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Deanna Durbin's 'First Love'
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“First Love” (1939), Deanna Durbin’s sixth movie, and co-starring Robert Stack, Helen Parrish and Eugene Pallette, was important for Deanna fans. In it she received her first on-screen kiss, an event important enough at the time to be described in headline stories.
The plot is a clever reworking of the Cinderella story. Orphan Connie (Durbin) goes to live with her Uncle Jim Clinton (Pallette) and his family after she graduates from school. Unfortunately for Connie, the servants do a better job of welcoming her than her family does. Aunt Grace spends all her time figuring out horoscopes, cousin Walter can usually be found sprawled out in a chair developing his relaxation theory, and socialite cousin Barbara expends all her energy getting her picture into newspapers and magazines. Uncle Jim has perfected his work schedule so that he rarely sees his wife and children. Connie’s arrival causes barely a ripple in their existence.
When Barbara is in danger of missing a riding date with her current quarry, Ted Drake (Stack in his first movie role), Connie is sent to delay him any way she can, and, of course, falls for him. The entire family is invited to a party at the Drake mansion, and the Clinton servants pool their money to buy Connie a beautiful new dress and shoes. At the last minute, Barbara invents a reason why Connie needs to stay home. The servants devise a plan to get Connie to the party before the rest of the family, a plan complete with six policeman on white motorcycles and an exit by midnight. As with all respectable fairy tales, the villain (Barbara) gets one more opportunity to make the heroine miserable after the party, and Connie runs back to her old school, determined to become a music teacher and old maid.
Deanna Durbin sings several wonderful songs, including Johann Strauss‘s “Spring in My Heart” (lyrics by Ralph Freed) and a stirring version of “Un Bel Di (One Fine Day)” from Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly.” “First Love” was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Art Direction; Best Cinematography, Black and White; and Best Music, Scoring.
Check back again soon for more of Deanna Durbin's best movies.
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