That Certain Age

Last updated
That Certain Age
That Certain Age.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Edward Ludwig
Screenplay by Bruce Manning
Charles Brackett (uncredited)
Billy Wilder (uncredited)
F. Hugh Herbert (uncredited)
Aleen Leslie (Wetstein) (uncredited)
Story by F. Hugh Herbert
Produced by Joe Pasternak
Starring
Cinematography Joseph A. Valentine
Edited by Bernard W. Burton
Music by Frank Skinner (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • October 7, 1938 (1938-10-07)(US)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million [1]
Box office$2 million (U.S. and Canada rentals) [2]

That Certain Age is a 1938 American musical film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Deanna Durbin and Melvyn Douglas. [3] Based on a story by Aleen Leslie (Wetstein) that was adapted by F. Hugh Herbert, the film is about a dashing reporter who returns from covering the Spanish Civil War and is invited to spend time at his publisher's home, where his adolescent daughter develops a crush on him. The family does their best to sway the young girl's feelings away from the reporter, but it is a challenge, as she is at "that certain age". Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film received Academy Award nominations for Best Music and Best Sound Recording. [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

Alice Fullerton (Durbin) is the 15-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Bill. She becomes involved with a group of boy scouts, who is led by Ken Warren (Cooper). Ken wants to put on a show to raise money in order to go to scout camp. Alice helps him out with giving him permission to use the family home to rehearse. She is very helpful to them and is eventually given permission to be a part of the act. Meanwhile, Bill offers the house to reporter Vince Bullit, who intends on finishing an article in peace and quiet. Alice fears for her new friends being kicked out of the house and decides to try to scare Vincent away.

She tries to scare Vincent by pretending the house is haunted by evil ghosts. However, Vincent sees through the hoax and confronts Alice. She tells him the whole truth. Vincent sympathizes with them and decides to leave the house, but Bill doesn't want him to. Alice changes her mind when she discovers Vincent is ill. She takes care of him and develops a crush. Ken, who has a crush on Alice, becomes jealous and tries to infuriate her by replacing her with singer Mary Lee.

When an upcoming party is announced, Alice is determined to buy Vincent an expensive gift. She sells some of her stuff and buys a cigarette lighter. At the night of the party, she secretly borrows a dress from her mother to look older. She demands her to take her dress off. Enraged, Alice refuses to talk to anyone. Ken tells Vincent and Alice's parents that she is in love with Vincent. Alice's mother tries to discourage Alice, but she is determined to marry him.

At the night of the party, Alice's mother tells a lie to discourage her daughter. She tells Alice Vincent is married to a reporter called Grace Bristow. Alice finally gives up her crush and is allowed to take over the part in the show when Mary Lee becomes ill.

Cast

Production

Deanna Durbin made the film when she was fifteen. Her character had a chaste romance in her previous film, Mad About Music . Universal said prior to filming that "there will be a very slight romance for Deanna" in the film. "There will be two boys instead of one and Miss Durbin will indicate a preference for one of them, a good, substantial lad instead of the wealthy, somewhat spoiled youngster. The studio will not allow, naturally, anything resembling a mature romance for the star, one reason being that her vast audience of children over the country do not like it, being prone to smack their lips in derision at the screen." [5]

Jackie Cooper was cast in May; under the deal he agreed to do two more films for Universal. [6]

Word got out that the plot would include Deanna eloping and having a screen kiss. Universal were deluged with protests and these elements were removed. [7]

Filming stated on 15 May 1938. Outdoor scenes were shot on an estate in Pasadena. [7]

Awards

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Three Smart Girls</i> 1936 film by Henry Koster

Three Smart Girls is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Barbara Read, Nan Grey, Deanna Durbin, and Ray Milland. The film's screenplay was written by Adele Comandini and Austin Parker, and is about three sisters who travel to New York City to prevent their father from remarrying. The three plot to bring their divorced parents back together again.

