Can't Help Singing (1944) User Reviews (24)

Durbin at her most engaging, plus two great Kern/Harburg songs

[Terrell-4 · 7/10 · 27 January 2008]

There is a reason Deanna Durbin was one of the top Hollywood stars from the mid-Thirties through the Forties. She was a natural actress with a fine face and figure and a deep- throated soprano she knew how to use. She was one of those people the camera loves. Her personality, direct and warm, comes straight across to the audience. She could handle all the immaculate make-up Hollywood gave her as she matured into a young woman, but there always was something of the tomboy about her. She had a natural exuberance, a sense of humor and a good-natured willingness to take pratfalls or march into mud-holes. And she was a professional at her craft. In this movie, Can't Help Singing, watch how she manages to wander through the woods singing, through bushes and over hillocks, avoiding branches, and periodically fronting pretty scenery. This scene is shot in long takes. I have no idea how many takes it took, but Durbin manages to move, sing, smile, emote a bit and hit all of her marks without any sign of effort or evidence of an editor's scissors used to mask mistakes.

By the time Durbin was 14 she was major box office, and stayed there until she retired in 1950 at 29. She never liked the glitz and fan adulation of stardom. She and her third husband left for France right after she retired and that was that. She still lives just outside Paris, has turned down any number of film offers and hasn't granted an interview with anyone since 1949. As a person who was grounded in reality and decided to live her own life, Deanna Durbin gets a tip of my hat.

Can't Help Singing is a lush, colorful musical about a young woman, Caroline Frost, daughter of a wealthy senator, who leaves Washington against the wishes of her father to meet the man she intents to marry. He is a cavalry lieutenant, and the senator has seen to it that his regiment has been sent to California to guard gold during the start of the Gold Rush. Caroline is determined, and along the way has to deal with steamboats, Russian con-men, a cross-country wagon, Indians, finaglers, grafters, boss-men and card sharps. The card sharp winds up holding more than cards. He turns out to be the romantic lead. After 90 minutes of songs, comedy, adventures and the occasional kiss, all ends well for everyone.

This was Deanna Durbin's only color movie and the studio went all out. Can't Help Singing is stuffed with wide-open vistas, detailed studio sets and costumes that would make Vincente Minnelli envious. What makes the movie memorable, however (in addition to Durbin), are two songs from the score by Jerome Kern and E. Y. Harburg. From the moment the movie starts and we see Durbin driving a two-horse carriage singing "Can't Help Singing," it's time to sit back and smile. The number is one of those big, fat, intensely melodic songs that few composers besides Kern could pull off. She sings it twice, the last time part of a production that takes place in an outdoor western bath house. It pops up now and then as a melodic background line. The song works every time. The second Kern/Harburg show-stopper is "Californ-i-ay," where "the hills have more splendor; the girls have more gender." It's another major production number with a big melody and clever lyrics. Everyone and everything from the two leads to giant vegetables take part.

The movie is pleasant enough, although the two Russian con-men get tedious and Durbin's leading man, while manly enough, doesn't make much of an impression. The movie belongs only to Deanna Durbin, as all of her films did. With those two songs from Kern and Harburg, it's worth spending some time with.

A Three-Song Film

[adamshl · 6/10 · 31 March 2008]

This Durbin vehicle had just three songs worthy of Jerome Kern and E. Y. Harburg: "More and More," "Californ-i-ay," and the title song. These are really wonderful pieces, which fortunately recur throughout on a regular basis.

The Technicolor is indeed glorious, and there's nothing wrong with the casting. It's also true that Durbin looks radiant in her first color film.

Alas, the rest of the score is a disappointment, simply lacking in inspiration. They try to beef it up with production values, to little avail. Likewise, the script's just not quite up to Deanna's standards. One can admire the costumes, staging, photography--and those three songs. Durbin fans will be probably be pleased with everything here; others, probably less so.

It's easy to see the Durbin magic as she lights up the screen with charisma and her beautiful voice. A pleasant trifle for the Durbin DVD "Sweetheart Pack."

"Can't Help Singing" filmed in Utah

[seegmiller · 7/10 · 12 February 2007]

I wanted to second the comments of Sdiner that "Can't Help Singing" is a lavishly produced and totally unappreciated color movie from the early 1940s. A local showing a couple of years ago brought out dozens of fans in Southern Utah, including many who remember seeing it in the 1940s and 2-3 people who were extras in the film. Many scenes were shot in the meadows of the Markagunt Plateau, near Navajo Lake, in southwestern Utah, and Deanna Durbin was filmed against the backdrop of nearby Cedar Breaks National Monument (not Bryce Canyon), not far from the resort town of Brian Head. A number of movies between 1938 and the mid-1950s used this "studio" for real-life scenery, movies like "The Outriders," "My Friend Flicka," and "Drums Along the Mohawk." These movies did much to open up the interest of Americans in the West and its national parks, but it was the glorious Technicolor that made and makes "Can't Help Singing" truly special.

