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The Best Picture Oscar nominees of 1936 contained a few stone-cold classics and a large handful of duds. The Academy nominated 10 films for Best Picture that year, with the top honor going to Robert Z. Leonard's three-hour glitzy musical biopic "The Great Ziegfeld". "The Great Ziegfeld" is visually spectacular but kind of mushy as a melodrama, serving more as a fond farewell to its subject (who died in 1932) than a legitimately great film.

The legit bangers nominated that year included Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," one of the master director's more notable comedies. Also pretty good were William Dieterle's "The Story of Lois Pasteur" starring Paul Muni, and Jack Conway's delightful screwball film "Libeled Lady" with Powell and Myrna Loy. Conway also directed a serviceable adaptation of "A Tale of Two Cities," which many readers may have watched in their junior high school classrooms.

But...

With a new Pokémon Trading Card Game subset for Generation 9 set to release in Japan, early looks at some of the new Illustration Rare cards have appeared. Illustration Rares will replace Rainbow Rares for Gen 9, aiming to showcase a Pokémon in the open world while giving a glimpse into their personality. This fits well with the general theme of Gen 9 as it was the first in the series to have a fully open world to explore in Scarlet and Violet. Additionally, any card will be able to become an Illustration Rare regardless of status or rarity, and this includes trainer cards.

In Japan, the first subsets for Gen 9 have already been released, with Scarlet ex and Violet ex being the next to join in. In the West, smaller subsets, like the newly released Pokémon Tcg Triple Beat subset, are put together to make one large set, which is why Western...

A new duo is moving into Fawlty Towers.

Original series creator and star John Cleese and his daughter Camilla Cleese are developing a revival of the classic British comedy, which they will write and star in, our sister site Variety reports.

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Fawlty Towers, which aired two six-episode seasons on the BBC in the 1970s, featured John Cleese as Basil Fawlty, the owner of the show’s titular hotel,...

Exclusive: Chris Pollack is segueing out of management and joining long-time client Prentice Penny’s A Penny For Your Thoughts Entertainment as President and Partner.

With Pollack transitioning into his new role, Penny has re-teamed with his former agent-turned-manager Theresa Kang-Lowe, bringing the well-respected rep and her company Blue Marble Management on board to manage Penny and A Penny For Your Thoughts.

In the newly created President role, Pollack will work alongside Penny overseeing all aspects of the A Penny For Your Thoughts Entertainment’s creative endeavors in film, television and alternative entertainment. The move marks an evolution in Penny and Pollack’s longstanding business relationship, which began with Pollack serving as Penny’s manager and later expanded into a decade-long producing partnership.

Pollack’s hire comes amid an expansion of A Penny For Your Thoughts’ film and television slate over the past several years. The company’s executive ranks also include Alex Soler,...

Final Oscar nomination predictions coming up very soon but while we finish them, today's silly discussion prompt:  rank the Best Picture nominees with "Three" in the title.

Three Smart Girls (1936) -3 noms.

A Letter To Three Wives (1949) - 3 noms & 2 wins: Director, Screenplay

Three Coins In The Fountain (1954) 3 noms & 2 wins: Cinematography, Song

The Godfather Part III (1990) - 7 noms. No wins

Toy Story 3 (2010) - 5 noms & 2 wins: Animated Feature and Song

Three Billboards... (2017) - 7 noms & 2 wins: Actress, Supporting Actor

And for extra credit...

Michelle Gomez is seeing red: The Doctor Who vet is joining Doom Patrol as Madame Rouge.

The actress — whose recent TV work has included Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Flight Attendant — is boarding the HBO Max series’ upcoming third season as the eccentric villainess, who arrives at Doom Manor with a very specific mission (if only she could remember it). Gomez will be a series regular.

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Supervising sound editor Dennis Drummond — whose credits include Dick Tracy and A League of Their Own – will receive the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Career Achievement Award during the the 68th annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards, which will be presented during a virtual ceremony on April 16.

During his career Drummond developed close relationships with directors including Nancy Meyers, for whom he worked on a string of films including The Intern, It’s Complicated, and The Parent Trap; James L. Brooks, collaborating on films including As Good as It Gets; and Penny Marshall, working on titles including The Preacher’s Wife and A League of Their Own.

He ...

Supervising sound editor Dennis Drummond — whose credits include Dick Tracy and A League of Their Own – will receive the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Career Achievement Award during the the 68th annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards, which will be presented during a virtual ceremony on April 16.

