I think when you watch something like this, you have to understand who the film was designed to appeal to when it was made. Deanna Durbin, in her very first feature film, is cast as an ideal teenager with a seemingly ideal life. With her smile and singing voice, it's easy to see why she was an instant hit with moviegoers. The target audience for such a film would have been other girls her age, who had yet to transition to adulthood. While experiencing the pangs of adolescence, these girls would have been prone to mischief and plenty of crushes on boys.
Durbin was 14 when THREE SMART GIRLS was in production at Universal, and had just turned 15 when the film was released into theaters. We cannot evaluate her as a seasoned performer, for this is just the beginning of her movie career; but she has good instincts and a natural way in front of the camera with her costars. On that she can be judged.
The story of THREE SMART GIRLS involves three female siblings who live in Switzerland with their mother (Nella Walker), and are separated from a wealthy American father (Charles Winninger) who resides in New York City. Durbin is the youngest of the three sisters; the older two are played by Nan Grey and Barbara Read. The girls get along rather well, almost too well with none of the rivalries or competing agendas we might expect. Instead, their conflict involves a wish to reunite their divorced parents.
Reuniting the parents becomes an urgent matter when they learn from a governess (Lucile Watson) that dear old dad is set to take a new wife. The fiancee is a gold digging vamp played to the hilt by Binnie Barnes. Aiding and abetting Barnes' schemes to land a rich husband is her equally vain mother (Alice Brady, who also plays her role to the hilt). In fact, Barnes and Brady are such a scene stealing duo, it's almost a letdown when their plans are foiled at the end, since we know they won't be back for the sequels.
Contemporary critics mentioned the film's emphasis on sentimentality, but I think there is a good dose of adult humor mixed in...especially when Barnes and Brady are on screen, as well as Mischa Auer who's cast as a drunken and impoverished Hungarian count. Indeed, there are enough eccentric side characters to keep the thing from becoming too saccharine.
Some handsome young leading men are included to give the older sisters romantic partners. Durbin's character does not have a substantial romance until the third part of the trilogy, HERS TO HOLD, which wouldn't hit screens until 1943 when she was seven years older. One older sister's suitor is played by Ray Milland on loan from Paramount, who was a last-minute substitution for Louis Hayward who bowed out due to illness. Milland portrays a well-to-do lord who owns considerable property in Australia.
Sometimes the girls get a bit overemotional in their scenes when the script requires them to deal with possible loss or rejection. At one point Durbin runs away when she is unable to cope with the fact that Winninger seems to be going full speed ahead with the wedding to Barnes.
I never got the sense the girls were too spoiled or acted entitled, though there probably was some of that in their general demeanor. But I did get the sense they were daddy's little drama queens when something didn't quite go their way! However, that's part of what gives the film its charm and probably is a good reason why it connected with its intended audience, other girls who wanted things to be perfect and stay that way.
Durbin was 14 when THREE SMART GIRLS was in production at Universal, and had just turned 15 when the film was released into theaters. We cannot evaluate her as a seasoned performer, for this is just the beginning of her movie career; but she has good instincts and a natural way in front of the camera with her costars. On that she can be judged.
The story of THREE SMART GIRLS involves three female siblings who live in Switzerland with their mother (Nella Walker), and are separated from a wealthy American father (Charles Winninger) who resides in New York City. Durbin is the youngest of the three sisters; the older two are played by Nan Grey and Barbara Read. The girls get along rather well, almost too well with none of the rivalries or competing agendas we might expect. Instead, their conflict involves a wish to reunite their divorced parents.
Reuniting the parents becomes an urgent matter when they learn from a governess (Lucile Watson) that dear old dad is set to take a new wife. The fiancee is a gold digging vamp played to the hilt by Binnie Barnes. Aiding and abetting Barnes' schemes to land a rich husband is her equally vain mother (Alice Brady, who also plays her role to the hilt). In fact, Barnes and Brady are such a scene stealing duo, it's almost a letdown when their plans are foiled at the end, since we know they won't be back for the sequels.
Contemporary critics mentioned the film's emphasis on sentimentality, but I think there is a good dose of adult humor mixed in...especially when Barnes and Brady are on screen, as well as Mischa Auer who's cast as a drunken and impoverished Hungarian count. Indeed, there are enough eccentric side characters to keep the thing from becoming too saccharine.
Some handsome young leading men are included to give the older sisters romantic partners. Durbin's character does not have a substantial romance until the third part of the trilogy, HERS TO HOLD, which wouldn't hit screens until 1943 when she was seven years older. One older sister's suitor is played by Ray Milland on loan from Paramount, who was a last-minute substitution for Louis Hayward who bowed out due to illness. Milland portrays a well-to-do lord who owns considerable property in Australia.
Sometimes the girls get a bit overemotional in their scenes when the script requires them to deal with possible loss or rejection. At one point Durbin runs away when she is unable to cope with the fact that Winninger seems to be going full speed ahead with the wedding to Barnes.
I never got the sense the girls were too spoiled or acted entitled, though there probably was some of that in their general demeanor. But I did get the sense they were daddy's little drama queens when something didn't quite go their way! However, that's part of what gives the film its charm and probably is a good reason why it connected with its intended audience, other girls who wanted things to be perfect and stay that way.