It's a Date (1940)

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

Jane Hall (story) &
Frederick Kohner (story) ...

Release Date:

22 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Plot:

An aspiring actress is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more seasoned performer...

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Marriage Proposal | Grandmother | Singing | Professional Rivalry

Cast

Deanna Durbin	...	Pamela Drake
Kay Francis	...	Georgia Drake
Walter Pidgeon	...	John Arlen
Eugene Pallette	...	Gov. Allen
Henry Stephenson	...	Capt. Andrew
Cecilia Loftus	...	Sara Frankenstein
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Sidney Simpson
Lewis Howard	...	Fred 'Freddie' Miller
S.Z. Sakall	...	Karl Ober
Fritz Feld	...	Oscar, the Headwaiter
Virginia Brissac	...	Miss Holden, Summer Stock Teacher
Romaine Callender	...	Mr. Evans, Summer Stock Teacher
Joe King	...	First Mate Dan Kelly
Mary Kelley	...	Lil Alden, Governor's Wife
Eddie Polo	...	Quartermaster

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #6122)

Filming Locations:

Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

In MGM's Technicolor remake, Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), Jane Powell's repertoire included her rendition of a fabled aria sung by Deanna Durbin in Universal's black-and-write original: "Musetta's Waltz Song" from the opera "La Boheme" (music by 'Giacomo Puccini (I)', lyrics by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa). Worth noting is that Joe Pasternak, who departed Universal for the MGM's bigger budgets in late 1941, produced both musicals.

Quotes:

Karl Ober: I can't work in New York anyway. Is this place far from here?
Pamela Drake: Oh, no, Mr. Ober, it's only Maine. You know where Maine is!
Karl Ober: No.
Pamela Drake: Oh, it's practically a few minutes from here! You could write fine there.
Sidney Simpson: 'A few minutes'!
Pamela Drake: [to Sidney, blithely] Yes!
[to Ober]
Pamela Drake: That's all, really.
Karl Ober: [wagging his finger] Then it isn't quiet enough. I have to go further away from New York.
Pamela Drake: Oh, good - it *is* far away! Takes a whole day to get there.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Edited into Gems of Song (1949)

Soundtrack:

It Happened in Kaloha

No Date For Me

I watched this to see Kay Francis, who was coming to the end of her career here. Both she and Walter Pigeon were billed below the title; Deanna Durbin was the star, the only person billed above the title.

This was the seventh movie Deanna Durbin made with producer Joe Pasternak and cameraman Joseph Valentine, and the well was running dry. This drivel would give anyone with an IQ above 70 a raging headache--even in 1940. It's a trite tale of a mother (Francis) and daughter (Durbin) in love with the same man (Pigeon) as well as mother and daughter vying for the same leading role in a Broadway play. It's nonsense with neither an ounce of plausibility nor a single bit of wit, though it fancies itself a comedy. The very contrived plot is arranged to provide Durbin with a ridiculous assortment of songs: "Musetta's Waltz" from La Boheme, Schubert's "Ave Maria," "Loch Lomond," and a bland new ballad, "Love Is All." Kay Francis was looking quite fine here, though the costume designer should have been shot for giving her unflattering turban hats.

This was the first American film that S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall appeared in, though he didn't have his nickname at that time. He was playing the sort of part here that he played throughout his Hollywood career.

And the film reminded me of what an insipid actor Walter Pigeon was.