It's a Date
Encyclopedia
It's a Date is a 1940
Universal
musical film
directed by William A. Seiter
. The film was remade in 1950 as Nancy Goes to Rio
.
) performing on the stage singing, "Gypsy Lullaby" while her daughter, Pamela (Deanna Durbin
), watches with her boyfriend Freddie Miller (Lewis Howard). Pamela Drake is the daughter of Georgia Drake, an aging Broadway actress who was once very famous. She has great acting skills like her mother and hopes to be a successful actress as well. At an after-party celebrating the closing of a play that Georgia was in, Pamela convinces director Sidney Simpson (Samuel S. Hinds
) and writer Carl Ober (S.Z. Sakall
) to attend one of the plays she is in. After the party ends, Pamela sings "Love is All" with the maid, Sara (Cecilia Loftus
), playing piano and her mother listening.
Sidney and Carl go to Connecticut and decide to try out the second act of their new play, St. Anne. They put Pamela in the role of St. Anne. In the performance of the second act, Pamela sings, "Loch Lomond." (This is a particularly acclaimed version of that folk song.) The directors are impressed with Pamela's performance and offer her the role of St. Anne in their upcoming play. Pamela is very excited, but does not know she is taking over a role which they had originally offered to her mother. Georgia is unaware of what has happened, as she is in Honolulu to prepare herself. Pamela travels there to ask her mother to coach her.
On her journey, she is noticed by pineapple king John Arlen (Walter Pidgeon
). At first, she thinks that he is a stowaway and he thinks that she is a troubled girl, who just got jilted by her love. In reality, Pamela is practicing the play, and he is just trying to cheer her up. Eventually they figure out the truth about each other, and they become friends. Soon after Pamela arrives in Honolulu, she learns she is replacing her mother in the role of St. Anne. Not wanting to hurt her, she decides to give the role up. In order to keep Georgia from the truth she asks John to take the two of them to dinner in order to avoid a call from Sidney that would reveal the truth to Georgia. The three of them go out to many dinners and spend time together. Pamela becomes determined that she will quit acting and she wants to marry John.
Meanwhile, John has fallen in love with Georgia. At a ball, he tries to avoid Pamela, who wants to propose to him. He knows her intentions and wants to propose to Georgia before Pamela gets the chance. He gets her to sing for everyone at the ball. Pamela sings, "Quando me n'vo - When I go along," from "La bohème
". After she finishes the song while the crowd is around her, John takes Georgia outside and proposes to her. Georgia decides that she will marry him, and then she tells the producers that she will not be performing St. Anne, for she wants a real honeymoon. Pamela is initially crushed, but she was not really in love with John. Pamela devotes herself to her role, with the help of her mother, and becomes the star of St. Anne. The movie ends with Pam portraying St. Anne, singing "Ave Maria (Schubert), as John and Georgia watch from the audience.
1940 in film
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
Universal
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
directed by William A. Seiter
William A. Seiter
William A. Seiter was an American film director. He was born in New York City. After attending Hudson River Military Academy, Seiter broke into films in 1915 as a bit player at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios, doubling a cowboy...
. The film was remade in 1950 as Nancy Goes to Rio
Nancy Goes to Rio
Nancy Goes to Rio is a musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1950. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Joe Pasternak from a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon, based on a story by Ralph Block, Frederick Kohner and Jane Hall...
.
Plot
The movie begins with Georgia Drake (Kay FrancisKay Francis
Kay Francis was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star at the Warner Brothers studio, and the highest paid American film actress...
) performing on the stage singing, "Gypsy Lullaby" while her daughter, Pamela (Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
), watches with her boyfriend Freddie Miller (Lewis Howard). Pamela Drake is the daughter of Georgia Drake, an aging Broadway actress who was once very famous. She has great acting skills like her mother and hopes to be a successful actress as well. At an after-party celebrating the closing of a play that Georgia was in, Pamela convinces director Sidney Simpson (Samuel S. Hinds
Samuel S. Hinds
Samuel Southey Hinds was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for playing Peter Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life and for his part in You Can't Take It With You , both films by Frank Capra...
