Sooner or later with child stars the same problem happens - when can you start showing them rooting? Universal took their time with Deanna Durbin - they were probably over cautious because she seemed so mature and grew up looking hot. She was 20 at the time of this, and seems old enough to have a crack at Franchot Tone (especially as so many male stars were romantically matched with women young enough to be their daughters)... but because she was Our Deanna they didn't go there here.
She plays the daughter of a professor, Robert Benchley (quite good) who is ignored by car crazy boyfriend Robert Stack so tries to seduce Benchley's associate Franchot Tone... who has spent time in Australia living with the pygmies. (For whatever reason there were often references to Australia in early Deanna Durbin films - Ray Milland in Three Smart Girls came from there).
Durbin has two sisters, a throw back to Three Smart Girls - a precocious one who has two kids fighting over her, and an elder pretty sister (Anne Gwynne) who just sort of hangs around and doesn't do much. There's also a gossipy maid who gets fondled by the postie (Walter Brennan).
Most of this is small town Americana stuff - Deanna does Andy Hardy and quite sweet. Stack is handsome and dopey which is what he's required to be. He's still more relaxed than he'd later become - he stiffened up as he went on.
It's not really much of a story - they spin it out a bit by having people think Durbin and Tone are engaged, and Durbin lies they are to annoy Stack, and then they have to get out of it, but it's very easy. The misunderstandings are contrived.
But it is quite sweet. Durbin looks grown up and quite sexy so honestly part of me was thinking Tone should have a crack.
She sings 'There Will Always Be an England' at the end of this.
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