Tonight's Movie: Three Smart Girls (1936) - A Universal Blu-ray Review

There are few things which make me happier than Deanna Durbin movies, so I'm thrilled that her first full-length feature film, THREE SMART GIRLS (1936), was just released on Blu-ray.

Given how much I love Durbin, I've been upgrading her films from DVD to Blu-ray as they're released, and I'm thrilled that this important movie in her filmography finally joins many of her other titles on Blu-ray.

As a matter of fact, my earliest Durbin viewing, including this film, was on VHS; I first saw THREE SMART GIRLS on video in 2008.

In the intervening years I've also seen it on DVD, and in 2018 I was fortunate to see THREE SMART GIRLS in 35mm at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

Bob Koster, son of the film's director, Henry Koster, told some interesting stories at that screening, including that Deanna lived with the Koster family during filming so that his father could coach her in the evenings.

He also said that his father "guilt tripped" Deanna about the need for the film to be a success so he wouldn't have to return to Germany. (Koster had escaped Germany on a lunch break around 1932 after hitting a German soldier.) Bob was worried Deanna might have harbored an understandable resentment about that pressure, though they did work well together on several more films.

THREE SMART GIRLS is essentially a romantic comedy with music. The title sisters are Penny (Durbin), Joan (Nan Grey), and Kay (Barbara Read), who live in Switzerland with their mother (Nella Walker).

When the girls learn their father (Charles Winninger) is about to marry a woman (Binnie Barnes) they strongly suspect is a gold digger, they set sail for New York and barge into the life of a man who hasn't seen them for a decade.

As some reviewers have aptly pointed out over the years, the "long lost daughters saving dad from a gold digger" story and screenplay by Adele Comandini rather foreshadows THE PARENT TRAP (1961) of decades later. Of course, both films also have in common that they starred two of our greatest child performers in Deanna Durbin and Hayley Mills.

Whether singing, handling comedic scenes, or shedding tears, Deanna was a charmer, and it's easy to see why she became a huge star for Universal. Indeed, as I noted back in my 2008 review, her impact was such that my late mother was one of countless little girls born in the late '30s who were named Deanna.

I especially love the subplot in which Michael, a wealthy young British lord (adorable Ray Milland), falls head over heels for Kay; especially given all the drama with the girls' parents, that sweet love story provides needed romance and levity. Michael instantly begins planning marriage, while Kay is confused due to a situation with mistaken identities...

To a lesser extent, romance is also provide as Joan falls for her father's financial manager Bill (John "Dusty" King), who is as anxious to prevent her father's marriage as the girls are.

The film is over and done in a brisk 84 minutes filled with a wonderful cast, amusing moments, lovely music, and gorgeous, gleaming sets. It's a delight start to finish, leaving me with a happy tear in my eye at the fadeout.

The supporting cast includes Ernest Cossart and Charles Coleman as butlers, Lucile Watson as the girls' housekeeper/nanny, and Alice Brady as Barnes' financially greedy mother.

Also in the cast are Mischa Auer, Hobart Cavanaugh, John Hamilton, Joyce Compton, and Franklin Pangborn.

The movie was filmed in black and white by Joseph Valentine. Universal's crisp Blu-ray print shows off his cinematography nicely. Sound quality is also excellent.

Unlike many of Universal's recent classic film Blu-ray releases, THREE SMART GIRLS comes with a trailer and a pair of nine-minute featurettes, 100 YEARS OF UNIVERSAL: THE CARL LAEMMLE ERA and 100 YEARS OF UNIVERSAL: THE LEW WASSERMAN ERA.

Optional English captions are also provided.

Most highly recommended.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Universal for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. It may be purchased from Movie Zyng and other online retailers.

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