During his career Drummond developed close relationships with directors including Nancy Meyers, for whom he worked on a string of films including The Intern, It’s Complicated, and The Parent Trap; James L. Brooks, collaborating on films including As Good as It Gets; and Penny Marshall, working on titles including The Preacher’s Wife and A League of Their Own.

He ...

Wales Interactive, the publishing studio behind The Complex, Five Dates and Maid of Sker, team up with UK production company Ghost Dog Films to release a dark & emotional interactive psychological thriller I Saw Black Clouds. The interactive movie will release in Q1 2021 on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC & Mac. This release will be followed by PS5 and Xbox Series X/S (date tbc).

After the unexpected death of a close friend, Kristina returns to her hometown looking for answers, only to unearth a string of dark secrets. The truth turns out to be far more harrowing than she could have imagined…

How you connect with the characters in I Saw Black Clouds and the moral choices you make along the way will affect what you discover, the journey you take, and the resolution you find at the end. Your decisions will not only change individual scenes, but could...

Raj Koothrappali's character from The Big Bang Theory has been one of the most talked-about roles in millennial pop culture. The astrophysicist, who at one point, suffered from selective mutism, did sitcom culture a huge favor by opening up certain pathways of discussion about masculinity and male friendships.

Related: The Big Bang Theory: Penny's 10 Most Emotional Quotes, Ranked

Raj was perhaps the most emotionally volatile person in his group. He wore his heart on his sleeve and was pretty open about his anxieties. He also suffered quite a bit of bad luck on the show, romantic or otherwise, which often saw him ranting and raving or breaking down emotionally. ...

HBO has set three more House of the Dragon leads as Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy have joined Paddy Considine in the straight-to-series Game of Thrones prequel from George R.R. Martin, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik.

I hear the series has five lead characters: King Viserys Targaryen (Considine), Alicent Hightower (Cooke), Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (D’Arcy), Prince Daemon Targaryen (Smith) as well as Lord Corlys Velaryon, known as the Sea Snake, who becomes Hand to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen during the Dance of the Dragons.

That last key role is still being cast; I hear Danny Sapani (Penny Dreadful) is in currently in talks for it.

Additionally, HBO has tapped Clare Kilner, Geeta V. Patel and Greg Yaitanes to round out the series’ directing team.

Based on Martin’s Fire & Blood, the series, which is set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen.

HBO is bulking up its slate of weekly late-night programming with an upcoming series from “Saturday Night Live” alumna Sam Jay. WarnerMedia announced the untitled show on Tuesday.

Per WarnerMedia, the project will be a weekly 30-minute late-night show in which Jay tackles the top trending topics in urban and world culture for the week — including race, politics, sexual identity, science, celebrity, religion, and more — and examines them from her unique and subversive point of view.

The series will be executive produced by Jay, Prentice Penny for A Penny For Your Thoughts Entertainment, Chris Pollack (HBO’s “Pete Holmes: Faces and Sounds” and Netflix’s “Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping”), and David Martin and Kara Baker for Avalon. Alex Soler also will serve as co-executive producer for A Penny for Your Thoughts Entertainment.

“I’m really excited to bring my point of view to late-night television and have felt nothing...

HBO has ordered a new weekly late-night series from “SNL” writer and comedian Sam Jay. It will be executive produced by “Insecure” showrunner Prentice Penny.

The untitled series will be a weekly 30-minute late-night show in which Jay tackles the top trending topics in urban and world culture for the week – including race, politics, sexual identity, science, celebrity, religion, and more – and examines them from her unique and subversive point of view.

The series will debut in 2021.

“I’m really excited to bring my point of view to late-night television and have felt nothing but support creatively from HBO and A Penny For Your Thoughts,” said Jay. “So everyone wear your mask and vote so I can make my TV show! Thaaaanks!”

“I’m so excited to create this project with Sam as I think she’s one of the best comic minds today,” said Penny. “When I first started thinking about this idea,...

Here’s some news that’s good enough to put a smile on every single one of Jane’s faces: Doom Patrol has been renewed for a third season.

Premiering in 2021, the new season will stream exclusively on HBO Max, the streamer announced Saturday as part of the DC FanDome event.

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“On behalf of the wonderful cast, writers and crew, we are thrilled and...

The Penny Dreadful fandom will unanimously agree that Vanessa Ives is prone to falling for the most dangerous men. Be it the ancient charmer Dorian Gray who believes himself to be above laws of nature and society, or Dracula, Aka Dr. Sweet, who’s not only the Devil in disguise but also wants Vanessa to join him to lead the world into eternal darkness and pestilence.

