Songs: "Love At Last" (Durbin), by Eddie Cherkose and Jacques Press; "Perhaps" (Durbin), by Aldo Franchetti and Andreas De Segurola; "Beneath the Lights of Home" (Durbin, reprised Durbin), by Bernie Grossman and Walter Jurmann; "Thank You America" (Durbin), by Bernie Grossman and Walter Jurmann; "There'll Always Be an England" (Durbin); "The Old Folks At Home" (Durbin and chorus), by Stephen Foster; "Love Me and the World Is Mine" (Durbin and Benchley), by Ernest R. Ball and David Reed, Jr. Music orchestrated by Frank Skinner and directed by Charles Previn. Vocal coach: Andreas De Segurola.
Copyright 4 March 1941 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 26 March 1941. U.S. release: 21 February 1941. Australian release: 15 May 1941. 9,430 feet. 104 minutes. The full-length version was released only in Australia. The movie was cut to 95 minutes in the U.S.A.
SYNOPSIS: A nice young girl falls in love with a much older man and makes a few mild attempts to induce him to return her affection.
COMMENT: Even in the full-length Australian version which includes an additional Durbin song, Nice Girl? strikes me as a very routine offering. True Miss Durbin's admirers will be stimulated no end, but more critical entertainment seekers will most likely think they've been short-changed. The single-gimmick script is slight in the extreme and it is here spun out to wearisome length. The tedium is compounded no end by William A. Seiter's leadenly dull direction.
On the other hand, as there is really no question mark at all about Nice Girl's niceness, it is certainly a pleasant and amiable film, attractively played by the entire cast, and delightfully sung by Miss DD as well. True, it would be hard even for the heavy-footed Seiter to go too far wrong with players like Franchot Tone, Walter Brennan, Robert Benchley and Helen Broderick. I certainly got a few laughs out of it. Despite some dated war-time jingoistic sentiments abetted by a "God Bless America" song, I found Nice Girl? overall quite acceptable entertainment.
Copyright 4 March 1941 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 26 March 1941. U.S. release: 21 February 1941. Australian release: 15 May 1941. 9,430 feet. 104 minutes. The full-length version was released only in Australia. The movie was cut to 95 minutes in the U.S.A.
SYNOPSIS: A nice young girl falls in love with a much older man and makes a few mild attempts to induce him to return her affection.
COMMENT: Even in the full-length Australian version which includes an additional Durbin song, Nice Girl? strikes me as a very routine offering. True Miss Durbin's admirers will be stimulated no end, but more critical entertainment seekers will most likely think they've been short-changed. The single-gimmick script is slight in the extreme and it is here spun out to wearisome length. The tedium is compounded no end by William A. Seiter's leadenly dull direction.
On the other hand, as there is really no question mark at all about Nice Girl's niceness, it is certainly a pleasant and amiable film, attractively played by the entire cast, and delightfully sung by Miss DD as well. True, it would be hard even for the heavy-footed Seiter to go too far wrong with players like Franchot Tone, Walter Brennan, Robert Benchley and Helen Broderick. I certainly got a few laughs out of it. Despite some dated war-time jingoistic sentiments abetted by a "God Bless America" song, I found Nice Girl? overall quite acceptable entertainment.