His Butler's Sister

I am a lover of all old movies especially musicals, and I find this to be the absolute worst I've seen. I do enjoy Judy Garland, so that may be partially why I don't like Durbin's style. She doesn't seem to have the sparkle of any of the great musical stars such as Alice Faye or Kathryn Grayson. She is very beautiful, but I think she should have been a chorus girl, or a musical specialty. Most movies that I have seen that weren't the greatest still had the leading actress giving a good performance even under the most stupid circumstances.

Now that I've expressed my opinion of the star I can restate much of what others have commented on, the script. In this movie I didn't believe anything. I thought the way Durbin was acting towards her brother was real LOVE, not family love. It was horrible. I'll see another Deanna Durbin film and hopefully I can find something nicer to say about it.

This movie is a good example for the Old Classical Hollywood pictures! It has a lot of funny moments, nice, good-looking actors, incredible Durbin's charming voice and really nice and touching story! O.k. maybe it is not an high art movie, but people come on! These days we don't have high arts almost at all! Neither we have relaxing, touching with GOOD TASTE musicals!! Because, who's going to sing the way Durbin did??? There is nobody as gifted as the old actors! I mean, take just Astair, Garland, Crosby, Sinatra, Kelly! These days we don't have such in-every-way talented actors! They could do everything: musicals, comedies, drama. This movie is for everyone, who enjoys Classical movies!! It's worth seeing!

"His Butler's Sister" is a frustrating story. Much of the story is very good, there is an excellent supporting cast and Deanna Durbin sings an amazingly different version of "Nessun Dorma"...but the writing is confusing and uneven. It's a shame, as the film easily could have been so much better.

Ann (Durbin) is headed to New York City to see her brother, Martin (Pat O'Brien). She is surprised when she sees him, as it's been many years* and he's NOT the successful man she thought he'd be. Instead, he's a butler for a successful song writer/producer....just the man Ann wants to meet because she has ambitions of being a professional singer. But Martin convinces her NOT to try auditioning for his boss (Franchot Tone), as MANY women try this and he is the gate keeper. But Martin's behaviors are very inconsistent...especially after Ann and his boss fall in love. At this point, the film is terribly confusing, though thankfully it soon ends on a high note.

Hearing Durbin sing "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot" by Puccini is a treat. It's a song written for tenors and I have never heard a woman singing it...let alone a soprano. But with Durbin's powerful voice, she manages to hit all the notes and this piece alone make the film worth your time. As for the story, well, it's weak and confusing...but the actors make it pleasant regardless.





*Casting O'Brien as Durbin's brother was a poor choice. He was 22 years older than her...and he definitely looked this much older...perhaps more.

This film is really lovely.

Deanna is in top form, so pretty too here!

The ending always makes me cry no matter how many times I've watched the film!

How nice now to be able to watch it on DVD sixty-four years after it came out and be captivated all over again just like all the butlers in the film were! Everything about it seems just right with lots of nice touches.

I recently bought the DVD Collection of all Deanna's movies but I have only ever seen two others. One of the others is "Can't Help Singing!"

Another very happy experience (in colour!)

Thank you glorious Deanna! Victor (London) 15-5-2007

Coming after the grave "stage door canteen" ,which ,in spite of funny scenes ,dealt about soldiers about to go to war,"his butler's sister" is some kind of comic relief.Deanna Durbin is a very good-looking actress and songstress -even if ,like me,her style is not your cup of tea-and watching Franchot Tone at work is always a joy to me.Anyway they do not appear in what is for me the funniest of the whole movie :girls mistaking a salesman for a composer and discovering that what he sells is not what they were expecting.

The movie features several songs ,the last one being some kind of communication as it was the case in other Borzage works such as "I'll always love you" or " smiling through" ,though in a lighter way.