Related: 10 Unanswered Questions We Still Have About Vanessa Ives From Penny Dreadful

But who’s the worst man for Vanessa? Is it Dorian, who is almost always ruled by his desires and entitlement, and has been alive for hundreds of years? Or is it Dracula who wants to use Vanessa for his own selfish and dangerous means?...

Penny Dreadful may have been a beloved, star-studded peak television offering that closed up shop after just three seasons, but the classic-literature-crossover Showtime supernatural series’ legacy lives on with a sequel. The new show is called Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and it’s airing now!

While the sequel series makes a dramatic shift away from the settings and characters of 2014-2016’s Penny Dreadful, it has the support of its key personnel, namely creator John Logan, who returns to serve as writer and executive producer, joined in the latter capacity by Michael Aguilar, who’s worked on recent Showtime offerings Kidding and I’m Dying Up Here.

Along with Logan and Aguilar, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels sees executive producers on board in Oscar winner Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road) on behalf of Neal Street Productions. Logan is onboard via his Desert Wolf Productions. James Bagley is also on board,...

It appears that the mighty Doom Patrol has finally met its match… in the form of an 11-year-old girl. The pint-sized powerhouse takes center stage in the new trailer for Doom Patrol‘s second season, premiering Thursday, June 25, simultaneously releasing on DC Universe and HBO Max.

As previously reported by TVLine, Abigail Shapiro will recur in the show’s second season as Dorothy Spinner, the 11-year-old daughter of Niles Caulder (aka “The Chief”) Though the character was introduced in the first season finale, this trailer offers a first look at the powerful tween in action.

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In a Gold Derby exclusive, we have learned the category placements of the key Emmy Awards contenders for Showtime. For this season, the premium network has returning hits “Black Monday” (Don Cheadle), “Kidding” (Jim Carrey), “Homeland” (Claire Danes), “Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) and “Shameless” (William H. Macy) plus limited series “The Loudest Voice” (Russell Crowe) as part of their 2020 campaign. Newcomers could include “City on a Hill” (Kevin Bacon) and “On Becoming a God in Central Florida” (Kirsten Dunst).

Below, the list of Showtime lead, supporting and guest submissions for their comedy, drama and limited series. More names might be added by the network on the final Emmy ballot. Also note that performers not included on this list may well be submitted by their personal reps.

“The Affair”

Drama Series

Drama Actor – Dominic West

Drama Actress – Maura Tierney

Drama Supporting Actor – Jadon Sand

Drama Supporting Actress – Anna Paquin, Julia Goldani Telles...

BBC America’s critical and fan darling Killing Eve is returning for a third season! Of course, there wasn’t even time for doubt, since the Killing Eve Season 3 announcement was made in April at the AMC Networks Summit (BBC America is co-owned by AMC and BBC Studios), only one day after the second season premiere. Interestingly enough, the network continued its preemptive renewal strategy in January 2020, giving an early order for Season 4!

Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and Fiona Shaw star in the series that follows MI6 operative Eve (Oh) as she tracks psychopathic assassin Villanelle (Comer)—or is it the other way around? It is based on Luke Jennings’ Codename Villanelle book series.

Killing Eve Season 3 is on its way shortly, and here’s everything we know!

Killing Eve Season 3 Release Date

Killing Eve Season 3 is now set to arrive on Sunday, April 12 at 9 p.m.

This new, earlier,...

TOHorror Fantastic Film Fest, one of the most important independent genre film festival in Italy, is coming back with its 20th edition in 2020! The event will take place from October 28 to November 1 at Cinema Massimo in Turin, in partnership with the Italian National Museum of Cinema. The festival, born in 1999 baptized by the master Dario Argento, is now a main event focused on fantastic and horror culture. After spreading in Italy in the last years with great movies, and hosting many amazing guests (Richard Stanley, Jean Rollin, Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

"All mankind needs to be the monster he truly is, is being told he can." Penny Dreadful may have ended back in 2016, but its spirit lives on in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, a new series from John Logan that explores a divided Los Angeles in 1938. Following the show's first teaser trailer in January and ahead of its premiere this April, Showtime has released a new trailer for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels that features a fragmented Los Angeles further divided by the arrival of a sinister force.

Featuring a cast that includes Natalie Dormer, Nathan Lane, Daniel Zovatto, Lorenza Izzo, and Lin Shaye, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels will premiere on Showtime on Sunday, April 26th.

Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates, check out the new trailer below, and in case you missed it, Lin Shaye previously told us about her role as a Nazi hunter in the new series.

Take a look at new footage from "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels", the supernatural "Penny Dreadful" TV series spin-off, set in 1938 Los Angeles, created by John Logan and produced by Sam Mendes ("1917") starring Natalie Dormer ("Game of Thrones") as the shape-shifter 'Magda', premiering April 26, 2020 on Showtime:

"...the new series opens in 1938 Los Angeles, a time and place deeply infused with social and political tension. 

"When a murder shocks the city, 'Detective Tiago Vega' (Daniel Zovatto) is embroiled in an epic story that reflects the rich history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city's first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the 'Third Reich' and the rise of radio evangelism. Before long, Tiago and his family are grappling with powerful forces that threaten to tear them apart..."

Cast also includes Jessica Garza, Johnathan Nieves, Nathan Lane, Adriana Barraza, Rory Kinnear,...

You would think that a supernatural series involving mediums, one set in the 19th century and the other in 1938, would be cosmically connected. But Showtime’s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, won’t have any callbacks, Easter Eggs or direct connections to the original 2014-2016 series. That show starred Eva Green as medium Vanessa Ives as she teamed with Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor Frankenstein to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.

“As fond as I am about that series, that was a complete novel. It closed at the end, appropriately with that story, that poetic sad story we were telling,” says Penny Dreadful franchise creator/Ep and writer John Logan about the mother show.

City of Angels is set in 1938, and while there will be black magic and the macabre, with Game of Thrones alum Natalie Dormer as Magda, a supernatural demon who can take...

Showtime dropped some premiere dates during its turn at the Television Critics Association on Monday.

The biggest announcement, of course, is the premiere date for the forthcoming Penny Dreadful sequel, titled City of Angels.

The new series will kick off Sunday, April 26 at 10/9c.

The new series is set in 1938 Los Angeles and focuses on Det. Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto), who becomes embroiled in an epic story following a murder that shocks the city.

It quickly paves the way for Tiago and his family “grappling with powerful forces that threaten to tear them apart,” according to the official logline.

Game of Thrones grad Natalie Dormer is also part of the cast as Magda, a shape-shifting demon who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Also appearing on the new series is Rory Kinnear (Penny Dreadful) as Dr. Peter Craft, Piper Perabo (Covert Affairs) as his wife Linda, Kerry Bishé...

If you're still smarting from Penny Dreadful's untimely end, take heart: Showtime's Gothic horror drama is being reanimated -- in spirit. John Logan, the creator, writer, and executive producer of Penny Dreadful, is returning to old haunts with Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, a so-called

...

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Other Links From TVGuide.com Penny Dreadful: City of AngelsPenny DreadfulNatalie DormerDaniel ZovattoNathan LaneRory KinnearJohn LoganDominic SherwoodAdam RodriguezJessica GarzaMichael GladisEthan PeckLorenza IzzoThomas Kretschmann...

So much time, so few movies to see. Scratch that. Reverse it.

Running a little later than usual this year, the 2018 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival gets under way this coming Thursday, screening approximately 88 films and special programs over the course of the festival’s three-and-a-half days, beginning Thursday evening, and no doubt about it, this year’s schedule, no less than any other year, will lay out a banquet for classic film buffs, casual film fans and harder-core cinephiles looking for the opportunity to see long-time favorites as well as rare and unusual treats on the big screen. I’ve attended every festival since its inaugural run back in 2010, and since then if I have not reined in my enthusiasm for the festival and being given the opportunity to attend it every year, then I have at least managed to lasso my verbiage. That first year I wrote about...

Anne Marie here with one of the foundational building blocks of the legend that is Judy. This week it's the story you've probably heard: young Judy Garland sings in a two-reel with another mostly-unknown MGM child actor named Deanna Durbin. Mayer sees the short and decides to dump one of the girls. Which he chooses and why is up for debate, but the practical fallout turns one girl into a big star at a small studio, and puts the other on the road towards a mythmaking career.

The Movie: "Every Sunday" (MGM, 1936)

The Songwriter: Roger Eden

The Players: Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin directed by Felix E. Feist

The Story: When young Judy had signed with MGM, she had done so without a screentest. The powers that be decided to rectify that in 1936, casting Judy with Deanna Durbin, another girl singer whose classical style contrasted nicely with Judy's big,...