) and writer Carl Ober (S.Z. Sakall
S.Z. Sakall
Szőke Szakáll , known as S.Z. Sakall, was a Hungarian film character actor. He was in many films including In the Good Old Summertime, Lullaby of Broadway, Christmas in Connecticut and Casablanca in which he played Carl, the head waiter.Chubby-jowled Sakall played numerous supporting roles in...
) to attend one of the plays she is in. After the party ends, Pamela sings "Love is All" with the maid, Sara (Cecilia Loftus
Cecilia Loftus
Cecilia "Cissie" or "Cissy" Loftus was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Family:...
), playing piano and her mother listening.
Sidney and Carl go to Connecticut and decide to try out the second act of their new play, St. Anne. They put Pamela in the role of St. Anne. In the performance of the second act, Pamela sings, "Loch Lomond." (This is a particularly acclaimed version of that folk song.) The directors are impressed with Pamela's performance and offer her the role of St. Anne in their upcoming play. Pamela is very excited, but does not know she is taking over a role which they had originally offered to her mother. Georgia is unaware of what has happened, as she is in Honolulu to prepare herself. Pamela travels there to ask her mother to coach her.
On her journey, she is noticed by pineapple king John Arlen (Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
). At first, she thinks that he is a stowaway and he thinks that she is a troubled girl, who just got jilted by her love. In reality, Pamela is practicing the play, and he is just trying to cheer her up. Eventually they figure out the truth about each other, and they become friends. Soon after Pamela arrives in Honolulu, she learns she is replacing her mother in the role of St. Anne. Not wanting to hurt her, she decides to give the role up. In order to keep Georgia from the truth she asks John to take the two of them to dinner in order to avoid a call from Sidney that would reveal the truth to Georgia. The three of them go out to many dinners and spend time together. Pamela becomes determined that she will quit acting and she wants to marry John.
Meanwhile, John has fallen in love with Georgia. At a ball, he tries to avoid Pamela, who wants to propose to him. He knows her intentions and wants to propose to Georgia before Pamela gets the chance. He gets her to sing for everyone at the ball. Pamela sings, "Quando me n'vo - When I go along," from "La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
". After she finishes the song while the crowd is around her, John takes Georgia outside and proposes to her. Georgia decides that she will marry him, and then she tells the producers that she will not be performing St. Anne, for she wants a real honeymoon. Pamela is initially crushed, but she was not really in love with John. Pamela devotes herself to her role, with the help of her mother, and becomes the star of St. Anne. The movie ends with Pam portraying St. Anne, singing "Ave Maria (Schubert), as John and Georgia watch from the audience.
Cast
- Deanna DurbinDeanna DurbinDeanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
as Pamela Drake - Kay FrancisKay FrancisKay Francis was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star at the Warner Brothers studio, and the highest paid American film actress...
as Georgia Drake - Walter PidgeonWalter PidgeonWalter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
as John Arlen - Eugene PalletteEugene PalletteEugene William Pallette was an American actor. He appeared in over 240 silent era and sound era motion pictures between 1913 and 1946....
as Gov. Allen - Henry StephensonHenry StephensonHenry Stephenson , sometimes credited as Harry Stephenson, was a British character actor....
as Capt. Andrew - Cecilia LoftusCecilia LoftusCecilia "Cissie" or "Cissy" Loftus was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Family:...
as Sara Frankenstein - Samuel S. HindsSamuel S. HindsSamuel Southey Hinds was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for playing Peter Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life and for his part in You Can't Take It With You , both films by Frank Capra...
as Sidney Simpson - Lewis Howard as Fred 'Freddie' Miller
- S.Z. SakallS.Z. SakallSzőke Szakáll , known as S.Z. Sakall, was a Hungarian film character actor. He was in many films including In the Good Old Summertime, Lullaby of Broadway, Christmas in Connecticut and Casablanca in which he played Carl, the head waiter.Chubby-jowled Sakall played numerous supporting roles in...
as Karl Ober - Fritz FeldFritz FeldFritz Feld was a film character actor actor who appeared in over 140 films, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a pop sound.-Biography:...
as Oscar