real charmer and cute as a button playing youngest sister Penny, who pretty much steals the show. With absolutely beautiful vocals, she sings several songs throughout the film, though I actually would have liked to have seen them feature her even more in this. The plot in this film is a bit silly, but nevertheless, I found the film to be entertaining and fun.
Deanna Durbin shines in this...
wisewebwoman15 February 2004
Warning: Spoilers
but the film has not aged well.
I saw it first many years ago but had the opportunity recently to revisit it with the child in my life. The mores of the era are striking - and acceptable to the movie going public of that time. ****mild spoilers ahead****
The father has not seen his three daughters in ten years, even though paying for their upkeep in a luxurious life style in Switzerland. The daughters have no problem with this apparently but do have a problem with him remarrying and come to New York to stop it.
All is sweetness and light with dear old Dad becoming enchanted with the youngest daughter, Penny, while virtually ignoring the older two.
Many small little twists and turns to the very slim plot line, Deanna's voice soars - and what an enchanting actress she was! - and all works out beautifully in the end for her silly old father and still heart-broken mother.
5 out of 10 from the child in my life who asked many questions about the era which necessitated stopping the movie several times to discuss them and 7 out of 10 from me for this nearly 70 year-old-curiosity. 6 out of 10 between us.
I saw it first many years ago but had the opportunity recently to revisit it with the child in my life. The mores of the era are striking - and acceptable to the movie going public of that time. ****mild spoilers ahead****
The father has not seen his three daughters in ten years, even though paying for their upkeep in a luxurious life style in Switzerland. The daughters have no problem with this apparently but do have a problem with him remarrying and come to New York to stop it.
All is sweetness and light with dear old Dad becoming enchanted with the youngest daughter, Penny, while virtually ignoring the older two.
Many small little twists and turns to the very slim plot line, Deanna's voice soars - and what an enchanting actress she was! - and all works out beautifully in the end for her silly old father and still heart-broken mother.
5 out of 10 from the child in my life who asked many questions about the era which necessitated stopping the movie several times to discuss them and 7 out of 10 from me for this nearly 70 year-old-curiosity. 6 out of 10 between us.
Durbin and Powell Weren't That Much Alike
cclowell15 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I'm surprised at the comments from posters stating that Jane Powell made the same type of films Deanna Durbin did. Although they were both young sopranos whose film images were crafted by Joe Pasternak, if this film is any indication, they were almost polar opposites.
While, in THREE SMART GIRLS, Durbin plays an impulsive "Little Miss Fixit," who, after some setbacks, manages to reunite her divorced parents, in its' semi-remake, THREE DARING DAUGHTERS, Jane Powell almost destroys the marriage between her screen Mom Jeanette MacDonald and new stepfather Jose Iturbi when she refuses to accept him and strong arms her younger siblings into rejecting him, too. From the Durbin and Powell films I've seen, I'd say these disparate qualities permeate the early films of both of these talented young performers.
As for Durbin's performance in THREE SMART GIRLS, I find it completely winning, and most impressive. Although it's clear from her occasionally shrill and over-emphatic line readings in some of the more energetic scenes that this is an early film for Deanna, watching the self-confident, knowing and naturally effervescent manner in which she delivers her lines and performs overall, and the subdued and tender manner she projects the more serious scenes, you'd never guess that this was the FIRST film role of a 14 year-old girl whose prior professional experience consisted almost exclusively of two years of vocal instruction.
Given that this film, and Durbin herself, were much publicized at the time as "Universal's last chance," the production must have been an impossibly stressful situation for a film novice of any age, but you'd never know it from the ease and assurance Durbin displays on screen. Although she's clearly still developing her acting style and demeanor before the camera (this was equally true of the early performances of much more experienced contemporaries like Garland, Rooney, O'Connor and Jane Powell), Durbin projects an extraordinary presence and warmth on camera that is absolutely unique to her, and, even here, in her first film, she manages to remain immensely likable despite the often quick-tempered impulsiveness of her character, and though she's occasionally shrill, she never for a second projects the coy and arch qualities that afflicted many child stars, including Jane Powell and some of the other young sopranos who followed in the wake of her success.
In short, like all great singing stars, Durbin was much more than just a "beautiful voice." On the other hand, while Durbin's pure lyric soprano is a truly remarkable and glorious instrument, the most remarkable thing about it, to me, was the way she is able to project her songs, without the slightest bit of affectation or "grandnes" that afflict the singing of adult opera singers like Lily Pons, Grace Moore and Jeanette MacDonald in films of the period
The film is also delightful, heavily influenced by screwball comedy, it backs Durbin up with a creme-de-la-creme of first-class screwball pros such as Charles Winninger, Binnie Barnes, Alice Brady, Ray Milland and Mischa Auer. The story is light and entertaining. True, it's hardly "realistic," but why would anyone expect it to be? If you want :"realistic" rent THE GRAPES OF WRATH or TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. On the other hand, if you're looking for a genuine, sweet, funny and entertaining family comedy with a wonderfully, charismatic and gifted adolescent "lead," and terrific supporting players, this film won't let you down.
While, in THREE SMART GIRLS, Durbin plays an impulsive "Little Miss Fixit," who, after some setbacks, manages to reunite her divorced parents, in its' semi-remake, THREE DARING DAUGHTERS, Jane Powell almost destroys the marriage between her screen Mom Jeanette MacDonald and new stepfather Jose Iturbi when she refuses to accept him and strong arms her younger siblings into rejecting him, too. From the Durbin and Powell films I've seen, I'd say these disparate qualities permeate the early films of both of these talented young performers.
As for Durbin's performance in THREE SMART GIRLS, I find it completely winning, and most impressive. Although it's clear from her occasionally shrill and over-emphatic line readings in some of the more energetic scenes that this is an early film for Deanna, watching the self-confident, knowing and naturally effervescent manner in which she delivers her lines and performs overall, and the subdued and tender manner she projects the more serious scenes, you'd never guess that this was the FIRST film role of a 14 year-old girl whose prior professional experience consisted almost exclusively of two years of vocal instruction.
