This charming film, directed expertly in 1940 by the underrated European-born Henry Koster, is set in a fictional Vienna of beer gardens and palaces, all built on the Universal lot in California. The story, of course, is totally preposterous: for one, a peasant girl from the mountains (Deanna Durbin) after only been in the capitol city a few days is granted an audience with Emperor Franz Josef (Henry Stephenson). Thoroughly charmed by her simple country ways, the old man grants Deanna all her wishes, and, of course, invites her to a royal ball where, needless to say, she sings and dances. It is a tribute to Koster's skill at expertly recreating this sort of operetta fluff, once so popular in Europe, that he makes us suspend all disbelief. Durbin, then 19 years old, is both lovely and feisty, and she is surrounded in this Cinderella story by some of the best comic character actors in town including Misha Auer, Cuddles Sakall, Walter Catlett, and Franklin Pangborn. Prissy Pangborn gets to wear a Hapsburg beard and moustache. In memory, he was usually photographed standing up in a state of rage or suppressed frustration, but in this film he is shown sitting down. A first? Robert Cummings is the suitable dreamboat love interest and he does a commendable job of making this silliness believable. Joe Valentine deservedly won the Oscar that year for his black and white photography.
Review of Spring Parade