<i>One Hundred Men and a Girl</i> 1937 film by Henry Koster

One Hundred Men and a Girl is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin and the maestro Leopold Stokowski. Written by Charles Kenyon, Bruce Manning, and James Mulhauser from a story by Hanns Kräly, the film is about the daughter of a struggling musician who forms a symphony orchestra consisting of his unemployed friends. Through persistence, charm, and a few misunderstandings, they are able to get famed conductor Leopold Stokowski to lead them in a concert, which leads to a radio contract. One Hundred Men and a Girl was the first of two motion pictures featuring Leopold Stokowski, and is also one of the films for which Durbin is best remembered as an actress and a singer.

<i>I Never Sang for My Father</i> 1970 film by Gilbert Cates

I Never Sang for My Father is a 1970 American drama film, based on the 1968 play of the same name. It tells the story of a widowed college professor who feels dominated by his aging father, yet still has regrets about his plan to leave him behind when he remarries and moves to California. It stars Melvyn Douglas, Gene Hackman, Dorothy Stickney, Estelle Parsons, and Elizabeth Hubbard.

<i>Theodora Goes Wild</i> 1936 film by Richard Boleslawski

Theodora Goes Wild is a 1936 American screwball comedy film that tells the story of the residents in a small town who are incensed by a risqué novel, unaware that the book was written under a pseudonym by a member of the town's leading family. It stars Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas and was directed by Richard Boleslawski. The film was written by Mary McCarthy and Sidney Buchman. Dunne was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role and the movie was also nominated for the Best Film Editing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deanna Durbin</span> Canadian singer and actress (1921–2013)

Edna Mae Durbin, known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the U.S. with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With the technical skill and vocal range of a legitimate lyric soprano, she performed many styles from popular standards to operatic arias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Pasternak</span> American film producer

Joseph Herman Pasternak was a Hungarian-American film producer in Hollywood. Pasternak spent the Hollywood "Golden Age" of musicals at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producing many successful musicals with female singing stars like Deanna Durbin, Kathryn Grayson and Jane Powell, as well as swimmer/bathing beauty Esther Williams' films. He produced Judy Garland's final MGM film, Summer Stock, which was released in 1950, and some of Gene Kelly’s early breakthrough roles. Pasternak worked in the film industry for 45 years, from the later silent era until shortly past the end of the classical Hollywood cinema in the early 1960s.

<i>Christmas Holiday</i> 1944 film by Robert Siodmak, Felix Jackson

Christmas Holiday is a 1944 American film noir crime film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly. Based on the 1939 novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham, the film is about a woman who marries a Southern aristocrat who inherited his family's streak of violence and instability and soon drags the woman into a life of misery. After he is arrested, the woman runs away from her husband's family, changes her name, and finds work as a singer in a New Orleans dive. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score for Hans J. Salter.

<i>Cant Help Singing</i> 1944 film by Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ryan

Can't Help Singing is a 1944 American musical Western film directed by Frank Ryan and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Paige, and Akim Tamiroff. Based on a story by John D. Klorer and Leo Townsend, the film is about a senator's daughter who follows her boyfriend West in the days of the California gold rush. Durbin's only Technicolor film, Can't Help Singing was produced by Felix Jackson and scored by Jerome Kern with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg.

<i>Mad About Music</i> 1938 film by Norman Taurog, Bruce Manning, Joe Pasternak

Mad About Music is a 1938 American musical film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Deanna Durbin, Herbert Marshall, and Gail Patrick. Based on a story by Marcella Burke and Frederick Kohner, the film is about a girl at an exclusive boarding school who invents an exciting father. When her schoolmates doubt his existence, she has to produce him. Mad About Music received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Music, and Best Original Story.

<i>It Started with Eve</i> 1941 film by Norman Krasna, Henry Koster, Joe Pasternak

It Started with Eve is a 1941 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, and Charles Laughton. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score. The film is considered by some critics to be Durbin's best film, and the last in which she worked with the producer and director who groomed her for stardom. It Started with Eve was remade in 1964 as I'd Rather Be Rich.

