One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Hanns Kräly (idea)
Bruce Manning (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 September 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Plot:

The daughter of a struggling musician forms a symphony orchestra made up of his unemployed friends and through persistence...

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Concert | Orchestra | Misunderstanding | Singer

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Deanna Durbin	...	Patricia Cardwell
Leopold Stokowski	...	Himself
Adolphe Menjou	...	John Cardwell
Alice Brady	...	Mrs. Frost
Eugene Pallette	...	John R. Frost
Mischa Auer	...	Michael Borodoff
Billy Gilbert	...	Garage Owner
Alma Kruger	...	Mrs. Tyler
J. Scott Smart	...	Marshall - Stage Doorrman (as Jack Smart)
Jed Prouty	...	Tommy Bitters
Jameson Thomas	...	Russell - Stokowski's Manager
Howard C. Hickman	...	Johnson (as Howard Hickman)
Frank Jenks	...	Taxi Driver
Christian Rub	...	Gustave Brandstetter
Gerald Oliver Smith	...	Stevens

Also Known As:

100 Men and a Girl (USA) (review title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #3448) | Finland:S

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Deanna Durbin's vocal coach was Andrés de Segurola, a former Metropolitan Opera bass who had sung with Enrico Caruso.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of Patsy's hands when she's crying on the bed.

Quotes:

Himself, Leopold Stokowski: [Patsy has come to apologize for telling a newspaper that Stokowski would be conducting her orchestra of jobless musicians] But why did you do it? You must have had a reason.
Patricia "Patsy" Cardwell: Oh, yes! I had a hundred reasons! Would you like to hear them?
Himself, Leopold Stokowski: I certainly would.
Patricia "Patsy" Cardwell: [Goes to the door of his study and counts:] One! Two! Three! Four!
[And Stokowski suddenly hears "Hungarian Rhapsody" as clear as a bell inside his own house! He and she go out onto his balcony overlooking the entryway. The 100 men are standing on the stairway, playing]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Maestros of Philadelphia (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III

Charming Deanna Durbin musical

I can't say I'm a fan of Deanna Durbin, but I thought she was very charming and exuberant in "100 Men and a Girl", one of Deanna's biggest vehicles at the time. Deanna plays the daughter of an impoverished musician (Adolphe Menjou, who previously worked with another famous child star Shirley Temple in "Little Miss Marker"). Most of the plot revolves around how Deanna manages to hook up 100 unemployed musicians with a famous orchestra conductor. It may have dated by today's standards but it is worth catching for the music and Deanna's singing talents.