A few months ago, while preparing for the launch of my own little fairytale retelling, I stumbled across the news of an upcoming movie blogathon on fairytales in film. It seemed like a wonderful opportunity to revisit and spruce up my review of one of my favorite movies, which also happens to be a Cinderella retelling, 1939’s First Love. So here it is, as my entry for the Fairytale Blogathon hosted by Movies, Silently.As the film opens, orphaned Connie Harding (Deanna Durbin) has finished boarding school and is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Clintons, in New York City. She quickly falls into the position of a typical poor relation—often overlooked, fetching and carrying, and generally living in the shadow of her pretty but spoiled cousin Barbara (Helen Parrish), society belle and the darling of magazine photographers. Her scatterbrained, astrology-obsessed aunt (Leatrice Joy) and supremely lazy cousin Walter (Lewis Howard) aren’t much help either. Uncle Jim (Eugene Pallette), a man of few words, is only visible ducking between his workplace and his study when the coast is clear, seemingly making it his object in life to spend as little time in his family’s company as possible—and it’s hard to blame him. But Connie quickly endears herself to the household staff (Charles Coleman, Mary Treen and Lucille Ward), who become her firm friends and allies.
Prince Charming enters the picture in the form of Ted Drake (Robert Stack, in his film debut), an eligible young man whose attention Barbara is bent on monopolizing. After an awkwardly comic first meeting on the grounds of a country club while employed as her scheming cousin’s go-between, Connie is smitten too, and sets her heart on attending a ball hosted by Ted’s parents. Barbara, by no means welcoming competition, does everything possible to prevent her from getting there, but Connie’s friends the servants pitch in to see that she has a suitable dress, and conspire with the cook’s policeman brother (Frank Jenks) to keep the rest of her relatives from getting to the ball before midnight so she’ll have a little time to enjoy herself. (One of my favorite lines in the film comes here from Coleman, the perennial movie butler: “You will have an escort of six white bikes, miss!”) Though the ball proves to be a dream come true, the stroke of midnight of course heralds disaster…and it’s up to Connie’s old schoolteacher and friend, the grim-faced Miss Wiggins (Kathleen Howard) to play fairy godmother and try to mend the situation with the help of a silver slipper.
First Love seems to be a relatively obscure movie today, even among classic film fans. At the time of its release it was a big affair, for Deanna Durbin was Universal’s wildly popular singing star, and a flutter of publicity whirled around the movie because it contained her first screen kiss. Perhaps the rather generic and unimpressive title has something to do with its slipping from view—one source says it was originally supposed to be called Cinderella 1939, which would at least have been a bit more descriptive of the story! But it’s such a clever, charming adaptation of the Cinderella story, I still wonder that it’s not better known. The script is sprightly and humorous, filled with amusing scenes—the frustrated Clintons delayed by the laid-back policeman on their way to the ball; Barbara and her so-called friend (June Storey) sweetly trading barbs about each other’s clothes and dispositions; and the hilarious climactic scene where Pallette’s Uncle Jim finally blows his top and lets his family have it.Though the setting is contemporary 1930s all the way, there are a couple little touches that remind us of the fairytale background. A moment where Connie’s reflection in the mirror unexpectedly answers her back might be magic…and then it might just be her imagination. And a lovely special-effects moment comes when Connie and Ted are dancing at the ball, as the other dancers momentarily fade away to leave them waltzing alone to the dreamy strains of a melody from Johann Strauss’ “Roses From the South,” one of my very favorite waltzes. As in any Durbin film, there’s some wonderful music—a spirited rendition of “Amapola,” a medley of Strauss waltzes for the ball scene, and finally, Puccini’s “Un bel di” (sung in English), in a wonderfully out-of-context performance that suits its new usage beautifully.
First Love is available as an individual DVD which seems to be currently out of print, and also as part of a Deanna Durbin box set DVD with five other movies. You can click here to see more film stills and behind-the-scenes clippings and trivia at the Deanna Durbin Devotees fansite (all pictures in this post courtesy of the same page).
"First Love" is my absolute favorite version of Cinderella, so I greatly enjoyed your wonderful review! 🙂 The part with the policeman stopping the Clintons is hilarious, and it always amuses me to see "Friar Tuck" as a family man. 🙂 Ah, the dancing part! the fading away bit is a perfect touch, and I love how dreamy and romantic the entire scene is. The songs are all perfectly lovely, but my very favorite is the last one, it always gives me tingles of excitement! Have a lovely day.
I'm a big Deanna Durbin fan and although It Started with Eve is my favorite of her movies this is my second favorite. It's a fun movie to watch and Eugene Pallette is just priceless as the Uncle who has had enough. Robert Stack was so dreamy too. Thanks for the wonderful post.
Such a delightful cast and good-natured retelling. It was a perfect vehicle for Deanna and truly deserves "classic" status.
This sounds like a wonderful take on a classic fairytale. It's funny that the name of the film is so obscure, although perhaps that makes the discovery of it a little sweeter!
This was one of the films which introduced me to Deanna Durbin, and I love it. What fun to revisit it in my "mind's eye" thanks to your review. Hope other people will read this and give it a try!
Best wishes,
Laura
You had me at Leatrice Joy! 😉 Thanks so much for joining in the event and offering a look at this forgotten film. I'll wager that more than a few of us will be checking this one out.
Thank you all! So neat to see that there other fans of First Love out there. Fritzi, thanks for hosting the blogathon—it's been a lot of fun participating!
I'm another one who hasn't had the chance to see this film. It sounds delightful. I'm a sucker for a good Cinderella story, and I know I'll love it.
It used to be very hard to find Deanna Durbin movies. For many years, the only one I had seen was the short she made with Judy Garland, allegedly done so that MGM could decide which one to keep. This sounds like a good one. You're right, the title could have been better. I always enjoy seeing Eugene Pallette with a difficult family, as in My Man Godfrey. Thank you for sharing this with us.
When I first discovered Durbin's films a few years ago, almost all of them were up on YouTube. A lot of them seem to have disappeared now, including First Love (I'd wanted to include some clips of the musical numbers in my post, but couldn't find them!). There's still a few good ones there if you look, though.
I had never heard of this movie! It sounds so interesting, and I'm more excited to see Eugene Pallette (always great) and lovely Leatrice Joy. Thanks for the tip!
Don't forget to read my contribution to the blogathon! 🙂
Greetings!
http://www.criticaretro.blogspot.com.br/2014/11/variacoes-sobre-um-mesmo-tema-snow.html