Every Sunday

1936

Technical Information:

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Running Time: 11 minutes
Black and White
Video Availability: Available only on MGM/UA home video version of Summer Stock.

Cast:

Judy Garland...Judy
Deanna Durbin...Edna
Sid Silvers...Pop

Credits:

Written by...Mauri Gashin
Directed by...Felix E. Feist

Edna (Deanna Durbin) and Judy (Judy Garland) are two, young small-town girls. Edna's grandfather conducts a small orchestra in Washington Park every Sunday, though hardly anyone comes to hear them play. This sad fact causes Mr. Bixby and Mr. Barnfogel, two town council members, to notify Grandpa that the performances will have to be canceled.
Edna and Judy are saddened at this, and decide to mount a huge advertising campaign in order to draw a crowd. They make posters, go door-to-door, call people on the telephone and even bribe them into coming. Unfortunately, hardly anyone is there the following Sunday. At a last-ditch effort to draw a crowd, Edna sings an extract from an operatic aria, while Judy sings a swing song her dad, Pop, wrote. Soon, people start coming from all over town to hear them sing, until they are literally "hanging from the trees." This pleases Mr. Bixby and Mr. Barnfogel who decide not to cancel the performances after all.

Songs:

[Songs performed by Deanna Durbin in boldface]
"Il Bacio" (Arditi)
"Waltz with a Swing" (Conrad)
"Americana" (Edens)

My Review:

Judy Garland definitely steals the show in this short film. She has more screentime, more scenes, more dialogue and a longer musical number than Deanna. Her character is thus more well-rounded than Deanna's. Judy comes off as being vibrant, clever, and fun-loving, walking around during her song, hanging a hat on a musician's trumpet, and even playing with another musician's thinning hair, while Deanna seems rather bland and stilted. Deanna doesn't move around at all while singing her song, and pretty much smiles through the rest of the film, though she does it beautifully (of course!). The film cannot be considered art, but is worthwhile viewing if only to see two of Hollywood's greatest musical stars perform together on film for the only time and sing the tuneful "Americana" in their contrasting styles!

Picture credits:
1. Video cover scanned by webmaster.
2. Photo courtesy of Jim Johnson.
3. Photo courtesy of Jim Johnson.
4. Photo courtesy of Jim Johnson. Filmography | Home | Next Film

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