Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1944)

30 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW December 2, 1944 1." THI MOST ROMANTIC HiOT SINCt m «AVI ADAM TM£ APTLliMCIl 'I'M SICK OF BEING A NICE GIRL!' I Another facet of Miss Durbin's personality was introduced in the campaign for "Spring Parade." No reference to singing was made. Dancing, romancing, was the theme. A beautifully developing, womanly figure — and the now well known allure of 'Miss Durbin — were emphasized in the campaign for "Nice Girl?". The title's question mark was provocative; so were her photographs — and the copy went along! Universal continued to present Deanna as a Nice Girl grown up in "It Started With Eve." RKO Theatres produced some ads of their own, however, to liven the mood. It did — and Universal adopted and distributed them through their own exchanges. These showed another side of ths young star — that of comediennel Attraction Values Factor in Production Plans at Studio {Continued from Page 28) degree of showmanship shown in her development on the screen. Universal had in Miss Durbin star material, as the singer and actress has demonstrated most convincingly. In order to encourage the fullest development of this talent and carry their star through the shoals that had proved too difficult for many most promising youngsters, however, required something more than guesswork on the part of both the production and selling departments of the company. This showmanship at the studio actually began at the time that Deanna Durbin was signed to a contract. At that time she was then only a high-school girl who had been born in Canada and removed with her family when she was quite young to California, still using her given name of Edna Mae Durbin. From her first picture on (her early development was in the hands of Producer Joseph Pasternak with Henry Koster as director), the studio provided its young star with stories that formed the framework for changes of appearance along the lines that nature was accomplishing for the individual, Miss Durbin herself. Gradually she was given higher heels to her slippers and shoes, a more sophisticated makeup, more mature hair-do, and bit by bit her costumes ranged close to the prevailing fashions from bobby sox and sailor jumpers to slinky evening gowns. When Pasternak left Universal Deanna Durbin had reached maturity, and the reins were taken over by Felix Jackson, who had entered the Durbin picture early in the star's career, by collaborating on stories for several of her films. Jackson has been the producer in charge of the Durbin pictures consistently since his return to the company two years ago. Another factor of obvious association with Deanna Durbin's career on the screen is the manner in which the studio brought leading men into the picture as a means of bolstering the development of the star. The leading-man list runs through such names as Herbert Marshall, Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Cummings, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, and illustrates how supporting strength for popular draw of the individual pictures and growing histrionic importance as well as maturing age of the star were harmonized. Star's Versatility Made 'Typing' Unnecessary This second phase of the Durbin career began when Felix Jackson took over as producer. It was a phase as fraught with pitfalls as the initial development of the star. The studio heads were joined by Miss Durbin herself in some of the planning that took place and which resulted in the wise decision that the proper thing to do was not to type Deanna at all, but to present her in stories designed to develop and reveal her versatility. Thus the apparent thing to all who have seen the star's pictures (which is that each new film presented a different type of story) came about not by means of opportunism in choosing the most available promising script but as a result of preconceived ideas of a definite program based on knowledge of the motion picture medium and showmanship as learned by experience right in the motion picture industry. The current vogue of musicals offered a most timely opportunity for the new picture in which Universal brings forth Deanna Durbin as a full-fledged grown-up actress. The chance came, most fortuitously, to add the currently potent element of color photography as an extra show value. How these opportunities have been grasped by the studio to give potent angles