Shirley Jones: From book to film A few weeks ago, Shirley Jones, 79, made headlines following the publication of her book of memoirs, concisely titled Shirley Jones: A Memoir. But why the headlines? Does Shirley Jones twerk like Miley Cyrus? Nope. (And that may explain why the release of Jones’ book wasn’t selected as CNN.com’s Top Story of the Day.) So, were The Media and The People interested in Jones’ Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Elmer Gantry, or maybe they were curious about her work in several major 1950s musicals and 1960s comedies? Are you crazy? Who gives a damn about that? The Answer: Let’s just say that the furor had something to do with sweet and innocent all-American bare breasts and three-ways. Keep that in mind next time you watch Oklahoma! (Photo: Shirley Jones ca. 1955.) (On TCM: “Shirley Jones Movies: Innocent Virgins and Sex Workers Galore.

Deanna Durbin: Ephemeral fame (photo: Deanna Durbin in 1981) [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin: 'Sweet Monster.'"] Unlike Greta Garbo, whose mystique remained basically intact following her retirement in 1941, Deanna Durbin’s popularity faded away much like that of the vast majority of celebrities who were removed — or who chose to remove themselves — from public view. Despite the advent of home video and classic-movie cable channels, Durbin remains virtually unknown to the vast majority of those who weren’t around in her heyday in the ’30s and ’40s. Yet, although relatively few in number, she continues to have her ardent fans. There are a handful of websites devoted to Deanna Durbin and her film and recording careers, chiefly among them the appropriately titled "Deanna Durbin Devotees." Fade Out Charles David, Deanna Durbin’s husband of 48 years, died in March 1999, at the age of 92; Institut Pasteur medical researcher Peter H. David is their only son. Durbin also had a daughter,...

Deanna Durbin in the 1940s: From wholesome musicals to film noir sex worker (photo: Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin cast against type in the un-Christmas-y Christmas Holiday) [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin Without Joe Pasternak: Adrift at Universal."] The Deanna Durbin vs. Universal dispute was settled in early 1942, when the actress was supposedly granted director and story approval. But things didn’t go all that smoothly from then on. There would be no loan-outs to the more opulent MGM, and Durbin would later complain that Universal refused to abide by her requests. Also, for the first time since her career skyrocketed in 1936, Durbin was absent from the screen for a whole year. The key reason there were no 1942 Deanna Durbin movies was the troubled production of her next star vehicle, The Amazing Mrs. Holliday, in which Durbin tries to smuggle Chinese orphans into the U.S., and which underwent not only various title changes, but also various directors and various script...

‘The Deanna Durbin Unit’ (photo: Robert Cummings, Deanna Durbin, and Charles Laughton in It Started with Eve) [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin Movies Save Universal."] Deanna Durbin and Henry Koster, who has been credited with helping to mold Durbin’s screen persona, collaborated on five movies. Besides Three Smart Girls, there was the inevitable sequel, Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939), in addition to One Hundred Men and a Girl, after which Durbin’s salary was reportedly doubled to $3,000 per week, plus a $10,000 bonus per film; the Cinderella-like First Love (1939), in which, following worldwide publicity, Durbin gets kissed on screen for the first time (Robert Stack was the kisser); Spring Parade (1940), with a Viennese setting and Robert Cummings as her leading man; and It Started with Eve (1941), a light, well-received romantic comedy co-starring Cummings and Charles Laughton. (Universal would also release the 1964 remake, I’d Rather Be Rich, starring Sandra Dee in the Robert Cummings role, Robert Goulet in the Deanna Durbin part,...

Deanna Durbin ‘saves’ Universal (photo: Deanna Durbin in Three Smart Girls) [See previous post: "Deanna Durbin: Remembering One of Hollywood's Top Stars."] During the Great Depression most Hollywood studios were in dire financial straits, until, as the story goes, one (or more) lucky star(s) made them once again solvent. Mae West is credited for "saving" Paramount; Shirley Temple "saved" Fox; the Busby Berkeley, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell combo "saved" Warner Bros.; and the curious mix of King Kong, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers "saved" Rko. So, did Deanna Durbin truly save Universal from bankruptcy? Well, Charles Rogers’ investment company came to the financial rescue of Universal in 1936, but the success of Durbin’s movies surely helped the new management get the studio back on its feet. For instance, according to author David Shipman, Three Smart Girls cost $300,000 — its budget doubled after studio bosses realized they had a hit in their hands — and earned Universal a hefty $2m. (An unspecified...

