Highly Overrated But Still Good

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

In 1936, Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin were not even aware that they were soon to be two of the most popular singing voices in the nation, paired in this MGM short which was a stepping stone and screen-test for rising talents. While Garland would only make one feature that year (on loan to 20th Century Fox for "Pigskin Parade"), Durbin went on to create quite a sensation at the then "B" studio Universal (mainly known for their horror movies), causing Louis B. Mayer to have a coronary. He preferred Durbin's opera style voice to Judy's swing sound, but time would prove him wrong as Judy rose to be MGM's greatest female star in the 1940's. According to Lorna Luft, Garland joked about Durbin's being stolen by the monster movie making studio, claiming that she had a uni-brow, which is disproven here.Both are lovely young ladies of different types, going from door to door to advertise their Sunday afternoon concert in the park. The people they greet aren't very welcoming, but once the concert starts, people are rushing in, the camera moving in fast motion to show the townsfolk rushing to the park to hear the two singers perform. Durbin has a pleasant personality (as evidenced in her 13 year stay at Universal), but her voice may grate on some nerves. Yet, when she starts performing in harmony with Garland on "The Americana", you can see why these two voices sounded so great together. It's a fun short that shows why these two stars went onto greater things at separate studios and why, indeed, the best was yet to come.

If you are a Judy Garland fan, like myself, you must see this film. As the movie trivia states, this was a short put together by MGM in deciding which young actress should be signed to contract with the motion picture company.According to "Get Happy" a Garland biography written by Gerald Clarke, Judy was aware that this film was made solely for the purpose of choosing Deanna or Judy to sign to contract with MGM. Judy was also made painfully aware by Louis B. Mayer and her own mother that Deanna Durbin had been classically trained as an operatic singer (Judy couldn't even read music), was thinner, and "prettier." Struggling with these pressures, Judy still managed to win the contract with her obvious acting superiority, and viewers falling for her pop genre singing and American sweetheart style.Any Judy fan must see this, her first film for MGM. It is an important part of Judy's beginnings and to understand where she started as a singer and actress. Her novice vulnerability is apparent, which makes her all the more charming. "Every Sunday" is available for viewing in the special features menu of the "For Me and My Gal" DVD release. Again, I urge every Judy Garland fan, aficionado and historian to see "Every Sunday." It's only 11 minutes long, but in these 11 minutes we see what Ms. Judy Garland started as, and the beauty little 13 year-old MGM wanted to change (or mangle is more like it.)

This one reeler produced by MGM in 1936 showcases the talents of two of its young stars under contract, Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin. In a way, these short films were promotional trailers that featured new talent in front, or behind the camera. Felix Feist directed this one which was a way to promote the two talented stars to the public.The story is simple enough. The orchestra that entertains in a public park every Sunday doesn't get the attention it deserves. Enter two music aficionados, Judy and Edna, who love to hear the band play conducted by one of their grandfathers. Two of the town's elders sensing there is no public for this type of entertainment have decided to cancel their Sunday concerts in favor of a more popular orchestra that will attract a wider audience.The two girls embark in a promotional tour of their own doing what they only know, calling and running errands and being helpful to their neighbors in exchange for a promise they will attend the park concert next Sunday. Well, that day comes, and to their surprise, hardly anyone comes as the music starts. The two girls decide to take matters into their own and ask the conductor to play a song for them to sing. The result is clear, people all over the park flocks to hear the talented young singers, thus ensuring the orchestra's existence.Of course, the only attraction of the short film is the inspired singing by the two stars who are wonderful in their rendition. Ms. Durbin's operatic voice blends well with Ms. Garland's natural one creating a lovely duet.Don't miss it whenever it shows on TCM!

People claim that movie making has gone downhill, but they forget that hollywood was far more commercial in its early days. Along with a force of simple movies put out each year to keep the theaters full, viewers were provided with eye candy in the form of pointless shorts. This musical short, made only to showcase the singing talents of Judy Garland and the operatic voice of Deanna Durbin, has no actual plot, and consists only of about 20 minutes of the pair singing the same song, "Americana". Although we all have seen Garland's talents in the Wizard of Oz, the arrangement of this repetitive song makes her sound very normal, and it is difficult to comprehend opera singing coming from a child. All in all, I shouldn't have expected much, but they could have chosen a better song and arrangement if they simply wished to provide a pleasant musical experience.