She Can't Help it!

[tashman · 26 February 2002]

In a decade devoid of great (non-MGM, non-Rita Hayworth) color musicals, CAN'T HELP SINGING deserves a more important place among the celebrated. A female-driven western tale preceding HARVEY GIRLS, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, and CALAMITY JANE, while musically aping Broadway smash OKLAHOMA, this adaptation of GIRL OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL is the uniting of three great entertainment entities - Durbin, Jerome Kern, and the resources of the Universal Technicolor escapist machine. After losing Durbin's producer, Joe Pasternak, and her director, Henry Koster, to MGM, you'd think they would have tried more often, but no, Durbin's 1940s pictures were not expensively-mounted productions, and this is quite a distinctive product for 1943-4 Universal. However, not being a Durbin afficionado is probably the main reason this is my favorite Durbin vehicle. The superior if neglected Kern score awaits rediscovery, from the beguiling title tune (Durbin and company can't help singing from outdoor bathtubs) to lush ballads like "More and More" (also a big Perry Como hit), and a rousing, ersatz "Oklahoma" homage to "Californ-i-a." Without Maria Montez-John Hall to bolster, the populous if underused supporting company does well enough, with Robert Paige (a sort of poor man's John Carroll) not near so bad as I'd heard. Make no mistake, the "Durbin-ator" dominates the affair, surrounded by all the bright, lush colors of the Technicolor rainbow lavishly painting impressive backdrops of scenery, an extravagant, detailed, period wardrobe, and the Collector's Doll make-up adorning the star's perfect face. Durbin herself is at her gorgeous peak, and this colorful achievement is certainly the entertainment it set out to be.

Deanna in glorious color

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 9 August 2012]

Alan Jay Lerner came to France to play her his unfinished score of My Fair Lady, hoping she'd come out of retirement to play Eliza on Broadway; she turned down Kiss Me, Kate and other properties; she would have been wonderful in Showboat...as Anna in the King and I...but all Deanna Durbin wanted was to be a nobody and raise her children out of the spotlight.

At least her youth, voice and acting ability have been preserved, and in "Can't Help Singing," she's preserved in color.

Durbin plays Caroline, a young woman who runs away from home to join the man she loves (David Bruce) in Ft. Badger. Joining a wagon train, she meets and falls for Lawlor (Robert Paige), a gambler. Meanwhile, her father (Ray Collins) is after her, and two con artists posing as Russians (Leonid Kinskey and Akim Tamiroff) keep appropriating her trunk.

If the plot is silly and the Jerome Kern score is nice but not exceptional. However, the score is beautifully sung by Durbin and Robert Paige amidst glorious Utah scenery. Durbin's rich voice never sounded better, and she looks stunning.

I keep reading on this site that Deanna didn't like her last films, but this wasn't one of them. In the only interview she's given since her retirement in 1948, to Richard Shipman in 1983, she said her four last films were awful and Universal wasn't trying very hard with the scripts assigned to her. This was always the problem with Universal; though she saved the studio from bankruptcy, Universal didn't seek out the best properties for her, and they never seemed to want to spend a lot of money.

For "Can't Help Singing," though, no expense was spared, and it shows.

Forget the plot -- this is a feast for the eye and ear. Sixty-four years after her retirement (she turns 91 in December 2012) Deanna Durbin is still delighting audiences with her singing and acting.

Westward the Woman

[lugonian · 7/10 · 13 November 2016]

CAN'T HELP SINGING (Universal, 1944), directed by Frank Ryan, is a musical, naturally. What the title doesn't imply is that it's also a western. Starring Deanna Durbin, Universal's star attraction, who was earlier MAD ABOUT MUSIC (1938), here CAN'T HELP SINGING, is often classified as a movie inspired by the then current stage musical sensation of "Oklahoma," which lead to MGM's own musical western theme of THE HARVEY GIRLS (MGM, 1946) starring Judy Garland. While this edition lacks the singing flavor of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from "Oklahoma" or "The Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe" from THE HARVEY GIRLS, it does have the brunette turned blonde Deanna Durbin, in glorious Technicolor for the only time in her movie career, vocalizing new songs composed by the legendary songwriter, Jerome Kern, with story passages to have avid film buffs think of Frank Capra's Academy Award winning "It Happened One Night" (1934), minus the bus, road camps and hitchhiking.

