Themes: First Love, Fathers and Daughters, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Walter Brennan, Robert Stack, Robert Benchley
Release Year: 1941
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
Nice Girl? answers its own question by casting the relentlessy nice Deanna Durbin in the title role. In her first truly adult role, Durbin plays Jane Dana, the blossoming daughter of high school principal Oliver Dana (Robert Benchley). Jane is being ardently courted by longtime boyfriend Don Webb (Robert Stack) and by the more worldly Richard Calvert (Franchot Tone). A series of misunderstandings leads to the demure Jane earning an unsavory (and wholly unjustified) "reputation", but it all turns out okay by fadeout time. It is not only unfair to reveal the ending, but also quite difficult, since the current video version of Nice Girl includes the film's "alternate" ending, which is rather different than the denoument in the officially released version. Ms. Durbin's songs on this occasion range from such standards as "Old Folks at Home" to four newly-minted tunes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Martin Obzina - Art Director, Jack Otterson - Art Director, Vera West - Costume Designer, William Seiter - Director, Bernard W. Burton - Editor, Charles Previn - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joseph A. Valentine - Cinematographer, Joe Pasternak - Producer, Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer, Gladys Lehman - Screenwriter, Richard Connell - Screenwriter, Phyllis Duganne - Play Author
