''Nice Girl?'' is a 1941 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter, and starring

Deanna Durbin Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With t ...

Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...

Walter Brennan Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...

Robert Stack Robert Stack (born Charles Langford Modini Stack; January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his deep voice and commanding presence, he appeared in over forty feature films. He starred in the highly successful ABC tele ...

, and

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...

. Based on the play ''Nice Girl?'' by Phyllis Duganne, the film is about a young girl who finds herself attracted to one of her father's business partners who comes to town to give her father a scholarship for his dietary studies.

Plot

The musical starts with the busybody postman who reads everybody's mail, Hector (

), delivering mail to the Dana household and particularly to Cora (

Helen Broderick Helen Broderick (August 11, 1891 – September 25, 1959) was an American actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick. Career Broderick began on Broadway as a chorus girl in the ''Follies of 1907'', the first ...

), the maid he is in love with. Professor Oliver Dana (

) is the head of the household. The oldest sister is Sylvia (

Anne Gwynne Anne Gwynne (born Marguerite Gwynne Trice; December 10, 1918 – March 31, 2003) was an American actress who was known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films. Gwynne was also one of the most popula ...

), an actress, and the youngest is Nancy (

Ann Gillis Alma Mabel Conner (February 12, 1927 – January 31, 2018), known professionally as Ann Gillis, was an American actress, best known for her film roles as a child actress. She performed the voice of Faline in the 1942 Disney animated film ' ...

), who is a bit of a flirt and has all the boys fighting over her. The middle sister Jane (

), the "nice girl", makes her entry singing the song "Perhaps" to the rabbits she takes care of. Her father is trying to write a book about diet and is testing it on rabbits. Don Webb (

) is her boyfriend, an avid car buff. One day, Richard Calvert (

) visits the Danas to study what Professor Dana is practicing with the rabbits. The three daughters are instantly enamored with him and do all they can to impress him. The family gets together with Jane playing the piano and singing "Beneath the Lights of Home", accompanied by Oliver, Nancy, and Sylvia. There is a Fourth of July celebration in which Oliver Dana gives a speech. After a bit of dancing, Jane sings "

Old Folks at Home "Old Folks at Home" (also known as " Swanee River") is a minstrel song written by Stephen Foster in 1851. Since 1935, it has been the official state song of Florida, although in 2008 the original lyrics were revised. It is Roud Folk Song Ind ...

". Don lends Jane the car to take Richard to the train station, but she decides to stop being a "nice girl" and drives him to New York. When they get there, she changes into some clothes that belong to Richard's sister, and then plays a song on the piano, "Love at Last", while she sings, and Richard comes down and sees her at the piano. Richard quickly sees that she is trying to not be a "nice girl", but both of them realize that she is just playing a game and not really being who she is. So, she leaves his house and drives back home, still wearing Richard's sister's pajamas. She gets into town, but the car runs out of gas, and she manages to wake up the entire neighborhood. They all see that she is no longer a "nice girl", and rumors start to fly instantly. Jane locks herself in her room until her father gives her a telegram from Richard. Jane decides to face the music and go to the benefit for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, but doesn't realize that everyone thinks that she and Richard are engaged. She sings "Beneath the Lights of Home" at the benefit. Everyone congratulates her afterwards about her engagement, but she thinks they are just fooling her. She goes to Don for comfort, and he agrees that it's all nonsense, and, of course, Richard wouldn't go for her. Jane gets angry at that and decides to show Don. She tells him that she is engaged to Richard, and Don storms off. Right at that time, Oliver and Richard come to the benefit. They congratulate Prof. Oliver (for the engagement of his daughter to Richard Calvert), but he is confused and thinks that they are congratulating him for getting his fellowship. Jane intercepts them and tells Richard that everyone thinks they are engaged. They fake a big quarrel so that they can break their engagement. Meanwhile, Don has enlisted in the army, and Jane goes to see him to explain what happened. When she goes, Don tells her that he loves her. They kiss (off-screen), and then she goes to a bandstand and sings the song "Thank You America" for the crowd at the Army base.

Alternative endings for foreign release

For the theatrical release in Great Britain, the movie instead concludes with Deanna Durbin singing "

There'll Always be an England "There'll Always Be an England" is an English patriotic song, written and distributed in the summer of 1939, which became highly popular following the outbreak of the Second World War. It was composed and written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charl ...

", since World War II was raging in Europe - in fact, the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

had concluded just days before ''Nice Girl?'' began shooting. Deanna Durbin had a huge fan base in England who knew that Durbin's parents were English immigrants to the Americas. The set behind Durbin shows both the Flag of the United States and the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

at the back of the army base bandstand. For release in Latin America, Durbin was filmed singing a rendition of "Thank You America" in Spanish.

Cast

as Jane Dana *

as Richard Calvert *

as Hector Titus *

as Don Webb *

as Prof. Oliver Dana *

as Cora Foster *

as Nancy Dana *

as Sylvia Dana *

Elisabeth Risdon Elisabeth Risdon (born Daisy Cartwright Risdon; 26 April 1887 – 20 December 1958) was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1913 and 1952. A beauty in her youth, she usually played in society parts. In later ...

as Martha Peasley * Nana Bryant as Mary Peasley * Georgie Billings as Pinky Greene *

Tommy Kelly Tommy Terrell Kelly (born December 27, 1980) is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State and was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agen ...

as Ken Atkins * Marcia Mae Jones as Girl * Riley Hill (actor), Riley Hill (credited as Roy Harris) as Doug * James Finlayson (actor), James Finlayson (cameo)

Production

Ralph Bock and Francis Kohner were assigned to write the script in May 1940. William Seiter signed to direct in August. Stack was cast in September 1940. In October

joined the film. In the origina script Dubin's character was to marry Stack's at the end, but then the draft was introduced. The story was adjusted so he was drafted. At one stage the film was known as ''Love at Last''.SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: New York Times 8 Jan 1941: 15.

References

External links

* * {{William A. Seiter 1941 films 1940s musical comedy-drama films American musical comedy-drama films American films based on plays Films directed by William A. Seiter Universal Pictures films Films produced by Joe Pasternak 1941 comedy films 1941 drama films 1940s American films