Screening of "It Started with Eve" June 9 at Daystar Center

It Started with Eve (1941)

Where: Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

When: June 9, 2018

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Hosted by Stephen Reginald

It Started with Eve (1941) is a romantic comedy starring Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, and Robert Cummings. Cummings is Johnny Reynolds, the son of millionaire Jonathan Reynolds (Laughton) who is on his deathbed. Johnny’s father’s one wish is that he would get to see his son’s fiance, Gloria Pennington (Margaret Tallichet) before he dies. When Johnny discovers that Gloria and her mother are not at their hotel, he asks hatcheck girl Anne Terry (Durbin) to pretend to be his fiance for the evening. Things get complicated when the elder Reynolds has a “miraculous” recovery and Johnny scrambles to explain to his fiancee that Anne means nothing to him. Then there’s his father who has taken an immediate liking to Anne. Anne is an aspiring opera singer who hopes to get to sing at a party that Jonathan is planning to introduce his "future daughter-in-law" to his influential friends and associates. Will Johnny be able to fool his father long enough so that Anne gets her big break?

Durbin was one of the highest paid movie actress in the world when It Started with Eve was released. This film is considered one of her best, in a film career that saw the actress headline 21 movies from 1936 to 1948. New York Times critic Bosley Crowther lauded the film and the performances of Laughton and Durbin. He said, “Miss Durbin is as refreshing and pretty as she has ever been and sings three assorted songs—including a Tchaikovsky waltz—with lively charm.” Durbin and Laughton became great friends during filming. They made another movie together, Because of Him in 1946.

Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, and Charles Laughton

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!

You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats. General Admission: $5 Students and Senior Citizens: $3.

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion

Twice a month we screen classic films and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill’s The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts “Chicago Film Club,” a monthly movie event held in the South Loop, for the past two years. Reginald has also taught several adult education film classes at Facets Film School, Chicago.

10 Things You May Not Know About Deanna Durbin

Deanna Durbin (1921 – 2013) was one of the biggest stars of the 1930s and 1940s. She had an international fan club that was the largest in the world. With her beautiful soprano voice and genuine charm on screen, Durbin endeared herself to a generation of film fans. Her fame is still celebrated today.

1. Durbin was born in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1923 her parents moved the family—Deanna had an older sister, Edith (b. 1909)—to Southern, California, and became United States citizens.

A very young Deanna Durbin

2. In 1935 she was signed to a six-month contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but her option was dropped in 1936. The studio had another girl singer named Judy Garland.

3. In 1936 she signed with Universal Studios, which was on the brink of bankruptcy, at the tender age of 14. Her starring role in Three Smart Girls (1936) made her an overnight sensation and put Universal in the black.

4. Durbin auditioned for the voice of Snow White, but Walt Disney thought her voice sounded “too old” for the part. She was 15.

5. She was one of Anne Frank’s favorite movie stars. If you visit the Frank house in Amsterdam, Holland, you will see pictures of Durbin on Frank’s bedroom wall.

Deanna Durbin with Gene Kelly from Christmas Holiday

6. In 1938, Durbin received an Academy Juvenial Award for “bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth.” 

7. When Durbin was kissed by Robert Stack in First Love (1939), the press dubbed it “The kiss heard around the world!”

8. In 1941, Durbin starred in what many consider her best film, It Started with Eve, costarring Charles Laughton and Robert Cummings.

9. During her reign at Universal, Durbin always received top billing.

10. In 1947, Durbin was the highest paid woman in America. She retired the next year (at age 27), never to work in show business again.

Chicago Film Club spring and summer film schedule set

The Chicago Film Club is getting underway with a collection of great classic movie melodramas and classic comedies.

The series kicks off with Daisy Kenyon (1947) featuring the dream cast of Joan Crawford, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda. Based on the Elizabeth Janeway best-selling novel, the movie features a love triangle between the three stars, with Crawford at the top of the triangle. Will she choose the rich, married New York City lawyer (Andrews) or the World War II veteran (Fonda)? Directed by the legendary Otto Preminger, Daisy Kenyon stands out as one of the best melodramas of the 1940s.

Joan Crawford and Dana Andrews in Daisy Kenyon

Backstory: Preminger admired Crawford’s hard work in bringing her character to life. He also loved working with Andrews and Fonda, two actors the director said were incapable of overacting (Preminger worked with Andrews more than any other male actor). He also appreciated that all three stars arrived on time and knew their lines.

All movies below will be presented at The Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street. We will be meeting in room 102. For more information on the Chicago Film Club, click here. It’s free to join and it’s a lot of fun. Just read our reviews!

Here’s the complete schedule.