Deanna Durbin dies at 91: One of the top stars of Hollywood’s studio era (photo: Deanna Durbin in I’ll Be Yours) According to Hollywood lore, teen star Deanna Durbin saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy in the mid-’30s, when her movies earned the Great Depression-hit studio some much-needed millions. The story may seem like an exaggeration, but in fact future Universal players such as Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Maria Montez, Rock Hudson, Doris Day, and even Jaws‘ Bruce the Shark and the assorted dinosaurs found in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park partly owe their film careers to the pretty, bubbly, full-faced, soprano-voiced Deanna Durbin, the star of immensely successful Universal releases such as Three Smart Girls, One Hundred Men and a Girl, and That Certain Age. Universal should be in mourning this week. Late this past Tuesday, April 30, it was announced that Deanna Durbin had died a...

Deanna Durbin, a star whose songs and smile made her one of the biggest box office draws of Hollywood’s Golden Age with fans that included Winston Churchill, has died.

Durbin died on about April 20 in a village outside Paris where she had lived, out of public view, since 1949, family friend Bob Koster of Los Angeles told the Associated Press on Wednesday. Koster’s father, Henry Koster, directed six of Durbin’s films. Bob Koster did not know the cause of death.

At the height of her career, the Canadian-born Durbin, who made her first feature, Three Smart Girls, at...

Deanna Durbin, one of the shining lights of Hollywood during the ‘30s and ‘40s, has died. She was 91.Born in Winnipeg Canada — her parents were actually from Manchester — Durbin emerged as the dictionary definition of the girl next door, with a clear, light singing voice that belied her technical prowess (she had the vocal range of a soprano) and a sweet, cheerful, wholesome persona that could make apple pie look un-American.She debuted in Every Sunday with Judy Garland in 1936, then signed a contract for Universal and began a ran of films that was generally considered to have saved the studio from bankruptcy; Three Smart Girls (1936), One Hundred Men And A Girl (1937), Mad About Music (1938), Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939), First Love (1939) and It’s A Date (1940). Her astonishing talents and joie-de-vivre — she won an Academy Award for “embodying youth” in 1939 — did much to cheer up America in the early stages of the war.

The only people who don’t like Deanna Durbin, it seems to me, are people who’ve never seen her movies. Possessed of a glorious, bell-like soprano voice, she was presented to moviegoers of the 1930s in a series of irresistible comedies that showcased a fresh, sunny screen personality. Delightful films like Three Smart Girls, One Hundred Men and a Girl, and Mad About Music were said to have saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy; I don’t know if that’s actually true, but they were enormously successful, and her fans have remained devoted to her for decades. In 1946 she was the second-highest paid woman in America, but a few years later she walked away from the spotlight, moved to...

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Child star with a powerful singing voice who played the perfect girl next door in Hollywood films of the 30s and 40s

When a teenage Deanna Durbin appeared on screen in the 1930s, wearing a decorous white dress with her hands clasped together, singing with a bell-like purity, audiences sighed contentedly. And so did film and music executives. In the days when child stars were wholesome, Durbin was everyone's idea of the perfect girl next door, and she was a huge money-spinner. Audiences flocked to see her musical comedies and, after she had trilled numbers such as It's Raining Sunbeams (in the film One Hundred Men and a Girl, 1937), Home Sweet Home (in First Love, 1939) and Waltzing in the Clouds (in Spring Parade, 1940), her fans queued to buy the latest record bearing her name.

Durbin, who has died aged 91, was the antithesis of the Hollywood glamour girl – which made her...

Deanna Durbin has died, aged 91.

The musical actress was one of the most popular and highest-paid young stars in the 1930s.

Her son Peter H. David told the Deanna Durbin Society newsletter that his mother had died several days ago, but did not give further details and thanked her fans for respecting her privacy.

By the end of the 1930s, Durbin had become one of the biggest box-office stars, appearing in several musical comedies and presented with a special Academy Award with Mickey Rooney, marking their "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth".

She was said to have saved Universal from bankruptcy during the period, while she was also Sir Winston Churchill's favourite star. The Prime Minister would have access to her films before anyone else in the UK, and would allegedly celebrate military victories by watching her 1937 film One Hundred Men and a Girl.

Deanna Durbin, the Depression Era actress whose films included "Three Smart Girls," "Lady on a Train" and "Christmas Holiday," has died, according to the New York Times. She was 91. Durbin had been mostly out of the public eye since performing in 1948's "For the Love of Mary," retiring to France with her third husband, "Lady on a Train" director Charles David, because, as she said, "I hated being in a goldfish bowl." Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2013 Born Edna Mae Durbin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Dec. 4, 1921, Durbin relocated...