Given that this film, and Durbin herself, were much publicized at the time as "Universal's last chance," the production must have been an impossibly stressful situation for a film novice of any age, but you'd never know it from the ease and assurance Durbin displays on screen. Although she's clearly still developing her acting style and demeanor before the camera (this was equally true of the early performances of much more experienced contemporaries like Garland, Rooney, O'Connor and Jane Powell), Durbin projects an extraordinary presence and warmth on camera that is absolutely unique to her, and, even here, in her first film, she manages to remain immensely likable despite the often quick-tempered impulsiveness of her character, and though she's occasionally shrill, she never for a second projects the coy and arch qualities that afflicted many child stars, including Jane Powell and some of the other young sopranos who followed in the wake of her success.
In short, like all great singing stars, Durbin was much more than just a "beautiful voice." On the other hand, while Durbin's pure lyric soprano is a truly remarkable and glorious instrument, the most remarkable thing about it, to me, was the way she is able to project her songs, without the slightest bit of affectation or "grandnes" that afflict the singing of adult opera singers like Lily Pons, Grace Moore and Jeanette MacDonald in films of the period
The film is also delightful, heavily influenced by screwball comedy, it backs Durbin up with a creme-de-la-creme of first-class screwball pros such as Charles Winninger, Binnie Barnes, Alice Brady, Ray Milland and Mischa Auer. The story is light and entertaining. True, it's hardly "realistic," but why would anyone expect it to be? If you want :"realistic" rent THE GRAPES OF WRATH or TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. On the other hand, if you're looking for a genuine, sweet, funny and entertaining family comedy with a wonderfully, charismatic and gifted adolescent "lead," and terrific supporting players, this film won't let you down.
Three Smart Girls is a pretty funny movie that served as a nice feature film debut of one Deanna Durbin
tavm2 January 2016
About 20 years ago, I managed to watch the beginning of this movie on AMC-when it was still commercial-free and didn't edit its films for content-but turned it off or changed the channel after Deanna Durbin's first number. So now I've seen the whole thing on Netflix DVD and I can honesty say I enjoyed most of it. Initially, I thought the dialogue was being presented too fast for me to understand everything going on but I caught on eventually and warmed to Ms. Durbin's presence as the young impulsive teen. The women who play her sisters are also pretty appealing and there's a nice comic performance by Charles Winninger as their father. Mischa Auer is also funny as a drunken bum who's supposed to pose as a count. While I don't consider myself an opera fan, Ms. Durbin is pretty entertaining when she sings. In summary, Three Smart Girls is a pretty funny movie that's worth a look.
A Rusty Parent Trap
arieliondotcom8 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
You will recognize the plot immediately. Daughters of a divorced couple trying to get Mom and Dad back together again. Yes, that was the theme of The Parent Trap in the 60s, 80s and 90s. But here's the spooky thing. Even though Deanna Durbin was younger than the 21 year old Hayley Mills while playing the doting daughter(s) roles, Durbin looks much older, as in adult. And so do all of her so-called siblings.
And this confusion between adult and child goes throughout the film. The girls are dressed in cute little sailor outfits but look ridiculous in them as the director seems to take pains to point out their ample tops and tushies throughout the film. So you're constantly torn between thinking of them as children or women. When Ray Milland and others start "hitting on" them you get the feeling as if they're pedophiles, and you might be one, too for noticing those tushies and tops the director was pointing out. Teens or temptresses, little girls or little foxes, you are never quite sure what you're supposed to be thinking of them as.
The parents, too, seem very old and the whole film seems very dated.
It is a rusty version of the Parent Trap and you should avoid it, or at least ensure your tetanus shots are up to date if you don't believe me.
And this confusion between adult and child goes throughout the film. The girls are dressed in cute little sailor outfits but look ridiculous in them as the director seems to take pains to point out their ample tops and tushies throughout the film. So you're constantly torn between thinking of them as children or women. When Ray Milland and others start "hitting on" them you get the feeling as if they're pedophiles, and you might be one, too for noticing those tushies and tops the director was pointing out. Teens or temptresses, little girls or little foxes, you are never quite sure what you're supposed to be thinking of them as.
The parents, too, seem very old and the whole film seems very dated.
It is a rusty version of the Parent Trap and you should avoid it, or at least ensure your tetanus shots are up to date if you don't believe me.
Deanna Durbin in her feature film debut carries the movie with ease; Binnie Barnes hasn't a chance
Terrell-427 January 2008
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 mix-up 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.
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 mix-up 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.
Turn off your brain and enjoy.
planktonrules13 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
While "Three Smart Girls" has some very nice moments, the film will probably be received less enthusiastically than it was back in 1936. Back then, the film received three Oscar nominations and Deanna Durbin received a special Oscar for her performance. However, now it just seems awfully formulaic and ordinary...though still worth watching.
The film begins with the three young ladies at home with their mother. They learn that their jerk-faced father is remarrying. Apparently, the parents divorced many years earlier and now the daughters want to see if they can break up this marriage and get their parents back together. However, and this is a HUGE problem with the film, the father (Charles Winninger) is a horse's butt. This is because he apparently hasn't seen them at all since the divorce--and why would the girls want to be involved with him? And, how could they ever expect such a self-centered guy to even care what they think? Still, the ladies somehow want to bring Daddy back to the bosom of his loving family.
So why do I STILL give this movie a 7? Ray Milland. He was WONDERFUL in the film--and how he gets involved with these goof-ball girls is awfully funny. See the film--you'll see what I mean.
The film begins with the three young ladies at home with their mother. They learn that their jerk-faced father is remarrying. Apparently, the parents divorced many years earlier and now the daughters want to see if they can break up this marriage and get their parents back together. However, and this is a HUGE problem with the film, the father (Charles Winninger) is a horse's butt. This is because he apparently hasn't seen them at all since the divorce--and why would the girls want to be involved with him? And, how could they ever expect such a self-centered guy to even care what they think? Still, the ladies somehow want to bring Daddy back to the bosom of his loving family.
