"Something in the Wind" was a big hit in Australia - my mother, who just loved Deanna Durbin, had a few of the songs in sheet music and often sang them around the house. It proves that even at the end of her career, while she did have a couple of misses, she did retire at the top. Universal had allowed her to grow up gracefully and being a teenager when she was discovered, she didn't experience any of those "awkward years" so common to almost every child star.
The problem for Deanna, who wore a very becoming upswept hairdo in "Something in the Wind", was that she was often eclipsed by her co star, lively, full of beans performer Donald O'Connor. A definite Deanna memory for me, is of her draped across her "disc jockey" desk singing "The Turntable Song" - "round and round and round and round the turntable goes". That is the first scene - Durbin plays Mary Collins, a D.J. who is kidnapped by Donald Reid (John Dall) a wealthy, pompous young heir who thinks Mary was a mistress of his late grandfather's!! As if Deanna could be that!!! Margaret Wycherley - she of the often Machiavellan roles ie Ma Jarrett in "White Heat", plays true to form as Grandma Reid, the instigator while Jean Adair plays Aunt Mary, the real recipient of the legacy. Before she is kidnapped she gets to audition (of course) with "Happy Go Lucky and Free".
Once kidnapped, Mary plays it to the hilt - trying to take those stuffed shirts down a peg or two, she mentions a "baby" and agrees to settle for a million!!! The family had tentatively offered $5,000 in hush money. The younger brother, Charles (Donald O'Connor) sides with her instantly and sings of his fondness for thrillers in "I Love a Mystery" which is very reminiscent of his "Make 'Em Laugh" from "Singin' in the Rain". Charles is also in love with Donald's fiancé, Clarissa (Helena Carter - whatever happened to her, she scored in "Invaders From Mars" and then nothing), in spite of her pretentiousness and Mary agrees to help him by pretending to fall in love with Donald. Pretend doesn't last long as to the strain of the beautiful "Something in the Wind" they really do fall in love.
It wouldn't be a Deanna Durbin movie without an opera excerpt - this time she duets Miserere from "Ill Trovatore" with a policeman (Jan Peerce, star of the Metropolitan Opera). The film ends with a reprise of the movie's songs performed by Durbin and O'Connor (who seems to get most of the finale time) for that new fangled medium (at the time) - television!!! Director Irving Pichell does an Alfred Hitchcock when he appears early on in the movie as a tone deaf mechanic.
The problem for Deanna, who wore a very becoming upswept hairdo in "Something in the Wind", was that she was often eclipsed by her co star, lively, full of beans performer Donald O'Connor. A definite Deanna memory for me, is of her draped across her "disc jockey" desk singing "The Turntable Song" - "round and round and round and round the turntable goes". That is the first scene - Durbin plays Mary Collins, a D.J. who is kidnapped by Donald Reid (John Dall) a wealthy, pompous young heir who thinks Mary was a mistress of his late grandfather's!! As if Deanna could be that!!! Margaret Wycherley - she of the often Machiavellan roles ie Ma Jarrett in "White Heat", plays true to form as Grandma Reid, the instigator while Jean Adair plays Aunt Mary, the real recipient of the legacy. Before she is kidnapped she gets to audition (of course) with "Happy Go Lucky and Free".
Once kidnapped, Mary plays it to the hilt - trying to take those stuffed shirts down a peg or two, she mentions a "baby" and agrees to settle for a million!!! The family had tentatively offered $5,000 in hush money. The younger brother, Charles (Donald O'Connor) sides with her instantly and sings of his fondness for thrillers in "I Love a Mystery" which is very reminiscent of his "Make 'Em Laugh" from "Singin' in the Rain". Charles is also in love with Donald's fiancé, Clarissa (Helena Carter - whatever happened to her, she scored in "Invaders From Mars" and then nothing), in spite of her pretentiousness and Mary agrees to help him by pretending to fall in love with Donald. Pretend doesn't last long as to the strain of the beautiful "Something in the Wind" they really do fall in love.
It wouldn't be a Deanna Durbin movie without an opera excerpt - this time she duets Miserere from "Ill Trovatore" with a policeman (Jan Peerce, star of the Metropolitan Opera). The film ends with a reprise of the movie's songs performed by Durbin and O'Connor (who seems to get most of the finale time) for that new fangled medium (at the time) - television!!! Director Irving Pichell does an Alfred Hitchcock when he appears early on in the movie as a tone deaf mechanic.