Nice Girl? Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Nice Girl? Blu-ray Movie Review

A fun musical comedy with heart and humor.

Nice Girl? is an acclaimed musical comedy based on the play by Phyllis Duganne. The feature-film is produced by Joe Pasternak (It Started with Eve, Looking for Love). Starring Deanna Durbin, fans of comedy gems will want to experience the fun of this delightful classic.

Oliver Dana (Robert Benchley) has his hands full with his teenage daughters. Yet his most responsible daughter, Jane Dana (Deanna Durbin), becomes an even bigger handful than he ever would have expected when Jane pushes aside her timid boyfriend Don Webb (Robert Stack) and begins a new flirtation with her father's business associate, the much-older Richard Calvert (Franchot Tone). As unexpected sparks start to fly, Jane finds herself getting in to unexpected mischief as romance ensues.

Shining brightly throughout, star Deanna Durbin impresses in the leading role. Fans of the actress will be quite pleased with her exceptional performance. Durbin provides the film with her charm and wit. There is simply something magical about Durbin and audiences will be overjoyed by her charisma.

The art direction by Jack Otterson (Mad About Music, First Love) impresses with a lot of wonderful qualities: the sets and production merits work well for the filmmaking. The costumes by Vera West (Shadow of a Doubt, The Witness Vanishes ) are also well-designed and seem well-suited to each respective actor.

Nice girl, indeed.

The music score by Frank Skinner (Arabian Nights, The House of the Seven Gables) is one of the highlights. As a musical comedy, Skinner provided the film with a lot of stylistic flourishes that enhance the filmmaking and the storytelling. The music helps to tell the story (and that is vital).

The lush cinematography by Joseph A. Valentine (Rope, Mad About Music) doesn't disappoint. The black and white cinematography fits the production well. The visuals are superb and never seem out of place. A stunning effort by Valentine.

Featuring an original screenplay by Richard Connell (The Most Dangerous Game, Meet John Doe) and Gladys Lehman (Meet Joe Black, Luxury Liner), Nice Girl? is a well-penned production that has great heart and pathos throughout. The script manages to imbue the characters with excellent dialogue and charm. The story is fun and a pure delight.

Directed by William A. Seiter (One Touch of Venus, This Is My Affair), Nice Girl? is well worth seeing. The filmmaking shines throughout. Seiter helps to bring forth great performances from the cast (with Deanna Durbin stealing the spotlight). Editor Bernard W. Burton (The Invisible Ray, Gentleman Joe Palooka) also helps to enhance the rhythm of the filmmaking. Nice Girl? is an undeniably charming experience and one that thrills throughout. Don't miss this classic.

Nice Girl? Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Universal, Nice Girl? is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The encode on the release is impressive and capably preserves the black-and-white cinematography. The scan had no major problems with the presentation: no egregious scratches, dirt, or debris to report. A solid encode.

Nice Girl? Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Nice Girl? is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio mono. The presentation sounds clear throughout. Dialogue was crisp sounding as well. The music was also well reproduced. There were no major problems with hiss, warps, pops, clicks, and other audio-related detriments. A satisfying audio presentation.

Optional English subtitles are provided.

Nice Girl? Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release is surprisingly feature-less and there are no making-of extras (or even trailers promoting other releases).

Nice Girl? Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nice Girl? is as nice as it gets. The filmmaking is exceptional throughout and the performances help make the filmmaking all the more magical. Star Deanna Durbin provides the film with her unique charms and grace. The production has exceptional merits that help make the film to shine even more brightly. The Blu-ray release features a strong video and audio presentation. Though the release lacks extras (an unfortunate oversight), the presentation (and the quality of the film) makes this a worthwhile release. Highly recommended.