So why do I STILL give this movie a 7? Ray Milland. He was WONDERFUL in the film--and how he gets involved with these goof-ball girls is awfully funny. See the film--you'll see what I mean.
Spoiler!!! Focuses on classical Hollywood style.
amybeckberger30 March 2001
Warning: Spoilers
Henry Koster's film is a seamless classical hollywood goal-driven narrative with elements of a musical, romantic comedy and layers of mistaken identity, all accelerated to a final climax and resolution by the interjection of a temporal goal deadline within the film. Deanna Durbin serves as the focal character of the three sisters, all working together to attain one common goal to break up their estranged father's engagement and to reunite him with their mother. While the sisters work as a united front to achieve their goal, each is developed, in part, using the playful bicker that invariably accompanies the sisters' interactions.
This film is also a romantic comedy filmed in the `sophisticated world of the social aristocracy'(1). True to the roots of the big studio Romantic comedies of the 1930's and 40's, this film features lavish settings of wealth and prestige providing an escape, however brief, for movie goers from the depression. The film opens with a display of wealth by depicting the comfortable lifestyle that the girls enjoy with their mother in Europe. During this opening scene in which the sisters are outside on their sailboa t with Durbin singing, merrily sailing down a stream near their home. The narrative goal is set soon after this opening sequence when the sisters are called in for lunch by a housekeeper. Once inside, they discover that their father is to marry a famous glamor girl in the US. Fueled by the desire to quell their mother's sorrow, the girls set off to America to win over their father by turning him away from his pending marriage and stealthily persuading him to return to their mother. Upon their arrival the sisters discover the difficulty of their goal; the fiancee and her mother are aware of the girl's meddling ways and are determined to frustrate the girls attempts at intervention.
The bulk of the film is filled with trials and tribulations that both frustrate the girl's goals as well as push them closer to completing their objectives in unplanned ways. The dichotomy of wealth and worth is represented in many ways in this film. Class, social status and money play a pivotal role in the nuances of the plot as the sisters try to get the fiancee to `latch on' to another man who has a title and more wealth. The gold digging nature of the fiancee is pivotal in the many efforts used by the sisters to break the engagement. It is obvious that the engagement is not based on love, which further leads the viewer to root for the girls successful intervention. The fiancee's determination to marry into wealth eventually serves as the key to the girl's success, however unexpectedly, and simultaneously thwarts her own opportunities at such a marriage.
The sisters form a powerful team within which each has a very different personality. Each tactic they employ to break up the engagement begins to be thwarted by the romantic entanglements of the 2 older sisters with two of the men they are using to manipulate the fiancee, effectively twisting the plot in on itself many time during the film and providing ample barbing dialogue between the 2 courting couples. (Durbin's character is only 14 years old, so the romantic comedy portions of the film take place in the other characters relations with each other.)
Throughout the film, Durbin is asserted as the main character through long, close-up voice solos that solidify her role as the central character. These musical interludes serve also as plot devices to win over adoration and support from her listeners within the film (as well as the audience), bringing her closer to her goals. In a classic use of editing to tell a story, the emotional effect of her voice on other characters is clearly implied using an editing style that switches between an extreme close-up of the singing Durbin and an equally extreme close-up of the expressions of her captivated listeners(1). These interludes also showcase the sound quality of the film The lack of background noise and the clarity and range of her singing voice are used to draw out emotion in the viewer as they get to know more intimately this young character they are rooting for so firmly.
The sense of temporal urgency takes hold of the film when the wedding date is suddenly rescheduled for the following day by the sly fiancee and her mother in order to outwit the girls' schemes. This plot twist serves to shift the narrative from goal based to urgently time focused(1). The girls are forced to call on all of the contacts they've made (with a big dose of luck) to succeed in the end. With this shift to a frantic countdown in plot action, the film becomes very compelling, with the outcome uncertain until the very end. The narrative reaches resolution when, in the final scene, the mother arrives from overseas and is greeted by her triumphant daughters and her ex-husband. Although the success of this meeting is far from assured, the development of the daughter's characters as intelligent, persuasive, and strong willed almost convinces the audience of a successful reunion. (1) "American Cinema/American Culture" John Belton, 1994.
This film is also a romantic comedy filmed in the `sophisticated world of the social aristocracy'(1). True to the roots of the big studio Romantic comedies of the 1930's and 40's, this film features lavish settings of wealth and prestige providing an escape, however brief, for movie goers from the depression. The film opens with a display of wealth by depicting the comfortable lifestyle that the girls enjoy with their mother in Europe. During this opening scene in which the sisters are outside on their sailboa t with Durbin singing, merrily sailing down a stream near their home. The narrative goal is set soon after this opening sequence when the sisters are called in for lunch by a housekeeper. Once inside, they discover that their father is to marry a famous glamor girl in the US. Fueled by the desire to quell their mother's sorrow, the girls set off to America to win over their father by turning him away from his pending marriage and stealthily persuading him to return to their mother. Upon their arrival the sisters discover the difficulty of their goal; the fiancee and her mother are aware of the girl's meddling ways and are determined to frustrate the girls attempts at intervention.
The bulk of the film is filled with trials and tribulations that both frustrate the girl's goals as well as push them closer to completing their objectives in unplanned ways. The dichotomy of wealth and worth is represented in many ways in this film. Class, social status and money play a pivotal role in the nuances of the plot as the sisters try to get the fiancee to `latch on' to another man who has a title and more wealth. The gold digging nature of the fiancee is pivotal in the many efforts used by the sisters to break the engagement. It is obvious that the engagement is not based on love, which further leads the viewer to root for the girls successful intervention. The fiancee's determination to marry into wealth eventually serves as the key to the girl's success, however unexpectedly, and simultaneously thwarts her own opportunities at such a marriage.
The sisters form a powerful team within which each has a very different personality. Each tactic they employ to break up the engagement begins to be thwarted by the romantic entanglements of the 2 older sisters with two of the men they are using to manipulate the fiancee, effectively twisting the plot in on itself many time during the film and providing ample barbing dialogue between the 2 courting couples. (Durbin's character is only 14 years old, so the romantic comedy portions of the film take place in the other characters relations with each other.)