Based on the story, "The Girl of the Overland Trail" by Samuel J. and Curtis B. Warshawsky, the narrative opens in Washington, D.C., 1849, where the first shipment of gold from California is presented to the President James Knox Polk (Edward Earle) at a crowd gathering. Caroline Frost (Deanna Durbin), having been away in the country, arrives early to meet with the man she loves, Lieutenant Robert Latham (David Bruce), forgetting she's scheduled to later sing at the White House reception. Her father, Senator Martin Frost (Ray Collins), disapproves of Caroline's involvement with Latham because he believes him to be an opportunist, thus, doing everything possible keeping them apart. Learning Latham has been stationed to California with his Fourth Calvary, Caroline sneaks away from home to follow and marry him. Tracking him down to Missouri, Caroline is told by Army officers that Latham has gone to Fort Richards. Learning her father has posted in newspapers a $5,000 reward for her return, Caroline keeps herself from being noticed by avoiding any personal contact. During the course of her travels, Caroline encounters such characters types as Gregory (Akim Tamiroff) and Koppa (Leonid Kinskey), a couple of Russian stowaways who help carry her trunk they believe to have its weight in gold; and Sam Archer (Andrew Toombes), a confidence man who swindles Caroline of her money for a horse and buggy belonging to somebody else. She then meets Johnny Lawlor (Robert Paige), a card sharp who, aware of her true identity, agrees to help the runaway heiress on a 2,000 mile trip to California at his asking price of $1,000 to be paid to him by her fictional fiancé, Jake Carstairs (Thomas Gomez) of Sonora, labeled "the best shot in the world," a man she knows about but has never met. If that isn't enough, Johnny, who detests liars, has Gregory act the part of her husband in order to gain passage on a wagon train. Once everyone reaches their California destination, further complications ensue.

Others in the cast include: Clara Blandick (Caroline's Aunt Cissy); June Vincent (Frances McLean); George Cleveland (The Marshal); and in smaller roles, Irving Bacon, Roscoe Ates, Renie Riano and Arthur Housman. As much as Universal might have placed such accomplished male singers as Dick Foran or Allan Jones as Durbin's co-star, Robert Paige, basically an actor of forgettable second features, is acceptable in his John Payn-type of performance who surprisingly gets to sing, and quite well at that.

In between doses of misunderstandings and comedy passages, such as a running gag of a little boy named Warren constantly twisting his hair and being disciplined by his mother, song interludes take place, including: "Can't Help Singing" (sung by Deanna Durbin); "Elbow Room," "Can't Help Singing" (reprise by Durbin with Robert Paige and others); "Any Moment Now," "Swing Your Sweetheart," "More and More," "Californ-I-Ay," FINALE: "Californ-I'ay," "More and More" and "Can't Help Singing." Regardless of Jerome Kern and E.Y. Harburg's collaboration with the composition, and the Academy Award Best Song nomination for "More and More," the songs in general are forgotten. "Can't Help Singing" is lively, with latter reprise set in a bath- house with Durbin singing in the bath-tub covered with bubbles, while the Award nominated "More and More" seems slow and dull, not living to any expectation to other song nominees. Durbin's solo song number of "Any Moment Now," with blue skies and visual mountain background in the manner of Julie Andrews' opening of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (20th Century-Fox, 1965), is the film's most diverting highlight.

CAN'T HELP SINGING has some fine moments, but no lasting appeal once the movie is over. Aside availability on video cassette in 1997, and on DVD years later, television broadcasts have been few and far between over the years, ranging from public television (1980s), to cable's American Movie Classics (1996-2000); Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: May 3, 2010), RetroPlex and occasionally Encore Westerns. For those who enjoy Durbin, the girl who can't help singing, will find this 89 minute western musical/comedy pleasing, enjoyable fluff. (***1/2)

Deanna Durbin at Her Best

[LeonardKniffel · 7/10 · 11 April 2020]

For insight into the enormous popularity of soprano singing sensation Deanna Durbin, who dropped out of films for good at age 28, this is a good bet. The music is some of the lesser known work of Jerome Kern, and this is Durbin's only movie in Technicolor. --from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

Deanna's lovely voice

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 24 January 2006]

Can't Help Singing featuring Deanna Durbin singing those wonderful Jerome Kern-E.Y. Harburg songs either solo or with Robert Paige is nice musical entertainment. So entertaining it can even be forgiven some very illogical plot premises.

Deanna's the daughter of a United States Senator who's run away from home to catch up to her beau, cavalry lieutenant David Bruce. On the wagon train west to California she hooks up with gambler Robert Paige and a couple of Russian con artists, Akim Tamiroff and Leonid Kinsky.

Maybe I am being picky, but I cannot understand for the life of me why Deanna's father Ray Collins had such a problem with David Bruce. He sees him as an opportunist, but at the time of the California gold rush when this film is set, there was in fact a very famous marriage by an army lieutenant to a prominent Senator's daughter. That would be John C. Fremont wedding Jessie Benton, daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton.

Of course an ambitious army lieutenant is no match for his sugarplum, but hooking up with a gambler is all right. Doesn't make any sense no matter how many times I see Can't Help Singing.

Still when Jerome Kern writes the music, a whole multitude of sins are forgiven. Universal spent quite a bit of money on this film, probably more than they'd spend on three Abbott and Costello films and those two were Universal's bread and butter at this time.

