Three Smart Girls (1936)
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86% of critics liked it
(7 reviews) -
65% of users liked it
(437 ratings)
Deanna Durbin, the teenaged soprano who literally saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy, made her feature-film debut in Three Smart Girls. Durbin, Nan Grey and Barbara Read play three wealthy young sisters, living with their divorced mother (Nella Walker) in Europe. The girls learn that their… More Deanna Durbin, the teenaged soprano who literally saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy, made her feature-film debut in Three Smart Girls. Durbin, Nan Grey and Barbara Read play three wealthy young sisters, living with their divorced mother (Nella Walker) in Europe. The girls learn that their father (Charles Winninger) has made plans to remarry. Correctly sensing that the bride-to-be (Binnie Barnes) is a fortune hunter, the sisters head to Manhattan to save Daddy from himself. Durbin is the primary architect in reuniting her parents, but not before satisfying her fans with several arias. Three Smart Girls not only spawned a sequel (Three Smart Girls Grow Up), but even a 2-reel Three Stooges parody titled Three Dumb Clucks! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Henry Koster
- Written By
- Adele Comandini
- Genres
- Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Dec 20, 1936 Wide
- Studio
- Universal Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Film is a sentimental comedy and has that rare quality of making an audience feel better for having seen it.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
It's an efficient, entertaining atrocity.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A highly pleasing first cousin to the screwball comedies of the day.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Koster's light musical comedy made debutante Deana Durbin a major star for a decade and was so populr during the Depression that it spawned several (inferior) sequels.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Makes you feel better for seeing it.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Deanna Durbin
as Penny Craig
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Binnie Barnes
as Donna Lyons
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Alice Brady
as Mrs. Lyons
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Ray Milland
as Lord Michael Stuart
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Charles Winninger
as Judson Craig
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Nan Grey
as Joan Craig
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Mischa Auer
as Count Arisztid
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Barbara Read
as Kay Craig
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Hobart Cavanaugh
as Wilbur Lamb
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Lucile Watson
as Trudel
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Nella Walker
as Dorothy Craig
- Wade Boteler
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Lane Chandler
as Cop
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Charles Coleman
as Butler
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Albert Conti
as Count's Friend
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Ernest Cossart
as Binns the Butler
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John Hamilton
as Sergeant
- Selmar Jackson
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Gladden James
as Waiter
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John "Dusty" King
as Bill Evans
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Franklin Pangborn
as Jeweler
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Dennis O'Keefe
as Club Extra
