First Love (1939)

An orphaned boarding school graduate secretly attends a prestigious ball, where she falls for the boyfriend of her snobbish cousin.

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Bruce Manning (screenplay), Lionel Houser (screenplay) (as Lionel Hauser)

Stars:

Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Eugene Pallette

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Deanna Durbin	...	Constance Harding
Robert Stack	...	Ted Drake
Eugene Pallette	...	James Clinton
Helen Parrish	...	Barbara Clinton
Lewis Howard	...	Walter Clinton
Leatrice Joy	...	Grace Shute Clinton
June Storey	...	Wilma van Everett
Frank Jenks	...	Mike the Cop
Kathleen Howard	...	Miss Wiggins
Thurston Hall	...	Anthony Drake
Marcia Mae Jones	...	Marcia Parker
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Mr. Parker
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Parker
Charles Coleman	...	George
Jack Mulhall	...	Terry

Storyline

In this reworking of Cinderella, orphaned Connie Harding is sent to live with her rich aunt and uncle after graduating from boarding school. She's hardly received with open arms, especially by her snobby cousin Barbara. When the entire family is invited to a major social ball, Barbara sees to it that Connie is forced to stay home. With the aid of her uncle, who acts as her fairy godfather, Connie makes it to the ball and meets her Prince Charming in Ted Drake, her cousin's boyfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | cinderella | new york city | graduation | song | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Stack's first film.

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Goofs

The movement of Deanna during the scene with her mirror.

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Quotes

Miss Wiggins: The trouble with you young people is you don't believe in anything. You're afraid, afraid of hope, afraid of happiness.

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Connections

Featured in Hers to Hold (1943)

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Soundtracks

Home, Sweet, Home
Music by H.R. Bishop
Lyrics by John Howard Payne
Sung by Deanna Durbin

User Reviews

Cinderalla of 39

Two very young actors make up this cinderella story, Robert Stack (just 20) is the hero and Deanna at 18 still has quite a bit of puppy fat on her face (I didn't like the hair style - was it to make her seem older? ). She, an Orphan like Cinderella lands up in - not step mother here, but rich maternal uncle's home. Here of course there was one cousin, of the step-sister type the other cousin of opposite gender, the aunt and even the uncle are really not villainish by nature, but villain by the lack of empathy, not only towards our Cinderella, but towards the whole world.

There are of course nice songs too, has to be when Deanna is there. The movie is well made, and very watch-able, and of course the end is predictable in any fairy tale. Along with Deanna there are two more lovely girls, Helen Parish (the Cousin), a quite frequent co-actor of Deanna, and June Storey, another Canadian, both trying to win the Prince Charming.

There are two interesting things here, one puzzled me, till I understood what it was and other one, the main song, wasn't properly visualised.

If there is a call to sing a Strauss' waltz, even if you specify it is the Junior's, unless you know which one it is, no one can sing it. More so, it had been told to have a bit of modifications, some bars were changed, probably to cater to her voice-spectrum by the singer, Mme Cottellini, who was supposed to sing it, mentioned. Even more problem in it was, that even had she caught the opening, she still would have been in for a trouble, since it was a mix of three of Strauss' Waltzs, Schatz-Walzer, the beautiful Rosen aus dem Süden(the main body) and lagunen Walzer (finale) : unless one knows that, it would be impossible.

The interesting and wonder-ful (not necessary wonderful) portion was, after this waltz, when Deanna was dancing with Stack, I observed there was something in her left hand, what was it I wondered.... and then it struck me. That was the cloak-ticket. And she had retained it, held between the forefinger and middle finger of her hand, till she exchanged it for cloak. In fact she had been playing with it, even during the 'spring waltz'. This was unexpected that one would go for that much precision. I wonder who thought about it, Koster or Deanna ? I am sure the viewers won't have noticed it, or even wondered if it wasn't there (you could have some pocket or fold in the dress to keep it).

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cinderella

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1