In fact Kinsky and Tamiroff make a very funny pair. Maybe they should have teamed more often.

Can't Help Singing is good musical entertainment, just learn to live with the ridiculous plot.

Deanna Durbin in Technicolor, glorious Jerome Kern score, lavishly produced, and totally unappreciated musical diamond.

[sdiner82 · 10/10 · 1 January 2003]

For reasons beyond comprehension, "Can't Help Singing" is a film no one I know has even heard of, much less seen, probably because Deanna Durbin, a child actress of the mid-1930s who blossomed into an alluring,witty, beautiful young woman in the 1940s, suddenly chucked her career in 1948, started a new life in the French countryside with her husband and subsequent children, and has never been heard from since. But, within a little more than a decade, she not only saved Universal studios from bankruptcy but was the most popular female star of her time. Watching her films today, one is amazed at how contemporary they--and she--are, particularly when she graduated from child star ("100 Men and a Girl," "Three Smart Girls") to a spunky young lady with a voice of pure velvet and a melting range of emotions (from rueful to sensual). "Can't Help Singing" is a luscious introduction to the timeless charm of Ms. Durbin. Her first--and only-- film in Technicolor, this lighthearted musical Western must have cost Universal a fortune--filmed mainly on outdoor locations in the Northwest, with one of Jerome Kern's most beautiful (and underappreciated scores). Forget the plot about a politician's daughter who, against her father's orders, heads West to track down her handsome cavalry lover (David Bruce) but, en route via covered wagon to the wild, wild West, finds herself locking horns--and finally arms--with a dashing, sarcastic cowboy (Robert Paige--whose good looks and soaring baritone are more than a match for Ms. Durbin's beauty and exquisite soprano).

What counts is the ravishing color photography of Kern's songs--filmed on location in the great outdoors (the highlight, for me, is Ms. Durbin's soaring rendition of "Any Moment Now" filmed as she wanders through the breathtaking backdrop of Bryce Canyon--truly one of the most exquisite musical interludes in movie history). Add "More and More" (Oscar-nominated), "Californiay," and the knockout title song (performed by Ms. Durbin & Mr. Paige in adjoining outdoor bathtubs--don't ask!)and there's little more you could wish for in a movie--musical or otherwise. I've read that the film was a boxoffice disappointment and hastened Ms. Durbin's decision to call it quits a few years later. And most of the reviews I occasionally come across are generally lukewarm, if not hostile. Movie scholars might argue that, from an historical viewpoint, "Can't Help Singing" was an unintentional precursor of all the zesty, musical Westerns that were to enchant movie audiences during the next decade. Perhaps so. Who cares. I can't see how anyone can resist the once-in-a-lifetime glories of Deanna Durbin in her dazzling prime, the most beauteous use of Technicolor imaginable, and the entrancing melodies of probably our finest American composer, Mr. Kern. Thank you all very much.

Lighthearted fluff.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 11 June 2014]

"Can't Help Singing" isn't a bad movie. It's a pleasant time-passer. However, the film isn't any more--mostly due to too many forgettable songs and a paper-thin plot. Because of such movies as this, you can easily understand why the star, Deanna Durbin, only made 28 films and then retired--even though she was a top box office star.

The film begins with Caroline (Durbin) insisting that she's going to marry some dashing cavalry officer. However, her father, the Senator (Ray Collins), isn't about to let her marry the guy. So she does what any impetuous and goofy young lady would do--she runs off and joins a wagon train heading west so she can find her sweetie. However, this incredibly naive lady ends up getting into no end of trouble. Eventually, she ends up going west with a professional gambler--and because they dislike each other so much, you just know that by the end of the film they'll be in love--such are the clichés in this movie.

I would consider this brainless fun. As I mentioned above, the songs aren't very good and distract from the plot--not a major plus for the film. But the characters are kind of cute--even if Caroline is a bit flighty. Not a bad film, as it will keep your interest...except whenever she breaks into song!

By the way, as a retired history teacher I should point out that the guns in this film are anachronistic. Everyone with a gun in this film has a revolver, though the film is set around 1847 and such weapons weren't widely used until around the Civil War.

Can't Help Singing-Can't Help My Disappointment **

[edwagreen · 4/10 · 12 May 2010]

A very silly production is "Can't Help Singing." This 1944 film did not give the opportunity for Deanna Durbin to showcase her talent. Her voice was good; in fact, too good for this inane film. Her singing was way above the plot where a senator's daughter flees her father to run off with an army officer. This time dad is right. The only reason why the guy is interested in her is to further his career via her political father.

Along the way, she meets a card shark and the two hit it off. The ending becomes silly when Durbin is forced to admit the stories she has made up along the way.

Durbin sings the title song "Can't Help Singing" with great enthusiasm but the other songs, especially California-y are ridiculous as is the plot.

Film and Theater buff -- especially musicals.

