Ève a commencé

With Deanna Durbin's charm, Charles Laughton's energy, a decent supporting cast, and a worthwhile story, "It Started With Eve" is a funny and engaging comedy. It may seem like a weird idea to pair such dissimilar talents as Durbin and Laughton, but it does work. As Laughton's son, Robert Cummings gets mostly straight lines, but he performs his role well, and Walter Catlett also has some good moments as a rather high-strung doctor.

The story starts out a little slowly, but once it gets rolling it is interesting. It also has some thoughtful moments, as the characters try to figure out how to deal with all the dilemmas that start when Cummings's character has to improvise a way of comforting his seriously ill father. The actual plot developments are insubstantial in themselves, but are generally used to good effect. It could have been played as an all-out screwball comedy, but here the more balanced approach seems to work at least as well.

The movie builds up steam as things develop, and saves some of the best moments for the climactic sequence. It's a successful combination that makes for enjoyable viewing.

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.

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.

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!

This is a sweet movie. Far better than remakes that followed. Durbin and Laughton seemed to really enjoy their scenes together (The Conga is unforgettable). Her singing is beautiful-"Going Home" brings a lump to the throat. This is my all time favorite movie set of the interior of the mansion. They don't (can't afford to) build sets like that anymore. Great escape.