Main Cast: Deanna Durbin, Binnie Barnes, Alice Brady, Ray Milland, Charles Winninger, Mischa Auer
Release Year: 1936
Country: US
Run Time: 84 minutes
Plot
Deanna Durbin, the teenaged soprano who literally saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy, made her feature-film debut in Three Smart Girls. Durbin, Nan Grey and Barbara Read play three wealthy young sisters, living with their divorced mother (Nella Walker) in Europe. The girls learn that their father (Charles Winninger) has made plans to remarry. Correctly sensing that the bride-to-be (Binnie Barnes) is a fortune hunter, the sisters head to Manhattan to save Daddy from himself. Durbin is the primary architect in reuniting her parents, but not before satisfying her fans with several arias. Three Smart Girls not only spawned a sequel (Three Smart Girls Grow Up), but even a 2-reel Three Stooges parody titled Three Dumb Clucks! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A mere footnote to most modern day viewers, in her day Deanna Durbin was a tremendously popular star, whose appeal is often credited with pulling Universal out of a sea of red ink. Her debut feature, Three Smart Girls, established her as a cute, wholesome teen-ager who also happens to have a truly impressive operatic voice. Durbin was never an especially imposing actress, but rarely was she asked to be. Girls certainly doesn't tax her, but it does showcase her very engaging personality and presents a lightweight story that makes up in charm what it lacks in significance (or believability). Henry Koster directs in a fluid, easygoing style that makes the material seem simple rather than simplistic, and there's a genial air to the whole enterprise which is hard to resist. Durbin is in very good voice, with a marvelous "My Heart is Singing" and a stunning "Il Bacio." She is well supported by Nan Grey and Barbara Read- they have a rapport makes them credible as sisters -- and Charles Winninger, Alice Brady and Binnie Barnes are all in good form. A delightful film, Girls has aged much better than many other family-themed films from the same era. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
John W. Harkrider - Art Director, John W. Harkrider - Costume Designer, Henry Koster - Director, Ted Kent - Editor, Charles Previn - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joseph A. Valentine - Cinematographer, Joe Pasternak - Producer, Homer Tasker - Sound/Sound Designer, Adele Comandini - Screenwriter, Austin Parker - Screenwriter
They plot to bring their divorced parents, portrayed by Charles Winninger and Nella Walker, back together again. The movie made Durbin a star, and ushered in an eight-year era of successful Deanna Durbin musicals.
