That Certain Age

1938

Technical Information:

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

Cast:

Deanna Durbin...Alice Fullerton
Melvyn Douglas...Vincent Bullit
Jackie Cooper...Kenneth Warren
Irene Rich...Dorothy Fullerton
Nancy Carroll...Grace Bristow
John Halliday...Gil Fullerton
Jack Searl...Tony
Juanita Quigley...Butch, the Pest
Peggy Stewart...Mary Lee
Charles Coleman...Stevens
Grant Mitchell...Jeweler

Credits:

Screenplay...Bruce Manning
Original Story by...F. Hugh Herbert
Director of Photography...Joseph Valentine, A.S.C.
Art Director...Jack Otterson
Associate...John Ewing
Film Editor...Bernard W. Burton
Assistant Director...Joseph A. McDonough
Gowns...Vera West
Set Decorations...R.A. Gausman
Musical Director...Charles Previn
Vocal Supervision...Charles Henderson
Orchestrations...Frank Skinner
Sound Supervisor...Bernard B. Brown
Technician...Joseph Lapis
Directed by...Edward Ludwig
Producer...Joseph Pasternak

    Dashing newspaper reporter Vincent Bullit (Melvyn Douglas) has just returned to New York from Spain, where he was covering a war for his boss, newspaperman Gil Fullerton (John Halliday). Unfortunately, Bullit was shot during his stay in Spain, but managed to get a fantastic story for the papers. Fullerton gives Bullit a three week vacation to relax and get well before he heads for China to write a series of public interest stories. Rather reluctantly, Bullit accepts Fullerton's offer to stay at his family's guest house in Mt. Kisco.
    Fullerton's teenage daughter Alice (Deanna Durbin) is outraged. She and her friends were putting on a play entitled "Lady Iris' Dilemma," the proceeds of which were going towards a Boy Scout troop's summer camp fund, and were using the guest house as a place to rehearse. Alice and her boyfriend Ken (Jackie Cooper) thus hatch a plan in order to get Bullit out. They shoot pellets at him, make lots of noise and try to scare him with a ghost story before he realizes what is going on. He tells the kids that he would much rather stay in New York City, where he could party and have fun, and so they join forces in order to get him out.
    Their plan entails a "sick friend" who needs Bullit by his side. A fake telephone call is arranged from a hospital informing Bullit of his friend's condition, and Alice is given the task of sending a telegram asking for his presence at the hospital. Alice, however, becomes smitten with the older man, and decides she wants him to stay. She sends a telegram saying that his friend is fine and that Bullit is not needed, which makes Bullit rather mad. When her friends ask her why Bullit has not left, she tells them that the plan simply did not work and that her parents knew what was going on the whole time.
    Alice is growing deeper "in love" with Bullit every day, writing it all in detail in her diary. Pretty soon, Alice feels that she has "outgrown" Ken, and drops out of the lead role in "Lady Iris' Dilemma." Hurt, he asks his little sister Butch (Juanita Quigley) to tell Alice that he is not mad at her. Butch cannot find Alice anywhere, but does find her diary which she reads and brings back to Ken. Ken reads it as well, and becomes extremely jealous of Bullit. Saddened, he decides to join the Navy.
    Meanwhile, Alice gets the impression that Bullit is in love with her too, not knowing that he actually has a girlfriend, Grace Bristow (Nancy Carroll) who is in Cuba. Ken returns Alice's diary to her, and wishes her the best. He also has a "man-to-man" talk with Bullit who is completely baffled, totally unaware of Alice's affections for him. He tells this to Alice's parents who try and convince Alice that it is just a phase she is going through. Alice won't listen however and remains convinced that Bullit is in love with her.
    Bullit and Mr. and Mrs. Fullerton hatch a plan upon Grace's return to New York. Grace poses as Bullit's wife, which makes Alice mad. She decides that he is nothing but a heel, rips up her diary, goes back to Ken and also resumes the lead role in the play.

Songs:

[Songs performed by Deanna Durbin in boldface]
"Be a Good Scout" (McHugh, Adamson)
"Les Filles de Cadiz" (de Musset, Delibes)
"You're as Pretty as a Picture" (McHugh, Adamson)
"My Own" (McHugh, Adamson)
"Juliet's Waltz Song" (Gounod)
"That Certain Age" (McHugh, Adamson)

Academy Awards and Nominations:

Best Sound, Recording (Bernard B. Brown - nominee)
Best Music, Song - "My Own" (Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh - nominees)

Reviews:

"...pert and charming..."
- New York Times

"...innocent and captivating..."
- New York Herald-Tribune

"These Deanna Durbin pictures - and this is the fourth - are the miracle films of today. They never put a wrong foot forward. They never overreach themselves. They never for a moment lose that sparkle. They never miss."
- Sunday Express

"...in her other films her ability often struck me as miraculous; now it seems to me instinctively perfect."
- Punch

"There's gold and plenty of it in That Certain Age."
- The Hollywood Reporter

"...a beautiful piece of picture making."
- Daily Variety

My Review:

Even though That Certain Age is a good film, it is not one of my favorites. The movie was her longest one to date, but there is not that much plot to fill it. The music is wonderful however, with Deanna singing one of my favorite songs, "Les Filles de Cadiz" as well as the Academy Award-nominated "My Own." She gives a wonderful performance (as usual) and her scenes with the very talented Melvyn Douglas are pure comic gold.

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

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