Um Raio de Sol

I liked this movie very much and maybe that's because I am a baby boomer and prefer movies made in the 40's and 50's. Because I have always liked Deanna Durbin I bought this movie from Amazon.com and was very pleased with it. The scene when Deanna sang "Going Home" with Charles Laughton standing in the background was very moving. I thought they were a great team together and it really seemed like they had a great affection for each other. I was a bit annoyed with Robert Cumming's characterization, being a wimp and having no backbone to stand up to his father but then that's where the story lies. I thought Deanna's acting was very good and believable and her singing scenes (though unnecessary,except for "Going Home") did not detract from the story. This was quite an enjoyable light comedy and I would recommend it for anyone who likes movies of the 40's. The performances of Charles Laughton and Deanna Durbin definitely make this picture a treat.

While "It Started With Eve" is not a perfect film, it is an extremely enjoyable one--thanks mostly to characters played by Charles Laughton and Deanna Durbin.

The film begins with Johnny Reynolds (Bob Cummings) rushing to see his dying father, Jonathan Sr. (Charles Laughton). However, Johnny's fiancé isn't available but the old man demands to meet her before he dies. So, Johnny quickly concocts a plan--to get some woman pretend to be his fiancé. The woman picked for this is Anne Terry (Deanna Durbin) and she turns out to be extremely sweet. In fact, the old man is so taken with her that he suddenly recovers! This, of course, is a serious problem as now either Anne and Johnny need to tell him the truth OR they need to really get married. In a funny twist, the manipulative old guy learns of the ruse and continues to pretend that Anne is his future daughter- in-law. Why? Well, he likes her and thinks she'd make a dandy member of the family. What's next, while very funny and charming, does defy logic just a bit. After all, Johnny is a bit of a yutz and his falling for Anne at the end really wasn't written as well as it should have been. BUT, the stuff leading up to it was so sweet and well done that I was more than willing to cut the film slack. Clearly this is one of Miss Durbin's best films and it holds up great today.

Let's see - you're a classically trained singer with a gorgeous voice, you're pretty, a good actress, highly paid...and all you want is to get out of show business.

That's Deanna Durbin's story, and thank goodness, she didn't get her wish until she made films like "It Started with Eve," also starring Charles Laughton and Robert Cummings.

Durbin plays Anne Terry, a hat check girl trying to make it as a classical singer. One night, she is drafted by Johnny Reynolds Jr. (Cummings) who believes his father (Laughton) is dying. His father has insisted on meeting his fiancée, but when Johnny returns to the hotel to find her, she and her mother (Margaret Tallichet and Catherine Doucet) aren't in their room. Desperate, he offers Anne money if she will pose as his fiancée. Anne wants to return home to her family, so the money will come in handy. She accompanies him to his father's deathbed.

Well, Jonathan Reynolds Sr. rallies! He's not going to die, and his son may well -- he now has two fiancées. Jonathan Sr. plans a party for all his high falutin' friends, including people like Leopold Stokowski, to meet Anne and to have her sing for them.

Johnny Jr. is in a pickle and tells Anne that he will say that they broke up and then introduce his father to his real fiancée, whom Reynolds Sr.'s doctor will bring to the house. But Anne wants to sing at the party, so after he announces the big breakup, Anne rushes in and begs forgiveness.

Robert Cummings, a huge star in television, was usually second tier in films. He always excelled in comedy, and he does a great job here. Laughton, playing a man who's supposedly dying, looks quite gaunt and is, of course, marvelous as a man who has a great relationship with Anne and grows fond of her.

Deanna Durbin herself acts and sings like a dream and looks beautiful. Her warm personality shines through. She sings "Clavelitos," "Goin' Home," "When I Sing," and "Ahi, viene la conga" impressively.

"It Started with Eve," is a fast-moving, fun, highly entertaining film with moments of poignancy. This film marked the end of Deanna Durbin's work with producer Joe Pasternak and director Henry Koster; Pasternak went to MGM, and Deanna went on suspension for turning down a script. In the end, she was given approval of her directors, stories and songs.

Hard to believe this songbird, now 90, retired at the age of 26 and never looked back. It's a tribute to her that 64 years post-retirement, Deanna Durbin still has plenty of fans.

She was a great singer; and this film proves she was an engaging, charming actress as well. She more than holds her own with the incomparable Laughton (only 41 when he made this) and is paired very well with "Uncle" Bob Cummings (so well remembered for his 50s sitcom.)And there are some great supporting players on hand: Walter Catlett, Clara Blandick, Irving Bacon, etc.

This is a winning combination film, somewhat derivative of others in the past, but fresh in many ways. One reviewer mentioned the set design and one wonders what it would have been like in color. The costumes are also pretty special.

Deanna only made a handful of films, but this is one of the best. A real feel good time. Enjoy!

It Started with Eve is my favorite Deanna Durbin movie. I owned this movie on video, also I have Nice Girl? and His Butler Sister. They do not compare with this film. Deanna plays a hat-check girl in a hotel who poses as Robert Cummings' future bride for his dying father. Charles Laughton plays Cummings' father in the film suddenly get better. Cummings does not know how to tell the father when the real bride arrives. Besides acting Deanna is singing during the movie. Nice to watch and relax on a rain or snowy day.