Daisy Kenyon—April 14 6:45 p.m.
Hands Across the Table—May 12 6:45 p.m.
A Letter to Three Wives—May 29 6:30 p.m.
It Started with Eve—June 9 6:45 p.m.
East Side, West Side—June 19 6:30 p.m

Hands Across the Table

A Letter to Three Wives

It Started with Eve

East Side, West Side

Deanna Durbin: Winnipeg’s Sweetheart

This post is part of the O Canada blogathon hosted by Kristina of Speakeasy and Ruth of Silver Screenings. For more on famous Canadian movie folk, see the link at the bottom of this post.

Deanna Durbin sang on
Eddie Cantor’s radio show.

Canada born
Deanna Durbin was born on December 4, 1921 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1923, Durbin’s parents moved to Southern California where they raised Deanna and her older sister Edith. From a young age, Durbin’s extraordinary singing voice was recognized and nurtured. Before long, Hollywood took notice and Durbin was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935.

That other girl singer
At M-G-M, there was another girl singer singed to a movie contract named Judy Garland. The studio starred Durbin and Garland in a short film, Every Sunday (1936). The film was a showcase for the vocal talents of both young women. Garland’s contemporary “swing” style of vocalization contrasted with Durbin’s classical operatic voice. After the film’s release, the studio dropped Durbin from their star roster, but kept Garland. There are a lot of stories surrounding the reason Durbin’s contract was not renewed, but it just appears to have been more of an oversight than the studio preferring Garland.

M-G-M’s loss was Universal’s gain

A mature glam shot from
the 1940s.

When M-G-M didn’t renew Durbin’s contract, she was signed immediately by Universal Studios. Producer Joe Pasternak cast her in her first feature film, Three Smart Girls (1936). It was a box office bonanza and is credited with helping to save the struggling studio from bankruptcy. The film was so popular that it made Durbin an overnight sensation. She, along with Mickey Rooney, received a juvenile Oscar for their film work in 1938.

International superstar
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Durbin was one of the biggest and most beloved movies stars in the entire world. She was one of Anne Frank’s favorites; Frank had a picture of Durbin on her bedroom wall, in the home where the Frank family hid during World War II. When Durbin received her first screen kiss in 1939’s First Love, from Robert Stack, the press dubbed it “the kiss heard around the world.”

One of  Durbin’s most enduring films

Highest paid woman in the world
By the time Durbin celebrated her 21rst birthday, she was the highest paid woman in the United States and the highest-paid female movie star in the world. One of the best movies she made during this period was the romantic comedy It Started With Eve (1941), costarring Charles Laughton and Robert Cummings. As Durbin matured, she wanted to tackle more serious roles. She starred in the dark murder-mystery Christmas Holiday (1944), based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. The dark-themed movie paired her with screen newcomer, Gene Kelly. With the innocuous title, Durbin and Kelly fans were probably expecting a musical rather than a noirish, melodrama. To many, it proved Durbin could act and if given the proper vehicle, she might have transitioned to more challenging adult roles. Even though Christmas Holiday was a box office success, Durbin’s fans preferred her in lighter fare. Durbin followed up Christmas Holiday with Can’t Stop Singing, her one and only Technicolor film. The musical, featuring a score by Jerome Kern with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, was a box office smash. It broke all records at New York’s Loew’s Criterion Theatre between December 1944 through January 1945.

Durbin puts her hands and feet in cement
at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

Little Miss Fixit no more
During the rest of the 1940s, Durbin continued to star in successful light romantic comedies. Even though the quality of her films wasn’t always the best, she was still a big box office draw and her fan club was the largest in the world. Growing tired of the poor scripts Universal was giving her, Durbin later declared, “I couldn’t go on forever being Little Miss Fixit who burst into song.” By 1949, Durbin turned her back on Hollywood and decided to retire at the ripe old age of 28. She married for a third time to producer-director Charles David and moved to France where she lived a very private life as wife and mother.

Gene Kelly and Durbin in
Christmas Holiday

Leave me alone!
Durbin turned down numerous offers to star in films at other studios. Bing Crosby wanted her to costar with him in Top o’ the Morning and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (both 1949). Pasternak, now at M-G-M, tried to lure Durbin to his new studio. Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II wanted Durbin to star in the Broadway production of Oklahoma! Durbin was Alan Jay Lerner’s first choice to play Eliza Doolittle in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady. For years the offers would come and Durbin would turn them down. She shunned the press for decades. She reluctantly agreed to an interview in 1983.

My Deanna Durbin Coffee Mug

Lasting legacy
In spite of Durbin’s disillusionment with Hollywood, she left a body of work that documents her extraordinary vocal range. Combined with her natural acting abilities, Durbin endeared herself to a generation of moviegoers. Today, Durbin’s films might seem corny and formulaic, but even in her most pedestrian vehicles, her warmth and charm shine through. Deanna Durbin may have turned her back on Hollywood and all that came with screen stardom, but her fans never turned their backs on the girl with the golden voice.