Throughout the film, Durbin is asserted as the main character through long, close-up voice solos that solidify her role as the central character. These musical interludes serve also as plot devices to win over adoration and support from her listeners within the film (as well as the audience), bringing her closer to her goals. In a classic use of editing to tell a story, the emotional effect of her voice on other characters is clearly implied using an editing style that switches between an extreme close-up of the singing Durbin and an equally extreme close-up of the expressions of her captivated listeners(1). These interludes also showcase the sound quality of the film The lack of background noise and the clarity and range of her singing voice are used to draw out emotion in the viewer as they get to know more intimately this young character they are rooting for so firmly.
The sense of temporal urgency takes hold of the film when the wedding date is suddenly rescheduled for the following day by the sly fiancee and her mother in order to outwit the girls' schemes. This plot twist serves to shift the narrative from goal based to urgently time focused(1). The girls are forced to call on all of the contacts they've made (with a big dose of luck) to succeed in the end. With this shift to a frantic countdown in plot action, the film becomes very compelling, with the outcome uncertain until the very end. The narrative reaches resolution when, in the final scene, the mother arrives from overseas and is greeted by her triumphant daughters and her ex-husband. Although the success of this meeting is far from assured, the development of the daughter's characters as intelligent, persuasive, and strong willed almost convinces the audience of a successful reunion. (1) "American Cinema/American Culture" John Belton, 1994.
Daddy's Girl
Cineanalyst21 August 2018
"Three Smart Girls" is a dated family comedy, which somewhat resembles the later "The Parent Trap" films (1961 and 1998), as others have mentioned, and its lightweight for a Best Picture Oscar nominee, but I see its appeal. The narrative, while convoluted, can be fun to follow because of all its twists and turns--many of which involve the tried and true comedic formulae of masquerade and mistaken identity. Plus, technically, it's a competently put together vehicle for Universal's "new discovery," juvenile actress and singing soprano Deanna Durbin.
In it, a mother and her three daughters, along with a maid, are living in Switzerland. They find out that their ex-husband and estranged father of 10 years is set to remarry. Despite a decade of no contact with the man, this upsets the girls deeply. Bizarrely and pathetically, his portrait and pictures populate their home. The youngest girl, Peggy (played by Durbin), comes up with the idea to travel to New York to meet the old man--a father she has no memory of, while her two older sisters, now young women, would only have childhood memories of him--and to make him remarry their mother. When we meet the man, it turns out that he's a deadbeat dunderhead, as well as a successful businessman of some sort, who's being taken advantage of by his gold-digging fiancée and her mother. Now, 80 years past this film, when divorce is commonplace and women's fortunes aren't necessarily tied to keeping a man, at least in the Western world, this film's setup seems particularly ridiculous. Clearly the girls have done well without him, and, at first at least, he clearly wants nothing to do with them, so, good riddance, you'd think. But, no, this is the era when the Hays Code was enforced, so no such depiction of divorce will stand.
This coupling extends further to the two older sisters, who each find their own beau in the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Peggy serenades her father--literally, by singing "Someone to Care for Me" to him, as well as with her childish antics and vulnerability bringing out her daddy's previously-suppressed parental instincts. Durbin sings as though she's performing in an opera--her three songs mainly constituting the musical part of this family comedy. This style of singing is quite dated itself, as far as mainstream movies go, but the final song is woven into one of the picture's many scenes of masquerading. Peggy sings to police officers in an attempt to convince them that she's not who she actually is, but rather is in New York to perform at the opera. The main masquerade, besides the gold digger pretending to be in love with rich men, involves the girls and one of their beau's enlisting a Latin lover type, a gigolo Count, to seduce the father's fiancée, Donna, by him pretending to be rich, when in reality he's a poor drunkard. Another man, who is really wealthy and not a drunk, however, is mistaken by the girls for the Count. The rich man pretends to be the poor, drunk Count who pretends to be wealthy to seduce Donna; all the while, he's performing this double case of masquerade because he's attracted to one of the daughters, instead.
Such masquerade and mistaken identity plots have been a staple of comedies prior to "Three Smart Girls," including quite a few silent films I've seen based primarily on that theme, and it has continued to be popular--the later "Some Like It Hot" (1959) being one of the best, for example--but it still works here and may even benefit from the plot's overall convolution. Part of the appeal is that it's self-referential, by actors playing characters who act as other characters within the film, and the mistaken identity referring to the spectator's own suspension of disbelief or absorption in the story and characters. Otherwise, "Three Smart Girls" suffers from being dated and contrived and from the "three smart girls" being rather unsophisticated and obnoxious. Technically, wipes are used frequently for editing transitions, and there's a side-by-side multiple-exposure shot of a telephone conversation within wedding rings. Ultimately, there's still some charm left in this classic.
In it, a mother and her three daughters, along with a maid, are living in Switzerland. They find out that their ex-husband and estranged father of 10 years is set to remarry. Despite a decade of no contact with the man, this upsets the girls deeply. Bizarrely and pathetically, his portrait and pictures populate their home. The youngest girl, Peggy (played by Durbin), comes up with the idea to travel to New York to meet the old man--a father she has no memory of, while her two older sisters, now young women, would only have childhood memories of him--and to make him remarry their mother. When we meet the man, it turns out that he's a deadbeat dunderhead, as well as a successful businessman of some sort, who's being taken advantage of by his gold-digging fiancée and her mother. Now, 80 years past this film, when divorce is commonplace and women's fortunes aren't necessarily tied to keeping a man, at least in the Western world, this film's setup seems particularly ridiculous. Clearly the girls have done well without him, and, at first at least, he clearly wants nothing to do with them, so, good riddance, you'd think. But, no, this is the era when the Hays Code was enforced, so no such depiction of divorce will stand.
