The Responsibilities of Young Ladyhood

Northern Advocate, 22 July 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

The Responsibilities of Young Ladyhood

Deanna Durbin is Definitely Out of 4< Kid” Class

The difference between fifteen and sixteen, in mathematics, is one. The difference between a fifteenth and a sixteenth birthday is a matter of a short year of time. But in the matter of a young lady's outlook on life and things in general, what a whale of a difference one short year makes! Deanna Durbin is now sixteen. She passed her. sixteenth birthday milestone last December 4. On that day she stepped out of the “kid” class and definitely became a young lady. Net, of course, did Deanna blossom overnight into young ladyhood. But competent observers claim there is a lot of difference between the 15-year-old Deanna and the 16-year-old young lady who is now starring in Universal’s “Three Smart Girls Grow Up,” which is to be released shortly. It is reported that the heels of Deanna’s

shoes are now a bit higher, her skirts

\ a bit longer, her dresses a bit more I tailored. | Also it is noted that she has put I aside many cf the childish things that I amused her only twelve months ago. j Her roller skates are getting a bit j rusty; her beautiful bicycle is coilcct- ! ing a layer of dust in the Durbin garage. There hasn't been a new Huffy j dell added to the collection in Deanna’s bedroom for many moons. But an increasing number of fancy perfume bottles occupy the dresser in this same pink and blue bedroom. Deanna's slacks, bobby socks and “beany” hat hang in her wardrobe while she wears sport skirts and wool sweater jackets. And in the same wardrobe is a beautiful “formal”—the first she has ever owned, and of which she is very, very proud. And proud, too, she is of a driver’s license issued to her by the Stale of

California which certifies that she is competent to. operate a motor vehicle. Deanna learned to drive during the past year, but could not obtain her license until she had passed the important sixteenth birthday.

Her consumption of ice cream and chocolate cake has dropped. She doesn’t buy so much candy and sticky eatables between meals. Not that she needs to watch her diet, but, as she says, “it looks childish.”

And Deanna has learned to dance during the past few months. Nothing along the jitter-bug or swing lines, for she has limited herself to a straight foxtrot, waltz and Lambeth walk. Incidentally, she dances on the screen for the first time in “Three Smart Girls Grow Up.” It is a waltz, which she does to the strains of “Invitation to the Dance.”

Also Deanna is taking more interest in social activities. Little parties are given more frequently at her home. Her guest list is growing. She is making more and more friends among the young ladies and gentlemen she meets in the studios and, at other social gatherings.

Soon Deanna will be seventeen, but she will not have another important birthday milestone until she becomes eighteen, and the coming anniversary won’t mean so much from a growingup standpoint. But whatever age she is, Deanna is satisfied with it. “I wouldn’t want to be a day older than I am,” she declares.

In “Three Smart Girls Grow Up,” Deanna plays a lovable role of a “little Miss Fixit,” who tries to untangle her sisters’ affairs of the heart with delightfully amusing results. She sings four semi-classical numbers in the film, “La Capinera,” “Because,” “Invitation to the Dance,” and “The Last Rose of Summer.”