By Frank Miller
It's a Date
Brief Synopsis
Mother-and-daughter singers vie for the same man and the same stage part.
Cast & Crew
Read More
William A. Seiter
Director
Deanna Durbin
Pamela Drake
Kay Francis
Georgia Drake
Walter Pidgeon
John Arlen
Eugene Pallette
Governor Allen
Henry Stephenson
Captain Andrew
Film Details
Also Known As
It Happened in Kaloha
Genre
Musical
Comedy
Release Date
Mar
22,
1940
Premiere Information
New York opening: 19 Mar 1940
Production Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Country
United States
Location
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States; Sherwood Lake, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 43m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
11 reels
Synopsis
Pamela Drake, the daughter of the famous but aging Broadway star Georgia Drake, has inherited her mother's acting ambitions. At the closing night party of her mother's latest production, Pam convinces director Sidney Simpson and writer Carl Ober to visit her summer stock school. While Georgia travels to Honolulu to prepare for Ober's new production, Ober and Sidney visit the school and, as a theatrical exercise, stage the second act of Ober's new play with Pamela playing the lead. Ober believes that Georgia is too old for the part, and when he sees Pamela's impressive performance, he offers her the role. Unaware that she has stolen her mother's part, Pam, overwhelmed by her unexpected opportunity, decides to seek out the greatest coach she knows, Georgia, and sets sail for Honolulu. Aboard the ocean liner, Pam attempts to live her prospective role of the tragically spurned woman, thus earning her the sympathy of pineapple king John Arlen, a man twice her age. Pam misunderstands John's attentions, however, and believes that he is in love with her. In Honolulu, Pam discovers that she and her mother are competing for the same part and decides to give up the stage to marry John. To keep her mother from receiving Sidney's phone call, in which he plans to tell her she has lost the role, Pam arranges to dine with Georgia and John. While Pam leaves the table to intercept the call, however, John becomes infatuated with Georgia. John soon finds himself pursued by Pamela but in love with Georgia. Escorting both women to the governor's ball, John must avoid Pam's attempts to propose to him so that he can propose to Georgia. John finally pops the question just as Sidney and Ober arrive. Before they can tell Georgia that Pamela has the lead, Georgia declines the role and announces her engagement to John, thus clearing the way for Pamela to score in the show.
Director
William A. Seiter
Director
Cast
Deanna Durbin
Pamela Drake
Kay Francis
Georgia Drake
Walter Pidgeon
John Arlen
Eugene Pallette
Governor Allen
Henry Stephenson
Captain Andrew
Cecilia Loftus
Sara Frankenstein
Samuel S. Hinds
Sidney Simpson
Lewis Howard
Freddie Miller
S. Z. Sakall
Carl Ober
Fritz Feld
Headwaiter [Oscar]
Virginia Brissac
Miss Holden
Romaine Callender
Evans
Joe King
First Mate Kelly
Mary Kelley
Governor's wife
Eddie Polo
Quarter-master
Harry Owens And His Royal Hawaiians
Charles Lane
Horner
John Arledge
Newcomer
Leon Belasco
Captain
Anna Demetrio
Cook
Eddie Acuff
Ship's steward
Johnny Day
Sleepy-eyed blonde
Fay Mckenzie
Young girl
Linda Deane
Young girl
Phyllis Ruth
Young girl
Virginia Engels
Young girl
Dora Clemant
Stewardess
Landers Stevens
Executive
William Ruhl
Ship's officer
David Oliver
Officer
Mark Anthony
Officer
Jenifer Gray
Cable office girl
Milton Kibbee
Sailor
Mary Shannon
Wardrobe mistress
Crew
Leon Belasco
Composer
Ralph Block
Original Story
Bernard [b.] Brown
Sound Supervisor
Bernard Burton
Film Editor
Eddie Cherkose
Composer
Stanley Cortez
Background Photographer
Arthur Freed
Composer
Ralph Freed
Composer
R. A. Gausman
Set Decoration
Giuseppe Giacosa
Composer
Jane Hall
Original Story
Ross Hoffman
Assistant Camera, background Photographer
Luigi Illica
Composer
Vernon Keays
Assistant Director
Frederick Kohner
Original Story
Norman Krasna
Screenwriter
Joseph Lapis
Sound tech
Martin Obzina
Art Director Associate
Jack Otterson
Art Director
Joe Pasternak
Company
Joe Pasternak
Producer
Jacques Press
Composer
Charles Previn
Music Director
Giacomo Puccini
Composer
Franz Schubert
Composer
Frank Shaw
Assistant Director
Frank Skinner
Orchestration
Frank Skinner
Composer
P. Adam Storck
Composer
Harry Tobias
Composer
Pinky Tomlin
Composer
Joseph Valentine
Director of Photography
Vera West
Gowns
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Also Known As
It Happened in Kaloha
Genre
Musical
Comedy
Release Date
Mar
22,
1940
Premiere Information
New York opening: 19 Mar 1940
Production Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Country
United States
Location
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States; Sherwood Lake, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 43m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
11 reels
Articles
It's a Date
Deanna Durbin had saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy as a child star. By this, her seventh film, she was well on the road to adulthood. Her beauty, acting and singing were all mature enough that she could believably play the rival of her own mother (the glamorous Kay Francis) in this musical farce. She stars as an aspiring actress who unwittingly steals a role her stage star mother is preparing for. To prepare for the part, she hops an ocean liner to Hawaii to join Francis, who's already working on the role herself. And along the away she falls for businessman Walter Pidgeon, only to have him fall for Francis. It's a comedy of errors in the hands of William A. Seiter, noted for his work with Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, W.C. Field and Abbott and Costello. Joe Pasternak, who produced all of Durbin's early films, would leave Universal for MGM a year later. There, he would get the studio to buy the rights to Norman Krasna's screenplay as a vehicle for for their own young soprano, Jane Powell. In the re-make, Nancy Goes to Rio<.i> (1949), he even gave Powell one of Durbin's classical pieces from the original, "Musetta's Waltz."
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
It's a Date
Deanna Durbin had saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy as a child star. By this, her seventh film, she was well on the road to adulthood. Her beauty, acting and singing were all mature enough that she could believably play the rival of her own mother (the glamorous Kay Francis) in this musical farce. She stars as an aspiring actress who unwittingly steals a role her stage star mother is preparing for. To prepare for the part, she hops an ocean liner to Hawaii to join Francis, who's already working on the role herself. And along the away she falls for businessman Walter Pidgeon, only to have him fall for Francis. It's a comedy of errors in the hands of William A. Seiter, noted for his work with Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, W.C. Field and Abbott and Costello. Joe Pasternak, who produced all of Durbin's early films, would leave Universal for MGM a year later. There, he would get the studio to buy the rights to Norman Krasna's screenplay as a vehicle for for their own young soprano, Jane Powell. In the re-make, Nancy Goes to Rio (1949), he even gave Powell one of Durbin's classical pieces from the original, "Musetta's Waltz."
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this picture was It Happened in Kaloha, and it marked Durbin's seventh collaboration with producer Joe Pasternak and camerman Joseph Valentine. Exteriors were shot at Sherwood Lake, CA, and, according to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, background scenes were shot in Honolulu, HA, by cameraman Stanley Cortez and his assistant, Ross Hoffman under the direction of assistant director Vernon Keays.