This coupling extends further to the two older sisters, who each find their own beau in the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Peggy serenades her father--literally, by singing "Someone to Care for Me" to him, as well as with her childish antics and vulnerability bringing out her daddy's previously-suppressed parental instincts. Durbin sings as though she's performing in an opera--her three songs mainly constituting the musical part of this family comedy. This style of singing is quite dated itself, as far as mainstream movies go, but the final song is woven into one of the picture's many scenes of masquerading. Peggy sings to police officers in an attempt to convince them that she's not who she actually is, but rather is in New York to perform at the opera. The main masquerade, besides the gold digger pretending to be in love with rich men, involves the girls and one of their beau's enlisting a Latin lover type, a gigolo Count, to seduce the father's fiancée, Donna, by him pretending to be rich, when in reality he's a poor drunkard. Another man, who is really wealthy and not a drunk, however, is mistaken by the girls for the Count. The rich man pretends to be the poor, drunk Count who pretends to be wealthy to seduce Donna; all the while, he's performing this double case of masquerade because he's attracted to one of the daughters, instead.
Such masquerade and mistaken identity plots have been a staple of comedies prior to "Three Smart Girls," including quite a few silent films I've seen based primarily on that theme, and it has continued to be popular--the later "Some Like It Hot" (1959) being one of the best, for example--but it still works here and may even benefit from the plot's overall convolution. Part of the appeal is that it's self-referential, by actors playing characters who act as other characters within the film, and the mistaken identity referring to the spectator's own suspension of disbelief or absorption in the story and characters. Otherwise, "Three Smart Girls" suffers from being dated and contrived and from the "three smart girls" being rather unsophisticated and obnoxious. Technically, wipes are used frequently for editing transitions, and there's a side-by-side multiple-exposure shot of a telephone conversation within wedding rings. Ultimately, there's still some charm left in this classic.
Deanna's feature film debut shows she had an amazing voice...
Doylenf14 January 2007
MGM dropped Deanna Durbin after one short subject she made in '36 called "Everybody Sings" with Judy Garland. They kept Garland and dropped Durbin, whereby Universal took a chance on Deanna--who turned out to save the studio from bankruptcy with a string of successful, but formula Durbin films. She would go on playing Little Miss Fix-It in a number of vehicles written for the express purpose of exploiting Durbin's wonderful soprano voice.
THREE SMART GIRLS, when seen today, is a charming but very dated tale about three teen-age sisters scheming to reunite their parents. It was the sort of thing MGM would later do with JANE POWELL who, like Durbin, had a pleasing soprano voice and was routinely given the same Miss Fix-It roles, usually in an attempt to reunite her parents too.
CHARLES WINNINGER is the father who hasn't seen his daughters in ten years. Daughters DEANNA DURBIN, NAN GREY and BARBARA READ are intent on breaking up their father's romance with "the other woman" BINNIE BARNES. A very youthful RAY MILLAND (looking like a matinée idol), provides the romantic interest for one of the girls.
It's all played in very broad style, particularly by ALICE BRADY as Barnes' society mother, filmed in ritzy surroundings that must have seemed terribly unreal to Depression-era audiences and Durbin and the girls are a little too self-confident and condescending in their attitudes to be the likable girls they're supposed to be. But none of it bears much resemblance to reality--a fault of many a classic '30s comedy.
The material isn't sufficiently bright enough to keep you from wondering when Deanna will sing again--and it's surprising to learn that this was nominated for Best Picture in 1936.
Summing up: Definitely not one of my favorite Durbin films even though she shows her perky personality...nor am I fond of the "Penny" character that she plays here...but when she sings, all is forgiven.
THREE SMART GIRLS, when seen today, is a charming but very dated tale about three teen-age sisters scheming to reunite their parents. It was the sort of thing MGM would later do with JANE POWELL who, like Durbin, had a pleasing soprano voice and was routinely given the same Miss Fix-It roles, usually in an attempt to reunite her parents too.
CHARLES WINNINGER is the father who hasn't seen his daughters in ten years. Daughters DEANNA DURBIN, NAN GREY and BARBARA READ are intent on breaking up their father's romance with "the other woman" BINNIE BARNES. A very youthful RAY MILLAND (looking like a matinée idol), provides the romantic interest for one of the girls.
It's all played in very broad style, particularly by ALICE BRADY as Barnes' society mother, filmed in ritzy surroundings that must have seemed terribly unreal to Depression-era audiences and Durbin and the girls are a little too self-confident and condescending in their attitudes to be the likable girls they're supposed to be. But none of it bears much resemblance to reality--a fault of many a classic '30s comedy.
The material isn't sufficiently bright enough to keep you from wondering when Deanna will sing again--and it's surprising to learn that this was nominated for Best Picture in 1936.
Summing up: Definitely not one of my favorite Durbin films even though she shows her perky personality...nor am I fond of the "Penny" character that she plays here...but when she sings, all is forgiven.
Three Smart Girls Are Anything But... **1/2
edwagreen19 January 2007
Ridiculous fanfare with the usually reliable Charles Winninger in the lead role as a successful banker who has been divorced for 10 years and is now set to remarry a gold-digger played listlessly by Binnie Barnes. The real schemer here is Alice Brady, who plays Barnes's mother and is perfect for the part.
The film though did serve its star Deanna Durbin with the golden opportunity to sing and sing she does quite well. As her made, Lucile Watson, who played outstanding supporting mother roles in the 1940s, is terribly miscast here.
Of course, the 3 sisters come to America from Switzerland to sabotage dad from remarrying. The film never bothers to mention why Winninger had divorced his wife to begin with. Hoping to get Barnes to fall for a fake nobleman, Mischa Auer, the latter is soon confused with the dashing Ray Milland and some funny sketches ensue.
In the end, everyone gets what's coming to them except the audience who paid to see this film.
The film though did serve its star Deanna Durbin with the golden opportunity to sing and sing she does quite well. As her made, Lucile Watson, who played outstanding supporting mother roles in the 1940s, is terribly miscast here.
Of course, the 3 sisters come to America from Switzerland to sabotage dad from remarrying. The film never bothers to mention why Winninger had divorced his wife to begin with. Hoping to get Barnes to fall for a fake nobleman, Mischa Auer, the latter is soon confused with the dashing Ray Milland and some funny sketches ensue.
