Nice Girl?

1941

Technical Information:

Studio: Universal
Running Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Black and White
Video Availability: Available on MCA/Universal home video

Cast:

Deanna Durbin...Jane Dana
Franchot Tone...Richard Calvert
Walter Brennan...Hector Titus
Robert Stack...Donald Webb
Robert Benchley...Oliver Wendell Holmes Dana
Helen Broderick...Cora Foster
Ann Gillis...Nancy Dana
Anne Gwynne...Sylvia Dana
Elisabeth Risdon...Martha Peasley
Nana Bryant...Mary Peasley

Credits:

Screenplay...Richard Connell, Gladys Lehman
Based on the play "Nice Girl" by...Phyllis Duganne
Director of Photography...Joseph Valentine, A.S.C.
Art Director...Jack Otterson
Associate...Martin Obzina
Film Editor...Bernard W. Burton
Gowns...Vera West
Assistant Director...Joseph A. McDonough
Set Decorations...R.A. Gausman
Musical Director...Charles Previn
Vocal Coach...Andres de Segurola
Orchestrations...Frank Skinner
Sound Supervisor...Bernard B. Brown
Technician...Joseph Lapis
Produced by...Joe Pasternak
Directed by...William A. Seiter

    It is just another day in small-town America for the Dana family. Dad Oliver Dana (Robert Benchley) is hard at work on a book about nutrition, eldest daughter Sylvia (Anne Gwynne) has aspirations to make it as an actress on the stage, youngest daughter Nancy (Ann Gillis) is boy crazy, and middle daughter Jane (Deanna Durbin) is fed up with her image as the local "good girl."
    Jane's beau Don Webb (Robert Stack) is more interested with his car than he is with her. This makes Jane a little upset. She tries to get him in a romantic mood by going on a drive with him to the top of a hill, though he ends up tinkering with the motor to his car, as usual.
    At home that night, a telegram arrives for Oliver. It is from a foundation in New York which is interested in giving him a fellowship. They are sending a scientist named Richard Calvert (Franchot Tone) to visit him and evaluate the situation. Jane is given the task of picking the scientist up at the train station.
    Jane expects Richard Calvert to be an old, bearded man and so she is naturally surprised when he turns out to be young and handsome. She takes him back to the Dana home where it has been arranged for him to stay. Jane thinks the older man is very interesting and enjoys hearing his stories.
    At the Fourth of July dance that night, Don ditches Jane for his car, and she is left to dance with Richard. She is somewhat smitten with him.
    Soon, it is time for Richard to leave and Jane must accompany him to the train station. Don gives her permission to use his car to drive him there, since it is fast. She asks him whether or not he is worried, sending her off with an older man. Don replies that she is a "good girl" and that nothing will happen. Jane decides to set him straight, and shed her "good girl" image. She takes a potato and puts it in the exhaust pipe, which slows the car down causing Richard to miss his train. Jane insists on driving him to New York, saying it wouldn't be an inconvenience. It is late and stormy when they finally arrive at the Calvert residence, and so he invites her to spend the night.
    To get out of her wet clothes, Jane puts on a pair of bright red pajamas that belong to Richard's sister, who is out of town with the rest of the family. She practically throws herself at him, but he just tells her stories and shows her a wooden ring he picked up on one of his many travails. She tries it on and gets it stuck. Just then, the phone rings and Jane answers it. It is Richard's mother. When Richard is on the line, Jane overhears him saying how Jane is just a friend, and how she had stuck a potato in the exhaust pipe (he had found out earlier). She then realizes that she has made a fool out of herself and leaves.
    She arrives early the next morning, just as the sun is coming up and makes quite a racket with the horn to Don's car, waking up the entire neighborhood. They are shocked that she is returning so late and in someone else's pajamas! The town starts talking about the "scandal" which upsets Jane greatly. In order to quiet the rumors down, Nancy tells everyone that Richard and Jane are engaged, and that she has a ring to prove it.
    After a talk with her father, Jane realizes that the whole thing is quite comical and that it doesn't matter what other people say about her. That night, Jane is scheduled to sing at a charity benefit. Unfortunately, the postmaster Hector Titus (Walter Brennan) announces to everyone that Jane is engaged. She sings, and afterwards has a talk with Don. She tells him the truth, that she and Richard aren't engaged. He tells her that he knew it couldn't be true, since she is a "nice girl."
    Upset by the fact that he still considers her a "good girl" she tells all of her friends that she and Richard are engaged. She is put in a sticky situation however when Richard shows up! He is back in town to tell Oliver that the foundation he works for has agreed to give him a fellowship.
    Richard and Jane pretend to be in love and are forced to stage a fake "jilting" when it is announced that they should be married on the spot. With that over with, Jane and Richard make up and decide to stay friends.
    Meanwhile, Don has enlisted in the Army. Jane goes to visit him on an Army base, and they make up as well, with Don telling Jane that he is in love with her.

Songs:

[Songs performed by Deanna Durbin in boldface]
"Perhaps" (Franchetti, de Segurola)
"Beneath the Lights of Home" (Grossman, Jurmann)
"The Old Folks at Home" (Foster)
"Love at Last" (Cherkose, Press)
"Thank You, America" (Grossman, Jurmann)
"There'll Always Be an England" (Parker, Charles)

Reviews:

"...full measure of charm, melodic grace and entertainment value."
- Daily Variety

My Review:

Even though Nice Girl? is a good film, it is not outstanding. This is due partly to the weak storyline (nothing much happens through the first half of the film). Deanna seems to be bored with the material, walking through her scenes looking rather disinterested. The film, therefore, lacks the punch and pizzazz of Deanna's earlier efforts. Overall, it is only worthwhile fare, with Helen Broderick and Walter Brennan standing out in supporting roles.

Notes:

An alternate ending was filmed for British audiences. Instead of singing the rousing "Thank You, America" at the end, Deanna sang a more somber song called "There Will Always Be an England." Both endings are featured on the home video version of this film.

A line of dialogue near the end of this movie makes me wonder if some scenes were deleted from the final print. Near the beginning of the picture, Robert Stack and Deanna Durbin go for a drive to the top of a hill. There, there is a statue of a Native American with a plaque underneath it. Deanna reads the plaque out loud, referring to an Indian warrior who leaped to his death after failing to win the love of the Indian maiden "Shy Eyes." Later on, after the scene where Deanna "jilts" Franchot Tone, she asks him if she can keep the ring he gave her. He tells her that she can and then calls her "Shy Eyes." Since he never saw the statue or the plaque in the film, I wonder if there was a sequence such as this was removed from the final product.

Picture credits:
1. Video cover scanned by webmaster.
2. Movie still scanned by webmaster.
3. Movie still scanned by webmaster.

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