Deanna Durbin is dead, 91 years old.
Written by Joe D on May 3rd, 2013
As a lot of you have heard Deanna Durbin has left this plane of existence. I’ve been reading several of her obits and they all put down Christmas Holiday. A great film she made with the brilliant director Robert Siodmak. In the film she plays a prostitute and Gene Kelly a dissolute killer that she falls in love with. I think this was too much for the audiences and the critics of that era. But why do contemporary journalists repeat this wrong headed opinion? Because the movie didn’t make a lot of money when it first came out? The same could be said of Charles Laughton’s Night Of The Hunter, which is now recognized as one of the greatest films of all time. Maybe critics should re-evaluate Christmas Holiday and give Deanna and Siodmak their due. Here is a link to my piece on Christmas Holiday.
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Well it can’t be because CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY didn’t make a lot of money. To the contrary, from a financial standpoint, CH was one of, if not the most successful Universal production up to that time with grosses of well over $2 million dollars.
It did generate a good deal of controversy among fans and critics (most of whom adored Durbin in her wholesome Girl Next Door persona), but it made a MINT at the box office!
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Dang, I had no idea it was so successful financially! Thanks for writing in and setting
me straight. I’m glad it made money, it should have, it’s a great film.