In the end, everyone gets what's coming to them except the audience who paid to see this film.
Smart girls? Who is kidding who?
JohnHowardReid26 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Copyright 11 December 1936 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at the Roxy: 24 January 1937. U.S. release: December 1936. 84 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Three wealthy, spoilt teenage girls decide to wreck the forthcoming marriage of their estranged father (a New York banker) to a beautiful socialite.
NOTES: Sequels are Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) and Hers To Hold (1943). Nominated for three prestigious Hollywood awards: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Recording.
COMMENT: Pleasant enough if rather facile entertainment, no great shakes in the writing department, though it is enlivened by Binnie Barnes, Alice Brady, Mischa Auer and Ray Milland, who have all the best lines.
Winninger stumbles through his poorly written part as best he can, while newcomer Durbin usurps center stage. Her fans will be disappointed she has only three songs, of which only "Il Bacio" is handsomely recorded, so perhaps it's just as well.
Koster's direction is smooth but not in the least involving. As usual, he relies on his players to do all the work. Production values are otherwise up to scratch. In fact, much of the photography is rather attractive.
SYNOPSIS: Three wealthy, spoilt teenage girls decide to wreck the forthcoming marriage of their estranged father (a New York banker) to a beautiful socialite.
NOTES: Sequels are Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) and Hers To Hold (1943). Nominated for three prestigious Hollywood awards: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Recording.
COMMENT: Pleasant enough if rather facile entertainment, no great shakes in the writing department, though it is enlivened by Binnie Barnes, Alice Brady, Mischa Auer and Ray Milland, who have all the best lines.
Winninger stumbles through his poorly written part as best he can, while newcomer Durbin usurps center stage. Her fans will be disappointed she has only three songs, of which only "Il Bacio" is handsomely recorded, so perhaps it's just as well.
Koster's direction is smooth but not in the least involving. As usual, he relies on his players to do all the work. Production values are otherwise up to scratch. In fact, much of the photography is rather attractive.
Great 1936 Comedy
whpratt17 October 2007
This film is so old I never realized how young looking Ray Milland looked in 1936, I remember him playing in a great film, "Lost Weekend". Ray plays the role of Michael Stuart, who is a very rich banker. There are three girls in this picture who are not very happy about their father and mother separating and they find out their father is going to get married to a young blonde who is a gold digger only looking for a rich sugar daddy. They hire a man to pose as a very rich Count, his name is Count Ariszted, (Misha Auer) who is drunk all the time and is penniless and gives plenty of comic laughs throughout the picture. Deanna Durbin, (Penny Craig) surprised everyone when she was booked in a police station and told the chief of police that she was an opera star and then Penny starts singing with the most fantastic soprano voice I have every heard, the entire police department and convicts started applauding, which was a very entertaining and enjoyable scene from this film. This is Deanna Durbin's first film debut and she became an instant success over night and went on to become a great movie star with Universal Studios after leaving MGM.
No Heroes in This One
bbrebozo14 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
It was hard to find a hero in this film. The three smart girls are all manipulating liars, determined to drive their father's fiancé out of his life. Their father hasn't seen his daughters in ten years, for no readily apparent reason, and does everything he can to drive them away when they first attempt to reconnect with him. The daughters find an ethically challenged drunk to charm their father's fiancé away from him, but he's too drunk to do the job. So Ray Milland stumbles into the role, happily taking on the job of seducing the father's fiancé and leading her on, because in reality he wants to impress and seduce one of the daughters.
The weirdest scene is when Ray Milland and Deanna Durbin get into an argument in a park. Ray Milland shakes Deanna Durbin so violently that a key she's hiding in her bra falls out. A cop walk up to them and ... arrests Ray Milland? Of course not. The cop takes them to a park bench, wakes up a poor homeless bum who is sleeping on the bench, forces him to leave, then offers the now-empty park bench to Milland and Durbin to sit on!
But yeah, Deanna Durbin is really cute.
The weirdest scene is when Ray Milland and Deanna Durbin get into an argument in a park. Ray Milland shakes Deanna Durbin so violently that a key she's hiding in her bra falls out. A cop walk up to them and ... arrests Ray Milland? Of course not. The cop takes them to a park bench, wakes up a poor homeless bum who is sleeping on the bench, forces him to leave, then offers the now-empty park bench to Milland and Durbin to sit on!
But yeah, Deanna Durbin is really cute.
Craig's Daughters
lugonian18 April 2009
THREE SMART GIRLS (Universal, 1936), directed by Henry Koster, gives indication as a movie set in a classroom revolving around three intellectual students competing in keeping their names on the honor roll or dean's list. Though it does present three school age teenagers as major attractions, it's basically an uplifting story serving as a promotion for three bright stars in the making: Barbara Read, Nan Grey and "Universal's Newest Discovery," Deanna Durbin. Aside from her special billing in the opening credits, Durbin acquires enough attention and close-ups to come as no surprise which one of the "three smart girls" is to become an overnight sensation.
The story introduces three teenage sisters, Kay (Barbara Read), Joan (Nan Grey) and Penny (Deanna Durbin) living together in the country home in Switzerland with their mother, Dorothy (Nella Walker) and housekeeper, Martha (Lucile Watson). Through a newspaper article, the girls find, to their displeasure, that their New York millionaire banker father, Judson Craig (Charles Winninger), whom their mother divorced ten years ago, intends to marry, Donna Lyons Binnie Barnes), a young socialite he affectionately calls "Precious." Donna, along with her mother (Alice Brady), it turns out, are actually fortune hunters after Craig's money. Because this news has hurt their mother, who still loves him, Penny suggests paying Daddy a visit to break up this union. With "Mummy" remaining in Switzerland, the girls, accompanied by Martha, take the next boat to New York, after which they surprise both Daddy and his future bride-to-be while dining in an exclusive restaurant. A series of schemes and mishaps follow, including the hiring of Count Arisztid (hilariously played by Mischa Auer), a drunken unemployed Hungarian gigolo, to woo Miss Lyons. Along the way, the elder sisters encounter young men of interest, Bill Evans (John King), who manages Craig's investments; and Lord Michael Stewart(Ray Milland).
