MAD ABOUT MUSIC

US, 1938, 98 minutes, Black and white.
Deanna Durbin, Herbert Marshall, Gail Patrick, Arthur Treacher, Helen Parrish, Marcia Mae Jones, William Frawley. Directed by Norman Taurog.

Mad About Music was one of the earliest Deanna Durbin vehicles. The young Deanna Durbin had made a great impact at Universal Studios and, in fact, is credited with saving them financially in the '30s.

She has an attractive personality, a bit too nice and precocious. This fairytale vehicle (the original story was Oscar-nominated!), has Deanna in a finishing school in Switzerland. There are the usual assorted nice girls and catty girls. There are also the two spinster elderly women running the school. Deanna's mother is a famous film star (portrayed by Gail Patrick, with William Frawley as her controlling manager). For the success of her films she can't admit to having a teenage daughter. Deanna's father is dead, however she has invented a wild game hunter who has expeditions from Africa to the Arctic. She gets her mother to send her souvenirs. She writes letters herself and reads them to the girls. Some believe her and some don't and want to unmask her. She is forced to go to the station to pretend that her father has arrived and chooses the suave Herbert Marshall, a composer, with his valet, Arthur Treacher. After some hesitation, Marshall enters into the whole spirit of the thing and carries on the hunting stories. Enjoying himself and attracted to Deanna.

Deanna decides to go to Paris to see her mother Who is on tour, weeps as she can't get near her because of the manager. She encounters Marshall who decides to take the matter into his own hands. Needless to say, the fairytale comes to an end with Marshall and mother united and Deanna singing.

Deanna sings attractively, including 'I Love To Whistle' and 'Ave Maria'.

The film shows the popular entertainment styles of the '30s, the fairytale romances popular in such teenage films ? but also the strength of Deanna Durbin's screen presence and her singing.