Some Durbin essentials:

Three Smart Girls (1936)
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937
Mad About Music (1938)
That Certain Age (1938)
Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939)
First Love (1939)
It Started With Eve (1941)
Can’t Help Singing (1944)

See and hear Deanna sing “I Love To Whistle” from Mad About Music

Portions of this blogpost appeared in a post dated December 4, 2010, Ms. Durbin’s 89th birthday.

Can’t get enough of Canadian movie folk? Click here for more interesting posts in the O Canada blogathon!

Deanna Durbin: The Reluctant Movie Star

Deanna Durbin was born on December 4, 1921, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1923, Durbin’s parents moved to Southern California, where they raised Deanna and her older sister Edith. From a young age, Durbin’s extraordinary singing voice was recognized and nurtured. Before long, Hollywood took notice, and Durbin was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935.

At M-G-M, there was another girl singer signed to a movie contract named Judy Garland. The studio starred Durbin and Garland in a short film, Every Sunday (1936). The film was a showcase for the vocal talents of both young women. Garland’s contemporary “swing” style of vocalization contrasted with Durbin’s classical operatic voice. After the film’s release, the studio dropped Durbin from their star roster, but kept Garland. There are a lot of stories surrounding the reason Durbin’s contract was not renewed, but it just appears to have been more of an oversight than the studio preferring Garland.

When M-G-M didn’t renew Durbin’s contract, she was signed immediately by Universal Studios. Her first feature film, Three Smart Girls (1936) was a box office bonanza and is credited with saving the struggling studio from bankruptcy. The film was so popular that it made Durbin an overnight sensation. In 1939, she, along with Mickey Rooney, received a juvenile Oscar for her film work in 1938.

Durbin, center, with her Three Smart Girls screen sisters Nan Grey, left, and Barbara Read

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Durbin was one of the biggest and most beloved movie stars in the entire world. She was one of Anne Frank’s favorites; Frank had a picture of Durbin on her bedroom wall, in the home where the Frank family hid during World War II. When Durbin received her first screen kiss in 1939’s First Love, from Robert Stack, the press dubbed it “the kiss heard around the world.”

By the time Durbin celebrated her 21rst birthday, she was the highest-paid woman in the United States and the highest-paid female movie star in the world. At her peak, she was earning $400,000 per picture. One of the best movies she made during this period was the romantic comedy It Started With Eve (1941), costarring Charles Laughton and Robert Cummings. As Durbin matured, she wanted to tackle more serious roles. She starred in the dark murder-mystery Christmas Holiday (1944), based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. The dark-themed movie paired her with screen newcomer Gene Kelly. With the innocuous title, Durbin and Kelly fans were probably expecting a musical rather than a noirish melodrama. To many, it proved that Durbin could act, and if given the proper vehicle, she might have transitioned to more challenging adult roles. However, this was not to be; Durbin’s fans preferred her in lighter fare.

Cheerful publicity shot of Durbin and Gene Kelly from the dark-themed Christmas Holiday

During the rest of the 1940s, Durbin continued to star in successful light romantic comedies. Even though the quality of her films wasn’t always the best, she was still a big box office draw, and her fan club was the largest in the world. Growing tired of the poor scripts Universal was giving her, Durbin later declared, “I couldn’t go on forever being Little Miss Fixit who burst into song.” By 1949, Durbin turned her back on Hollywood and decided to retire at the ripe old age of 28. She married for a third time to producer-director Charles David and moved to France, where she lived a very private life as wife and mother.

Durbin turned down numerous offers to star in films at other studios. Bing Crosby wanted her to costar with him in Top o’ the Morning and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (both 1949). Supposedly, Durbin was Alan Jay Lerner’s first choice to play Eliza Doolittle in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady. For years, the offers would come, and Durbin would turn them down. She shunned the press for decades. She reluctantly agreed to an interview in 1983.

Durbin, the voice that saved a studio and charmed the world

In spite of Durbin’s disillusionment with Hollywood, she left a body of work that documents her extraordinary vocal range. Combined with her natural acting abilities, Durbin endeared herself to a generation of moviegoers. Today, Durbin’s films might seem corny and formulaic, but even in her most pedestrian vehicles, her warmth and charm shine through. Deanna Durbin may have turned her back on Hollywood and all that came with screen stardom, but her fans never turned their backs on the girl with the golden voice.

For a glimpse of Durbin and her extraordinary voice, check out the clip below from Mad About Music (1938). She was 16 years old when she recorded this version of  "Ave Maria."