Reportedly a huge success for Universal, earning an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture of 1936, it shows how important it was for both studio and 14-year-old Deanna Durbin. Being her feature film debut, with only the musical short, "Every Sunday" (MGM, 1936) opposite Judy Garland, to her credit, Durbin turned out to be one smart girl for this production. Energetic, vibrant and talented in the singing category, she opens the film singing "My Heart is Singing" while rowing the sailboat with her sisters. "Someone to Care for Me" (by Gus Kahn, Walter Jurman and Bronislau Kaper) started off earlier with Binnie Barnes attempt to sing while entertaining her guests, in turn serving Durbin to advantage singing it to her father (Winninger). Durbin's final number is the classical piece, "Il Bacio" where she sings in a police station for the police chief (John Hamilton).
With other capable performers in the cast, Ernest Cossart co-stars as Craig's manservant, Binns; Charles Coleman (Stevens, the butler); Franklin Pangborn (The Jeweler); and Hobart Cavanaugh (Wilbur Lamb, one of Craig's assistants).
One of the most revived Durbin films to air on commercial television during the 1960s, THREE SMART GIRLS turned up quite frequently on cable channel American Movie Classics (1993-1996) before shifting over to Turner Classic Movies where it premiered January 14, 2007. Prior to that, THREE SMART GIRLS did get further exposure when distributed to home video in the 1990s. Interestingly, when displayed to DVD a decade later, it became a companion piece with a much latter Durbin musical, SOMETHING IN THE WIND (1947) instead of its sequels, THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP (1939) and HERS TO HOLD (1943). As popular as the original turned out to be, with its blend of music, comedy and sentiment, the sequels were equally successful, though virtually forgotten due to limited television revivals or hard to find VHS copies.
THREE SMART GIRLS not only opened a whole new career for Deanna Durbin, but marked the beginning of a whole new cycle of teenage movies later carried on by Judy Garland and others over where Durbin actually got her start, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. (***)
The story introduces three teenage sisters, Kay (Barbara Read), Joan (Nan Grey) and Penny (Deanna Durbin) living together in the country home in Switzerland with their mother, Dorothy (Nella Walker) and housekeeper, Martha (Lucile Watson). Through a newspaper article, the girls find, to their displeasure, that their New York millionaire banker father, Judson Craig (Charles Winninger), whom their mother divorced ten years ago, intends to marry, Donna Lyons Binnie Barnes), a young socialite he affectionately calls "Precious." Donna, along with her mother (Alice Brady), it turns out, are actually fortune hunters after Craig's money. Because this news has hurt their mother, who still loves him, Penny suggests paying Daddy a visit to break up this union. With "Mummy" remaining in Switzerland, the girls, accompanied by Martha, take the next boat to New York, after which they surprise both Daddy and his future bride-to-be while dining in an exclusive restaurant. A series of schemes and mishaps follow, including the hiring of Count Arisztid (hilariously played by Mischa Auer), a drunken unemployed Hungarian gigolo, to woo Miss Lyons. Along the way, the elder sisters encounter young men of interest, Bill Evans (John King), who manages Craig's investments; and Lord Michael Stewart(Ray Milland).
Reportedly a huge success for Universal, earning an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture of 1936, it shows how important it was for both studio and 14-year-old Deanna Durbin. Being her feature film debut, with only the musical short, "Every Sunday" (MGM, 1936) opposite Judy Garland, to her credit, Durbin turned out to be one smart girl for this production. Energetic, vibrant and talented in the singing category, she opens the film singing "My Heart is Singing" while rowing the sailboat with her sisters. "Someone to Care for Me" (by Gus Kahn, Walter Jurman and Bronislau Kaper) started off earlier with Binnie Barnes attempt to sing while entertaining her guests, in turn serving Durbin to advantage singing it to her father (Winninger). Durbin's final number is the classical piece, "Il Bacio" where she sings in a police station for the police chief (John Hamilton).
With other capable performers in the cast, Ernest Cossart co-stars as Craig's manservant, Binns; Charles Coleman (Stevens, the butler); Franklin Pangborn (The Jeweler); and Hobart Cavanaugh (Wilbur Lamb, one of Craig's assistants).
One of the most revived Durbin films to air on commercial television during the 1960s, THREE SMART GIRLS turned up quite frequently on cable channel American Movie Classics (1993-1996) before shifting over to Turner Classic Movies where it premiered January 14, 2007. Prior to that, THREE SMART GIRLS did get further exposure when distributed to home video in the 1990s. Interestingly, when displayed to DVD a decade later, it became a companion piece with a much latter Durbin musical, SOMETHING IN THE WIND (1947) instead of its sequels, THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP (1939) and HERS TO HOLD (1943). As popular as the original turned out to be, with its blend of music, comedy and sentiment, the sequels were equally successful, though virtually forgotten due to limited television revivals or hard to find VHS copies.
THREE SMART GIRLS not only opened a whole new career for Deanna Durbin, but marked the beginning of a whole new cycle of teenage movies later carried on by Judy Garland and others over where Durbin actually got her start, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. (***)
Good Start to an Appreciation of Deanna Durbin
LeonardKniffel7 April 2020
Deanna Durbin was enormously popular for about a decade, and this was her first feature-length film. Watching it will give you some insight into Durbin's international fame. Her popularity was so widespread that diarist Anne Frank pasted her picture to her bedroom wall in the Achterhuis where the Frank family hid during World War II. The picture can still be seen there today. Durbin is best remembered for her singing voice, variously described as being light but full, sweet, unaffected, and artless. With the skill and range of a legitimate lyric soprano, she performed everything from popular standards to operatic arias in 21 feature films. Try this one first. --Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013
second half improves greatly
SnoopyStyle29 December 2020
The three Craig sisters live in Switzerland with their divorced mother. Their rich father is rumored to be remarrying to gold-digging socialite Donna Lyons with her conniving mother. The girls run away to New York to stop them and reunite their parents. They haven't seen their father since the divorce ten years ago. Lord Michael Stuart falls for middle sister Kay. The girls find an ally in their father's investment manager Bill Evans. Things get complicated when a misunderstand has Kay trying to set up Michael with Donna.
