It's a Date

It's a Date is a 1940 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, and Walter Pidgeon. Based on a story by Jane Hall, Frederick Kohner, and Ralph Block, the film is about an aspiring actress who is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more experienced actress, was hoping to get the same part. Their lives are complicated further when they both get involved with the same man. Distributed by Universal Pictures, It's a Date was remade in 1950 as Nancy Goes to Rio. Plot Georgia Drake (Kay Francis) performs on stage, singing "Gypsy Lullaby"; her daughter, Pamela (Deanna Durbin), watches with her boyfriend Freddie Miller (Lewis Howard). They have come down from Maine, where they are part of a summer theater. Georgia is a renowned Broadway actress; this is closing night, and she is going to Hawaii for a rest before starting any new play. Her daughter, Pam, also has great acting skills and hopes to follow in her mother's and grandmother's footsteps. At the after-party, Pamela convinces director Sidney Simpson (Samuel S. Hinds) and writer Carl Ober (S.Z. Sakall) to come up to Maine and see the theater group. After the party ends, Pamela sings "Love is All" while she massages her mother's neck. Claudia's dresser, Sara (Cecilia Loftus), who also worked with Georgia's famous mother and is now a member of the family, accompanies her on the piano. Only the audience knows that Carl came to this country to see Georgia perform, and having seen her he believes that she is too old for the part of 20-year-old St. Anne in his new play. Sidney and Carl go to Maine and decide to try out the second act with the theater group, with Pamela in the role of St. Anne. During the performance, Pamela sings, "Loch Lomond." Pamela's performance is a revelation, and they offer her the role of St. Anne. Pamela is very excited, and promises to work hard, but does not know she is taking over a role that her mother assumes to be hers. Sidney tells Pamela to go away someplace quiet and learn the script, and without telling him, Pamela travels to Hawaii to ask her mother to coach her. On her journey, pineapple king John Arlen (Walter Pidgeon) notices her practicing the play. He thinks that she is a troubled girl who just got jilted by her love, and sets out to distract her by posing as a stowaway, with the help of his friend, the ship's captain.