<i>Ill Be Yours</i> 1947 film by William A. Seiter

I'll Be Yours is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin. Based on the play A jó tündér by Ferenc Molnár, the film is about a small-town girl who tells a fib to a wealthy businessman, which then creates complications. The play had earlier been adapted for the 1935 film The Good Fairy by Preston Sturges.

<i>Up in Central Park</i> (film) 1948 film by William A. Seiter

Up in Central Park is a 1948 American musical comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin, Dick Haymes and Vincent Price. Based on the play Up in Central Park by Herbert Fields with a screenplay by Karl Tunberg, the film is about a newspaper reporter and the daughter of an immigrant maintenance man who help expose political corruption in New York City in the 1870s.

<i>First Love</i> (1939 film) 1939 American musical film by Henry Koster

First Love is a 1939 American musical film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin. Based on the fairy tale Cinderella, the film is about an orphan who is sent to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle after graduating from boarding school. Her life is made difficult by her snobby cousin who arranges that she stay home while the rest of the family attends a major social ball. With the help of her uncle, she makes it to the ball, where she meets and falls in love with her cousin's boyfriend. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Music.

<i>Its a Date</i> 1940 film by William A. Seiter

It's a Date is a 1940 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, and Walter Pidgeon. Based on a story by Jane Hall, Frederick Kohner, and Ralph Block, the film is about an aspiring actress who is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more experienced actress, was hoping to get the same part. Their lives are complicated further when they both get involved with the same man. Distributed by Universal Pictures, It's a Date was remade in 1950 as Nancy Goes to Rio.

<i>Nice Girl?</i> 1941 film

Nice Girl? is a 1941 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter, and starring Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Walter Brennan, Robert Stack, and Robert Benchley. 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.

<i>The Amazing Mrs. Holliday</i> 1943 film by Jean Renoir, Bruce Manning

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday is a 1943 American comedy drama film produced and directed by Bruce Manning and starring Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, and Barry Fitzgerald.

<i>For the Love of Mary</i> 1948 film by Frederick de Cordova

For the Love of Mary is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Frederick de Cordova and starring Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, Don Taylor, and Jeffrey Lynn. Written by Oscar Brodney, the film is about a young woman who takes a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and soon receives help with her love life from Supreme Court justices and the President of the United States. For the Love of Mary was the last film by Deanna Durbin, who withdrew from the entertainment business the following year to live a private life in France.

Felix Jackson was a German-born American screenwriter and film and television producer.

<i>Hers to Hold</i> 1943 film by Frank Ryan

Hers to Hold is a 1943 American romantic musical comedy film and is the third film in Three Smart Girls trilogy. In Hers to Hold, Deanna Durbin reprises her role as Penny Craig, who is the only sister remaining at home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy Pepper</span> Musical artist

Buddy Pepper was an American pianist, songwriter, arranger and actor, known as one of three writers of Billboard's top tune of 1953, "Vaya Con Dios," which has been recorded over 500 times. He also wrote several songs for Universal Pictures' films, including Mister Big (1943). In 1959, he wrote the title song for the Oscar-winning film Pillow Talk, which actress Doris Day sang during the opening credits.

References

  1. "Top Films and Stars". Variety. 4 January 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. Cohn, Lawrence (October 15, 1990). "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety . p. M-188. ISSN   0042-2738.
  3. 1 2 3 "That Certain Age (1938)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  4. "Awards for That Certain Age". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  5. Puppy Love Big Problem for Studios Scott, John. Los Angeles Times 1 May 1938: C3.
  6. Anne Shirley to Star in "The Chi House": Cohen Plans Pictures Cooper Opposite Deanna Los Angeles Times (3 May 1938: 8.
  7. 1 2 HOLLYWOOD PONDERS A PARADOX Churchill, Douglas W. New York Times 21 Aug 1938: X3.
  8. "The 11th Academy Awards (1939) Nominees and Winners". Oscars. Retrieved August 10, 2011.