[eckchat · 9/10 · 30 July 2009]

I saw this film twice in 1945 when I was in the US Navy. Enjoyed it immensely! Most of the "film data" ignore listing the various songs and the artists who wrote them: Jerome Kern, music, and E. Y. Harburg, lyrics. There are very few citations to the actual lyrics. It would be helpful if someone would give an Internet site for getting the lyrics. Google isn't much help.

E.Y. Harburg was a most talented lyricist. I attended a talk by his son, who was plugging a biography of his late father, several years (about 15) ago in California. Even bought the book, which I never regretted. It has some detailed lyrics, but not from the "Can't Help Singing" film. Harburg collaborated with many famous songwriters, but usually only once with each: Harold Arlen for "The Wizard of Oz", and someone else for the stage (and film) "Finian's Rainbow", his two most notable achievements.

Has Deanna Durbin died? She was truly a gem!

Another It happened One Night

[sb-47-608737 · 7/10 · 4 May 2018]

I wonder how many movies I have in my collection on this same theme. It has to be more than a dozen, all languages included, with minor changes here and there.

With a mésalliance on the horizon, the girl escapes the iron-grip of her progenitor and goes off in a wild run (the field differs. Here it is wild-wild west, in "It happened One Night" it was just country-side, Roman Holiday it is town, and so on.

On the way she meets some-one who was never in her scheme of things (nor her fathers obviously) and finds that this was the true love, the other one was just the rebellion, and naturally in the end, probably in all the cases, all has to lead to logical conclusion (except in Roman Holiday of course).

Of all the versions (naturally Bollywood or other Indian versions excluded), I think only this one is musical.

Naturally (as one would expect), almost none of the movies give credit to where it is due. In fact most likely even the very first one has been plagiarized ? I am not too sure, but there has to be one of the fairy tales of this model, by Grimms or Andersson, or some other. If it is, at the moment, it is missing the neuron connection in my brain.

When I talk of the very first one, it is not 'It happened One Night (1934), who does give credit to Samuel Hopkins Adams - though not mentioned, for his short story Night Bus (1933), This one too credits "Girl Of the Overland Trail" of Warshawsky (Brothers?), Roman Holiday doesn't credit any external person.

The first one, in my list, is Jessie Matthew's - There Goes The Bride - which is of 1932, that is one year senior to even the short story 'Night Bus' . The only difference is that here Jessie runs away to escape the mésalliance and not to jump into it (which the father tries to impose onto her). After this, whether the story, or the movies were all 'Influenced' by this.

The movie story is known in first five minutes. The moment a rich girl, the main protagonist, wants to marry a handsome in look but not in character man, and it is hinted, or clearly said, that it is only since the father hates, she wants to do it, we know where it is going to lead.

However with the interest gone, it still is watchable, mainly due to Deanna, though she looks too sweet to be of rebellious kind (Colbert had a tougher look, Audrey had a whimsical one), but still the movie didn't become too dull., and that was despite big holes in the plot, in fact some of these could have been well avoided, for example the Marshall failing to recognize., with her photograph published everywhere ? Even the India scene was a bit too derogatory, but at least that was better than other westerns, where they are shown as blood-thirsty killing machines... or was this depiction worse? Well I can give 2 stars to Deanna, and about 4 to 4.5 for the execution, and it goes to just above average, but watchable, that is not boring.

Can't Help Snoring...

[dianefhlbsch · 1/10 · 5 January 2011]

Yup, even though I am a Deanna Durbin fan, I'll still recommend that you to skip this one.

There were lovely sets, strange costume designs and good people in it, but the script dragged, there was no continuity between musical numbers, and very little creativity. And the songs looked like the director forgot about them and a studio head said, "Slap some in!" But the color was nice.

The sad part was that the premise could have made for a great film - a drama with a lot of comedy, just like life. After all, taking a spoiled rich girl and stick her in the harsh environs of a wagon train with rather unscrupulous individuals will cause some very interesting results. But this was soooo poorly executed that I found myself having to take multiple breaks just to get through it. (I know I should have just shut it off, but that's what happens when you are a fan.)

Add a star if you are a die-hard fan and plan to be bored. If you are not a fan or just starting, your time is better spent watching the grass grow.

Deanna given some great Jerome Kern songs in technicolor western musical...

[Doylenf · 20 April 2001]

Toward the end of her career at Universal, they finally splurged on technicolor and fancy scenery for an enjoyable, tuneful,colorful western-comedy-romance, 'Can't Help Singing' featuring a musical score by Jerome Kern. Deanna's father (Ray Collins) wants her to forget the Army officer she loves (David Bruce) and sends him off to California during the Gold Rush days. Deanna decides to go west to find him--but en route falls in love with a handsome cowboy (Robert Paige). Against some stunning technicolor scenery, much of the music is given the full treatment by Durbin at her best--her voice was richer than ever. She does a standout job on 'Can't Help Singing', 'More and More', and 'Cali-for-ni-ay' and even duets with Robert Paige for a reprise of the title song (both in outdoor bathing tubs up to their necks in soap bubbles). Some of the comedy routines seem a bit strained and weak--but overall it's a wonderful showcase for Deanna Durbin and her fans certainly should appreciate the chance to see her at her radiant best. AMC shows it in a beautifully restored technicolor print.

