For the Love of Mary

The commercial Hollywood product for the family consumption in the 1930s, after Shirley Temple, was Deanna Durbin: sappy, covered in bows, singing at every opportunity with that kind of voice that Hollywood called lyrical, with always bright eyes of emotion, she was considered "the ideal daughter"

In 1948, not the cute singing young girl anymore, but still smiling a lot and singing too much, Deanna made a couple of boring musical comedies after the war. She had tried to change for more dramatic roles, but without success.

This kind of film reminds you that not everything was gold in the golden age, and while Hollywood could still afford 8 or 9 masterpieces every year, it produced many forgettable films as this one.

Absolutely dated, with no artistic or entertaining value, the film shows a somewhat tired Durbin as everyone's spotlight in the White House.

Corniest, tackiest musical numbers ever, stupid plot, no laughs, boring dialogue, and uninterestingly directed, it's a safe option for those who love oldies without requiring quality.

Probably targeted for Durbin club fan, but finally as somebody tells Durbin in the film: it's idiotic even for young people.

What a way to go! "For The Love of Mary" was Deanna Durbin's swansong. She proves what a charming, sparkling entertainer she was in her role as Mary Peppertree, a White House operator. This film (in it's acting, casting of veteran character actors, such as Harry Davenport and Louise Beavers, and it's lyrical though swift pacing) really marks the end of romantic comedy as practiced by the practitioners of screwball comedy. Romantic comedies would never again be this light, unpretentious, and wholesome, in my opinion.

Deanna Durbin shines as a comedic actress in this film as she never did as an adult performer because she never had a comedy script as bright and as fresh as this one. The chemistry between her and Edmond O'Brien is strong and sexy. This is one of the few romantic comedies to believably transport one to an idyllic world in which everyone can be lighthearted and in love with life if one were only in the right place and with the right kind of people.

"For The Love of Mary" deserves far more widespread viewing and critical praise than it currently has. It is great that it is now on video for all to appreciate.

Mary Peppertree (Deanna Durbin) is starting her job as a White House switchboard operator. Her father was a beloved longtime guard there. She had worked over at the Supreme Court. She broke up with her boyfriend Justice department lawyer Phillip Manning. Everybody loves her. Guys want her. She has Supreme Court Justices trying to set her up. It all ends up entangling with Washington politics.

Deanna Durbin is fine. She has a general good girl quality and it's acceptable that everybody seems to be stepping over each other to help her. It's all very convoluted. The worst problem is that the guys don't come off that well. They are not taking the situation by the reins. It's kinda silly but in a bad way. I do like Durbin enough to not totally hate this.

This is a charming and surprising comedy well worthy of comparison with films like "My Man Godfrey," "Theodora Goes Wild," and "Ball of Fire." Deanna Durbin is delightful as Mary Peppertree, a former switchboard operator for the U. S. Supreme Court, who quits her job due to a bump in the road of her romance with a young lawyer (Jeffrey Lynn), and moves to a job as a switchboard operator at the White House.

Complications ensue when a goofy but lovable ichthyologist (Don Taylor) keeps calling the switchboard to speak to the President, and Mary gets involved in helping him. However, complexities redouble when she accidentally cuts the President's line in on a call she is taking about her inability to attend the birthday party of her old friend Justice Peabody (Harry Davenport, at his most twinkly judicial self). The president (who is never seen or heard throughout the entire film) tries to help Mary out by assigning her a Navy Lieutenant escort (Edmond O'Brien) to the party.

In short order all three men are courting her, and the President's personal secretary (Ray Collins, best known as Lt. Tragg in "Perry Mason") is enrolled to play cupid at the unseen Chief Executive's command.

Meanwhile a subplot revolves around a jovial immigrant restaurateur from Vienna (Hugo Haas) whom the Supreme Court Justices are coaching so that he can pass his American citizenship test.

The supporting cast is chock full of the best character actors of the 1940s and 1950s, including Louise Beavers ("Imitation of Life," "Beulah") as the cook in Haas's restaurant who fixes up the chopped chicken liver and marinated herring; and Morris Ankrum (a recurrent judge on "Perry Mason") as a Navy Admiral The small-part players work beautifully together as a warm-hearted ensemble cast.