A young Deanna Durbin makes her film debut and uses her operatic voice to sing a few songs which leads a nice career in singing in the movies. The three girls need some better differentiating. In general, they scream girlishly and talk over each other a lot. They need more pronounced individual personalities. The movie only really gets funny when the misunderstanding leads to some good old fashion hijinks. I love the way Michael decides to handle the situation. It's sly and hilariously funny. The first half is rather bland but it improves markedly in the second half.
A young Deanna Durbin makes her film debut and uses her operatic voice to sing a few songs which leads a nice career in singing in the movies. The three girls need some better differentiating. In general, they scream girlishly and talk over each other a lot. They need more pronounced individual personalities. The movie only really gets funny when the misunderstanding leads to some good old fashion hijinks. I love the way Michael decides to handle the situation. It's sly and hilariously funny. The first half is rather bland but it improves markedly in the second half.
Dazzling feature debut for Deanna Durbin
kidboots7 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Deanna Durbin really did save Universal from bankruptcy and enabled it to remain a big studio. By the mid 30s most of the big directors that had been at Universal eg Milestone, Browning and Wyler had gone. Only James Whale remained but his prestigious horror films were behind him. Deanna and Judy Garland appeared in a short "Every Sunday" and initially Garland was suggested for the role of Penny in "Three Smart Girls". When Garland was unavailable Universal switched to Durbin. Initially she had been definitely a supporting player but her potential was so vivid that the script was rewritten to make her the star. Directed by Henry Koster the film had a European touch.
The film starts with a beautiful panorama of a lake in "Switzerland". The "three smart girls" of the title - three sisters, Joan (Nan Grey), Kay (Barbara Read) and Penny (Deanna Durbin) are sailing with Penny giving her glorious voice to "My Heart is Singing". All is not too well on the home front - their father is planning to remarry a younger woman (Binnie Barnes) so the three girls with the help of their trusty nurse (Lucille Watson) decide to go to New York and reunite him with their mother. Lucille Watson is best remembered for her role as Robert Taylor's stern mother in "Waterloo Bridge" (1941).
Donna is a gold-digger who, along with her scatty mother (Alice Brady), is determined to marry Judson Craig (Charles Winninger). For someone with no film experience Deanna is wonderful as Penny, a typical pesky, over enthusiastic kid sister and she is as pretty as a picture. When she sings "Someone to Care for Me" to her father you will just melt - what a glorious voice she had. She also has one of the funniest lines in the film. When her father consoles her with "I'll take you to the zoo tomorrow", she replies "Oh I can see enough monkeys around here"!!!
With the help of Bill Evans (John King) they decide to hire a "count" (Mischa Auer)to romance Donna. They arrange to meet at a nightclub but due to a mix-up Lord Michael Stuart (Ray Milland) is mistaken for the count and Donna falls for him (she thinks he owns half of Australia!!!) The plan backfires as he falls for Kay and Donna wants to hasten her marriage to Judson.
Penny decides to take matters into her own hands and runs away. She is taken to the local police station where she charms the cops with her rendition of "Il Bacio" (she is trying to convince them she is a young opera singer.) Everything ends happily with their mother (Nella Walker) sailing over to patch things up with their dad and in the meantime Donna makes the acquaintance of the phoney count (Mischa Auer) and sails off to Australia with him.
Highly recommended.
The film starts with a beautiful panorama of a lake in "Switzerland". The "three smart girls" of the title - three sisters, Joan (Nan Grey), Kay (Barbara Read) and Penny (Deanna Durbin) are sailing with Penny giving her glorious voice to "My Heart is Singing". All is not too well on the home front - their father is planning to remarry a younger woman (Binnie Barnes) so the three girls with the help of their trusty nurse (Lucille Watson) decide to go to New York and reunite him with their mother. Lucille Watson is best remembered for her role as Robert Taylor's stern mother in "Waterloo Bridge" (1941).
Donna is a gold-digger who, along with her scatty mother (Alice Brady), is determined to marry Judson Craig (Charles Winninger). For someone with no film experience Deanna is wonderful as Penny, a typical pesky, over enthusiastic kid sister and she is as pretty as a picture. When she sings "Someone to Care for Me" to her father you will just melt - what a glorious voice she had. She also has one of the funniest lines in the film. When her father consoles her with "I'll take you to the zoo tomorrow", she replies "Oh I can see enough monkeys around here"!!!
With the help of Bill Evans (John King) they decide to hire a "count" (Mischa Auer)to romance Donna. They arrange to meet at a nightclub but due to a mix-up Lord Michael Stuart (Ray Milland) is mistaken for the count and Donna falls for him (she thinks he owns half of Australia!!!) The plan backfires as he falls for Kay and Donna wants to hasten her marriage to Judson.
Penny decides to take matters into her own hands and runs away. She is taken to the local police station where she charms the cops with her rendition of "Il Bacio" (she is trying to convince them she is a young opera singer.) Everything ends happily with their mother (Nella Walker) sailing over to patch things up with their dad and in the meantime Donna makes the acquaintance of the phoney count (Mischa Auer) and sails off to Australia with him.
Highly recommended.
Delightful old fashioned escapism, with a song or two.
georgewilliamnoble30 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Deanna Durbin's movie debut from 1936 on the Deanna Durbin collection DVD from Simply Home entertainment 2011. This DVD has stunning black and white picture quality and excellent sound, quite amazing given the age of the material. Deanna Durbin fame is less well remembered today but she became a huge star in the golden age of Hollywood, and in this movie it is easy to see why as she radiates wholesome charm and warmth. The plot is light and frothy as the three smart girls save the day and there parents while unmasking a gold digger. This is light entertainment at its very best, funny warm and very charming throughout. A great example of the polished production values and tight editing so effortlessly delivered back in the day. I loved it, and if you love the 1930's era of American cinema, and i am sure you will to.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