Color saves the day!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 3 March 2018]

Copyright 11 December 1944 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at Loew's Criterion: 25 December 1944. U.S. release: 29 December 1944. U.K. release: 2 April 1945. Australian release: 12 April 1945. 9 reels. 8,155 feet. 90 minutes.

NOTES: Number 3 at Australian ticket windows for 1945. Although the movie certainly took good money, this level of success was not duplicated elsewhere in the world. Kern and Salter were nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, losing to Anchors Aweigh. "More and More" was nominated for Best Song, losing to "It Might As Well Be Spring" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair.

COMMENT: One can't help liking Deanna's first in color. Admittedly, as was the fashion at the time, she is overly made up with far too accentuated lips, but with the added attraction of period costumes, she still looks fresh, pretty and vibrant nonetheless. She's in fine voice too, getting her light soprano pleasingly around three attractive Kern-Harburg melodies.

The surrounding story not only offers the opportunity for pretty dresses and comedy, but some mighty fetching outdoor scenery as well. Director Frank Ryan admirably demonstrates that although he co-wrote the script, he is no stickler for the dialogue-is-god school of film-making, but has handled the camera with panache and style.

Stunning Technicolor photography and an abundant budget helps too. Supporting players include many of our favorites such as Ray Collins at his wheedling and dyspeptic best, Olin Howland as a wagon-master yet, Andrew Tombes as a confidence shark, Akim Tamiroff as a phoney highness, and Leonid Kinskey in one of the biggest roles of his career as the latter's Laurel-like accomplice. Despite her prominence in the credits, June Vincent has a miniscule part - two brief shots, no more than forty or fifty seconds in total!

OTHER VIEWS: Very bland if very prettily photographed Technicolor musical. Ray Collins manages to put his scenes and his comedy across with both expertise and charm - qualities which are somewhat lacking in other members of the cast, most notably hero Robert Paige, but also to a lesser extent (because their roles are smaller), Thomas Gomez and David Bruce. Even Akim Tamiroff and Leonid Kinskey often seem labored and strained, though they do contrive at least two fairly amusing moments, when they try to break open Deanna's trunk in front of Marshal George Cleveland, and when they attempt to flee from the Indians, only to have the natives overtake them and leave them behind! A pity the wearisome storyline and the equally tedious Mr Paige take up so much time. After all, a crowd-pleaser of a musical like this deserves a really simple plot that serves only as an excuse for gorgeous studio and location photography, plus the all-important presentation of attractive song interludes. Here we have a score by Kern and Harburg no less. True, both are slightly below form. The most catchy number, fortunately, is the title tune. The others all seem somewhat derivative, though leading to an agreeable reprise at the fade-out. Miss Durbin who not unexpectedly handles the prima-donna's share of the score, sings as prettily as she is photographed and as charmingly as she's dressed (in attractive period costumes loaded with lace), hair styled and made up. Frank Ryan's direction often rates as most stylish. -- JHR writing as George Addison.

Deanna's at her best on a wagon train.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 29 November 2017]

In perhaps her only color appearance on film, Deanna Durbin is at her prettiest, spunkiest, wittiest and romantic best. Long before Doris Day sang about her secret love to the clouds and daffodils and Jane Powell sang in a glorious meadow about a wonderful, wonderful day, Durbin sang a love song overlooking the grand canyon. She's in love with army officer Robert Paige over the objections of her senator father (Ray Collins) and runs away to follow him to California. But missing her stagecoach, she ends up on a wagon train, involved with Indians, two phony European noblemen (really petty thieves) and a handsome cowboy, pretty much winning the affections of her traveling companions, winning over the audience as well.

Some lovely Jerome Kern songs aide Durbin in her scintillating performance, surrounded by a great supporting cast. The former Aunt Polly and Auntie Em (Clara Blandick) gets some great lines in her small role as Durbin's understanding aunt. Akom Tamiroff, Leonoid Kinskey and David Bruce are also memorable in supporting parts. A subplot involving a supposed arranged marriage between chunky Thomas Gomez provides an amusing misunderstanding between Durbin and Paige. The beautiful photography, witty script and Durbin's charm makes this one a complete winner. The final reprise of the title song makes this absolutely magical.

A delight for fans of traditional musical comedy, and surprisingly innovative too!

[pacificgroove · 4 September 2004]

You don't need to be a Deanna Durbin fan to find this film delightful. It should appeal to anyone who enjoys traditional musicals like "Oklahoma" and "Showboat".