Not only is this a romantic comedy, it is also a musical, with Deanna Durbin in fine voice and, for a couple of numbers. Accompanied by the assembled justices of the Supreme Court, who sing old, sweet songs in quartet harmony while Harry Davenport accompanies them on accordion.

The best musical number of all, however is Durbin's soprano rendition of "Largo al factotum" (a.k.a. "Figaro") from Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville" -- what a surprise! -- and just as surprising is how well it fits into the storyline, because like "The Barber of Seville," this is a comedy of missed connections and thwarted romance, in which those with access to the powerful can pull the strings to make everything come out exactly right in the end.

I loved this movie and am only sad that it took me until i was 76 years old to see it!

FOR THE LOVE OF MARY (Universal-International, 1948), directed by Frederick De Cordova, with original screenplay by Oscar Brodney, goes on record as the final movie starring Deanna Durbin. Being Universal's main attraction since her studio debut in THREE SMART GIRLS (1936), elevating her status from teenager soprano to adult actress/singer, Durbin has come a long way since then, ranging from musicals, comedies and one "film noir" melodrama, all showcasing her personality and singing talents. Durbin remained popular with the public throughout her career. Though FOR THE LOVE OF MARY is no masterpiece in Durbin's resume of motion pictures, and her movie from start to finish, it's amusing fluff comedy that neither hurts nor helps her appealing reputation.

Set entirely in Washington, D. C., this 90 minute story revolves around Mary Peppertree (Deanna Durbin), a new White House employee where her father, Timothy (Griff Barnett) works as a guard. She shares her duties with other girls as a switchboard operator for the President of the United States. Having previously worked two years for the Supreme Court, and broken her engagement to Justice Department Attorney Philip Manning (Jeffrey Lynn) for his supposed involvement with a Miss Wentworth, Mary's next male problem turns out to be Donald Paxton (Don Taylor), an ichthyologist constantly calling and wanting to be connected to the president involving political issues, but is refused connection by orders of her supervisor, Miss Harkness (Katherine Alexander). Donald, better known as a "fish peddler," happens to be arrogant and persistent, using his whims on Mary to get to speak to the president, but to no avail. Learning that Mary, single and living at home with her father, to have no escort to an upcoming ceremony, the president hires Lieutenant Thomas J. Farrington (Edmond O'Brien), a Naval aid for the White House as her date. Situations arise when Samuel Litchfield (Frank Conroy), a newspaper publisher, discovers Farrington, who is engaged to his daughter, Doris, spending time with Mary. As much as Mary has allowed herself to help Donald, and Philip still wanting to marry her, complications ensue as Farrington professes his love for her along with Donald, a American citizen having served in the United States Navy during World War II, to be deported. Co-starring Ray Collins (Harvey Elwood, the president's secretary); Harry Davenport (Justice Peabody); Louise Beavers (Bertha, the cook); and Hugo Haas (Gustav Heinrich, a foreign born restaurant proprietor wanting to become a United States citizen).

While FOR THE LOVE OF MARY could have been a straight comedy with no song interludes involved, no Durbin movie would be complete without any, including "Viennese Waltz," "On Moonlight Bay," "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "On the Wings of a Song" and Largo Al Factotum from THE BARBER OF SEVILLE.

With Durbin's Mary character with a profession that requires her to be single, and having more men than she can handle at one time, she also acquires hick-ups whenever emotionally upset. As much as Harry S. Truman was president of the United States in 1948, his character is never addressed by name but only as "Mr. President." Never seen, his presence is felt solely through his unseen association with Mary by playing matchmaker. Of the three beaus in Mary's life, Don Taylor gathers the most attention.

The thing about Deanna Durbin movies is the fact that in spite of her great popularity, her movies, no matter how popular they once were, have had its limitations on television. FOR THE LOVE OF MARY is no exception. Nearly unfamiliar even to some film scholars, at least the movie itself has found its way though availability on both video cassette and DVD formats, along with some public television broadcasts in the 1980s, and finally on Turner Classic Movies cable channel (TCM premiere: September 11, 2022). For a light comedy that could have been better scripted, it doesn't diminish those for the love of Deanna. (**1/2)