One Hundred Men and a Girl

1937

Technical Information:

Studio:  Universal
Running Time:  1 hour, 24 minutes
Black and White
Video Availability:  Available on MCA/Universal home video

Cast:

Deanna Durbin...Patricia Cardwell
Adolphe Menjou...John Cardwell
Alice Brady...Mrs. Frost
Eugene Pallette...John R. Frost
Mischa Auer...Michael Borodoff
Billy Gilbert...Garage Owner
Alma Kruger...Mrs. Tyler
Jack Smart...Marshall, the Doorman
Jed Prouty...Tommy Bitters
Jameson Thomas...Russell
Howard Hickman...Johnson
Frank Jenks...Taxi Driver
Christian Rub...Gustav Brandstetter
Gerald Oliver Smith...Stevens, the Butler
Jack Mulhall...Rudolph
Leopold Stokowski...Himself

Credits:
 
Executive Producer...Charles R. Rogers
Original Screenplay...Bruce Manning, Charles Kenyon, James Mulhauser
Based on an idea by...Hans Kraly
Director of Photography...Joseph Valentine, A.S.C.
Assistant Director...Frank Shaw
Music...Frederick Hollander, Sam Coslow
Associate Musical Director...Charles Previn
Vocal Instructor...Andres de Segurola
Film Editor...Bernard W. Burton
Sound...Joseph Lapis, Bernard B. Brown
Production Designed by...John Harkrider
Sets...Jack Martin Smith
Gowns...Vera West
Directed by...Henry Koster
Associate Producer...Joseph Pasternak



    John Cardwell (Adolphe Menjou) is an out-of-work trombonist, desperate for a job.  He goes one night to a symphony orchestra concert conducted by Leopold Stokowski (as himself) in order to find himself work, though he is refused a meeting with the conductor and is promptly thrown out by the doorman (Jack Smart).  Outside, John finds a woman's purse laying on the sidewalk with money sticking out of it.  He attempts to turn it in to the doorman, who just ignores him.  He thus goes to his apartment building, where his landlady demands his rent, which has been behind.  Since he has no other money with him, he uses the money from the woman's purse he found to pay the rent.  Since the landlady and everyone else in the apartment building is curious as to how he came across the money, he lies and says that he got a job in Stokowski's orchestra.  His teenage daugher, Patricia (Deanna Durbin) accidentally overhears this and is delighted that her dad has a job.
    The next day, he leaves for "work" alone, though Patricia secretly sneaks out after him.  She gets to the music hall where Stokowski is playing but the doorman won't let her in, even after she says that her father is in the orchestra.  She manages to get inside, and catches a glimpse of the orchestra rehearsing.  Her father isn't there.  She is crushed, and her father is upset too when he finds out that she knows he lied.
    She takes the purse that John found and returns it to its owner, a wealthy woman named Mrs. Frost (Alice Brady).  Mrs. Frost likes the young girl, and hears her plight.  She then informs Patricia that her husband, John R. Frost (Eugene Pallette) is in the radio business and that he would gladly sponsor her if she would be able to organize an orchestra.  Patricia agrees since her father has many friends who are also unemployed musicians.  They are all in disbelief and rent a garage where they can rehearse.
    When Patricia returns to Mrs. Frost's home the following day, she learns that she is on vacation.  She talks to her husband who thinks that the whole thing is a prank being played on him by a friend.  He goes along with her and agrees to put her orchestra on his radio show, not knowing she is serious.  He soon realizes his error and tries to set the record straight with John Cardwell, who is infuriated.  Frost tells them that he will only sponsor their orchestra if they have someone famous to conduct them.
    Patricia then attempts to get Stokowski to conduct, but he refuses since he is going to Europe in a few weeks.  While in his office, the phone rings and Patricia unknowingly informs a newspaper that Stokowski will conduct an orchestra of unemployed musicians.  The papers soon carrying items telling about this.  John Frost then realizes that it would be a great business opportunity since he would get a lot of publicity and signs the orchestra to a contract, not knowing that Stokowski has no intention of conducting.  In order to fix this problem, Patricia sneaks the entire orchestra into the conductor's home.  Stokowski is impressed with their playing and agrees to conduct them in concert.

Songs:

[Songs performed by Deanna Durbin in boldface]
"Symphony No. 5, 4th Movement" (Tchaikovsky)
"It's Raining Sunbeams" (Hollander, Coslow)
"Rakoczy March" (Berlioz)
"A Heart That's Free" (Robyn, Reilly)
"Prelude to Act III from Lohengrin" (Wagner)
"Alleluia" (Mozart)
"Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" (Liszt)
"Brindisi" (Verdi)

Academy Awards and Nominations:

Best Picture (Joseph Pasternak, Charles Rogers - nominees)
Best Film Editing (Bernard W. Burton - nominee)
Best Writing, Original Story (Hans Kraly - nominee)
Best Music, Score (Charles Previn - winner)
Best Sound, Recording (Homer G. Tasker - nominee)

Reviews:

"One Hundred Men and a Girl reveals the cinema at its sunny-sided best."
    - New York Times

"Useless to pretend that I am tough enough to resist the blandishments of Miss Deanna Durbin.  The candid eyes, the parted lips, the electric energy, the astonishing voice; if they bowl over 50 million or so, surely a critic may be pardoned for wobbling a little on his professional base.  For this is pure fairy tale; but it comes off."
    - P. Galway, The New York Statesman

My Review:

    One Hundred Men and a Girl is the film for which Deanna Durbin is probably most remembered for today.  It was one of the biggest hits of 1937 and is a very good film.  People who do not care for classical music may not like it much, though the score is terrific.  Deanna soars through "Alleluia" and "Brindisi," two rather hard songs, and acts like a pro.  Alice Brady and Billy Gilbert shine in small supporting roles, and lend a dash of comedy to a very classy movie.

Notes:

Look for Deanna's future co-star Leonid Kinskey (His Butler's Sister, Can't Help Singing) in a bit part as a piano player in the party sequence, accompanying Deanna singing "A Heart That's Free."

 

Picture credits:
1.  Video cover scanned by webmaster.
2.  Movie still scanned by webmaster.


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