Can't Help Singing is filled with humor and wit, played with a wink to the audience and genuine gusto--not dated in the least. Akim Tamaroff is especially funny; you can clearly see how he was the model for "Boris Badinov" in the "Bullwinkle" cartoons.

The songs are first rate; Kearn's melodies are beautiful and Harburg's lyric to "Californiay" is full of wit, creativity, and surprises; his other lyrics are well done, but nothing special.

Another layer of delight and interest to someone who knows about the history of movie musicals, like myself, is how far ahead of it's time this film is. The large majority of it is filled outdoors, a lot of it on location. This is unique and innovative in an era when virtually all musicals were filmed inside sound stages with some use of the studio back lot. One of the musical numbers features Durbin in outdoor locations which vary from shot to shot, while she continues to sing seamlessly. This is something that became common a decade or more later, but certainly pioneering in 1944.

Durbin and Paige are both fine singers, most likable, adept at playing the light humor their roles call for. This is a film that should be much better known and appreciated.

Singing in the bathtub

[iandiande · 8/10 · 2 November 2015]

Around the time that this movie was made, Lifebuoy Soap ran a commercial with the a jingle that went,

"Singing in the bathtub, singing for joy, Living the life of Lifebuoy, CAN'T HELP SINGING, 'cause I know, Lifebuoy really stops B.O."

I wondered whether there was any connection between the title of the movie, the jingle and Deanna taking a bath on stage.

As a whole, the girl, the scenery and the music were all very beautiful. Note that they are all wearing very heavy clothing. It was cold in them thar hills when they filmed this on location outdoors in southern Utah. MGM had a similar problem a few years later with 'The Harvey Girls'.

Deanna in colour!

[vmfree · 3 April 2006]

"CAN'T HELP SINGING" - I first saw this charming colour film on television and treasured the tape recording for many years.

My late mother liked Deanna and had a "Deanna Durbin" Hat and told me that she once visited Paris in the late 30's and misplaced this cherished hat and was asking everyone if they'd seen "mon chapeau" - she retrieved it! The hat is remembered from "100 Men and A Girl" with the theatre caretaker watching the moving feather as Deanna was hiding behind the theatre seats.

The songs from "Can't Help Singing" are memorable and they are repeated nicely in the colourful dress-changing finale of the film. I believe "continuity" was a bit apprehensive, but Deanna said "no one will notice"! I love the public bath-house scene and note the slightly cross look Deanna throws her co-star's way when he insists on joining in the song at one point - as if she wants to keep the song's delivery entirely to herself! It is a great scene along with the bonus confusion at the end of it, when Robert Page eagerly awaits the unknown singer.

"More and More" is performed beautifully with Deanna serenading her travelling companion. I like the the bells at the end of "Any Moment Now" at which Deanna reacts. "Californ-i-ay" is another highlight. A super happy film with quite a bit of hilarity at the end.

Thanks Deanna!

Good Light Entertainment With Deanna Durbin & More

[Snow Leopard · 25 July 2005]

Deanna Durbin's one Technicolor movie gives her a decent showcase, and adds a Jerome Kern score plus plenty of good settings and scenery, to make for enjoyable light entertainment and pleasant viewing. Its pluses include Durbin's singing and the colorful outdoors photography.

The period setting makes it different from the stories in most of Durbin's other movies, but fortunately her character (an independent-minded Senator's daughter) is similar enough to many of her other roles, in giving her a lively character with a variety of material to work with. (It wasn't really necessary, though, to make her hair so much lighter - her dark hair would have looked great in color.) The settings range from 1840s Washington DC to the unsettled expanses of the Old West. In itself, the period atmosphere works pretty well, and it also throws in one or two ironic details along the way.

As Durbin's co-star, Robert Paige is a bit bland as a character, but his singing is up to par. Akim Tamiroff has a good role as one of the scamps heading west with Durbin's character. In smaller roles, Ray Collins and Thomas Gomez give good performances. The combination of Durbin's voice, energy, and charm with the period story and settings works rather well.

As a story, it's imperfect - but bask in the singing

[rick_7 · 8 April 2010]

Deanna Durbin was the Canadian opera star who saved Universal Studios (the dream factory, not the tourist attraction). Beginning as a 14-year-old in 1936's Three Smart Girls, she made 21 tuneful, attractive musicals that charmed America, and provided Winston Churchill with his favourite film, 100 Men and a Girl. Can't Help Singing is notable for a few reasons. It was Durbin's only colour vehicle, the only one with an Old West setting and the only one with songs by Jerome Kern, the tunesmith who wrote the score to Swing Time, was immortalised in the spotty 1946 biopic Till the Clouds Roll By (£3 at a shop near you) and was once discovered by '30s star Myrna Loy sitting on her porch, trapped in a glass jar.

Durbin plays a flighty senator's daughter who heads out West after her caddish lover (David Bruce, whose character is abominably underdeveloped) but finds herself falling for travelling companion Robert Paige. Akim Tamiroff and Leonid Kinskey (Sascha in Casablanca) are a pair of feckless tramps also along for the ride, while Ray Collins (Gettys in Citizen Kane) is Durbin's father. The set-up, borrowed from the Capra/Riskin classic It Happened One Night, is solid, but the narrative moves too quickly, with a dearth of scenes charting the growing relationship between Durbin and Paige. The unfailingly charming leads do their best, despite Deanna having been made-up to within an inch of her life - boasting blusher that seems to be causing her near-constant embarrassment. It's a shame the script isn't stronger, as the songs are gloriously performed, with the big budget allowing them to be extravagantly, imaginatively staged.

Durbin and Paige's duet to Can't Help Singing is a tremendous addition to the singin' in the bathtub tradition (think Winnie Lightner in The Show of Shows, Lena Horne in that legendary deleted scene from Cabin in the Sky, or me the other day, crooning Tom Waits as I washed my feet), with Californ-i-ay a superior precursor to Oklahoma!'s title tune and Any Moment Now really rather touching. One could argue that Elbow Room - performed by a knockabout chorus - is the most dispensable entry in the canon of 20th century song, but More and More more than makes up for it. Can't Help Singing doesn't rank with the best of the Durbin films, but it's good fun, with a slew of musical highlights making up for the slightly hurried plotting.

Can't help enjoying this one

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 13 July 2022]

Deanna Durbin was one of Universal's most successful stars in the late 1930s and 1940. Her films usually showcased her vocal talents as well as her ability to play light comedy. This picture deviated slightly from the formula. The story would give the actress a chance to play a more mature romance in Technicolor and it would also place her in a western setting.

CAN'T HELP SINGING was the only project in which Miss Durbin appeared in Technicolor. Also, it had the largest budget of any motion picture Universal had made up to this time. In other words, it was big and important in every way imaginable. But I think the smaller, more whimsical elements of the story are what make it so much fun to watch.

The comedy is very well played-- I would even go so far as to say the humorous moments are as painstakingly choreographed as the musical numbers. There's a smooth and airy feel to the proceedings that carries the story along from one grand show-stopping number to the next.

Another thing that works in the production's favor is that Durbin is obviously quite happy while making this film. From her very first moment on screen singing the title song in a carriage, she is full of joy. In previous films, her leading men tend to be comedians, but this time around she's paired with Robert Paige who did plenty of musicals at Universal.

Comic relief duties are handed over to Akim Tamiroff and Leonid Kinskey. They are a pair of lovable crooks who tag along as our heroine joins a wagon train out west. Supposedly these roles were originally planned for Abbott and Costello, the studio's other big moneymakers. But there was a disagreement about billing; and the duo did not want to be regarded as playing supporting roles.

I'd say the three roles are fairly even in terms of screen time but of course Durbin gets to play the love story and sing, so it really does become her movie. Nonetheless Tamiroff and Kinskey are able replacements for Abbott and Costello. In fact Tamiroff's performance probably couldn't have been topped.

The film was shot largely in Utah. The producers chose Utah because of the scenery and the lack of modern technology in its remote outdoor settings. Capturing these glorious landscapes are panoramic shots of the wagon train, as well as some excellent tracking shots.

There's a sequence where Durbin wanders off and performs a song in a forested area. It reminds me of the opening number in THE SOUND OF MUSIC and is probably the highlight of the film. With our star actress singing and relating to her natural surroundings, it's so sublime that you can't help loving it.

... Add A Point If You Are A Fan Of Deanna 's

[GManfred · 2 February 2011]

I enjoy and appreciate Deanna Durbin and her extraordinary talent. She had one of the best singing voices ever to grace the silver screen. And I think she deserved better.

"Can't Help Singing" is your only chance to see Deanna in color, and the color is gorgeous. In fact, the whole production is flawless as Universal evidently pulled out all the stops to showcase its brightest star. It was filmed on location, which was unusual for Universal, and here she is surrounded by some of Hollywood's best supporting actors. There is Ray Collins, George Cleveland, Akim Tamiroff, Leonid Kinsky and Thomas Gomez.

Granted, it was wartime and perhaps all the big stars were in the service, so here she is stuck with bland 'B' star Robert Paige as her leading man (good voice, lacks charisma). My biggest objection - here I split with other reviewers - was the uninspired musical score written by, of all people, Yip Harburg and Jerome Kern, two of the biggest names in music, movie or otherwise. Save for the title song, the rest is tuneful but pedestrian and below the standards of these two master musicians. Deanna tries mightily to put her songs over and Paige follows suit but the task is too daunting.

The story is good, with a too-pat ending, but other movies have had better success with less. Maybe Universal should have waited until the war was over, and when Harburg and Kern were feeling better. "Can't Help Singing" is included in a Deanna collection of DVD's - nice to see Universal is finally catching on.