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It Started with Eve (1941) More at IMDb Pro »

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
A Nice Little Comedy for Laughton, Durbin, and Cummings, 6 June 2005
7/10
Author: theowinthrop from United States

Charles Laughton had a personality that was totally dominating, as one can see in his greatest performances as Henry VIII, Captain Bligh, Quasimodo, Sir Wilfred Robards, Henry Horatio Hobson. But he knew (for the most part) when to control his more hammy moments. It is unfair to compare him with his sometime co-star Robert Newton, as Newton had an alcohol problem not shared by Laughton. But Newton's overblown, drunken performances (like his BLACKBEARD) are never matched by Laughton, the consummate professional. Laughton could do a role badly due to poor script or direction. Commander Sturm, the jealous submarine commander married to Talullah Bankhead, is one of his worse parts. But they are usually early roles. Once he was established he rarely made such missteps.

IT STARTED WITH EVE is not one of Laughton's greatest film parts, but it is a feel good comedy. He plays Jonathan Reynolds Sr., a multi-millionaire who is on his death bed. He only wants to see his son (Bob Cummings) and his son's fiancé once before he dies. But the fiancé is not in New York City yet (she will be the next day). So Cummings takes a hat check girl (Deanna Durbin) with him to introduce to his father as "Gloria" his fiancé. Unfortunately, Durbin's personality is very pleasing to the old man - and his spirits rising, his health improves. This brings all sorts of complications up, not even just for Cummings and Durbin.

For example,a side issue in the first half hour of the film - two harpies from the national museum are there to make a death mask of Mr. Reynolds. They are sitting quietly waiting for the good news (that Reynolds is dead and they can make their death mask). Every time it looks promising, they perk up - only to be forced to wait longer. Then, when Durbin plays the piano and sings for Laughton, he gets out of bed to hear it. The two men realize that this is hopeless, and pack up and leave.

Cummings' character is faulted for not confronting his father with the truth, and turning wimpish. It is not quite fair. The doctor (Walter Catlett) feels that Laughton's health has to rebuild itself for awhile before the truth can be revealed, and he convinces Cummings not to tell Laughton that Durbin is not his future daughter-in-law.

All three leads actually blend quite nicely, Laughton's tendency to dominate reduced because he is recovering from his illness (although his booming dominance reappears once, when he gets impatient with Cummngs not supposedly forgetting a quarrel with Durbin, and starts shouting, "Say you forgive her, say you forgive her" in his best Bligh tones). Durbin, who was a good actress when the right part came her way, easily ingratiates herself with Laughton by being his lookout when he smokes his forbidden cigars. Cummings trying to figure out how to break up with the false "Gloria", and to reintroduce the real "Gloria" actually is not so wimpish at just pathetically unable to carry out any of his schemes successfully. Add to the three Walter Catlett, here playing a decent doctor who has gotten onto Laughton's nerves (because of his forcing Laughton to lose weight and to stop smoking) gives a fine performance as he is slowly driven to distraction by his patient's antics. Not a great film, but a good example of a studio inspired comedy that is well worth watching.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Delicious comedy!, 16 November 2004
10/10
Author: janhunt-1 from Sunriver, Oregon

This is an absolutely delicious film!

Laughton steals the show as always, in a role similar to the one Walter Connolly played in "It Happened One Night". If you love 40's films and mistaken identity plots, you won't be disappointed. Deanna Durbin was perfectly cast and has a lovely rapport with Laughton. She is radiant when singing, and her voice is natural and beautiful. At the age of 27, she walked away from stardom to have a secluded life. We can at least be thankful for the films she made.

A real gem from start to finish!

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny, Engaging Comedy With Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, & More, 4 August 2004
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

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.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Delightful to watch., 28 December 2001
Author: cmyklefty from Philadelphia

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.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Chemistry mixed with Heart, 29 October 2003
Author: euclidcofc

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.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
An enjoyable comedy, 17 April 2001
Author: camille-7 (patcarol1@home.com)

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.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A Miracle Can Happen, 5 January 2008
Author: lugonian from Kissimmee, Florida

IT STARTED WITH EVE (Universal, 1941), directed by Henry Koster, stars popular singer Deanna Durbin in one of her finest movie roles. Not quite a Biblical tale about Adam and Eve and the apple as the title might imply, nor is there any character in the story named Eve, but actually a comedy of errors in the screwball comedy tradition providing Durbin, still in her late teenage years, an opportunity in a more adult performance, with fine support by the diverse Charles Laughton in a character role that's both funny and touching, and Robert Cummings as a young man caught in the middle of a series of situations and having a difficult time coming up with a suitable explanations.

The scenario revolves around Jonathan Reynolds (Charles Laughton) a middle-aged millionaire on his death bed whose final request is to meet the young lady engaged to his son, Johnny (Robert Cummings). To make his father's last days on Earth a pleasant one, Johnny rushes out into the rain to get his fiancé only to learn from the desk clerk that she and her mother are not available. Not wanting to waste any more valuable time, Johnny encounters a hat check girl (Deanna Durbin) and offers her $50 to return home with him and pose as his fiancée for about an hour. Explaining the circumstances at hand, she agrees. Masquerading as "Gloria Pennington," the girl, Anne Terry, meets the ailing Mr. Reynolds, who takes an immediate liking to her. After their union, the old man finds his son to be in good hands, and can now die in peace. The following morning, Jonathan miraculously recovers from his illness, gets out of bed demanding a large breakfast from his servants and for Johnny to bring "Gloria" back to visit with him. Complications ensue when Johnny not only has to locate Anne, who's about to take the next train back home to Shelbyville, Ohio, but to explain to the real Gloria (Margaret Tallichet) and her mother (Catherine Doucet), having returned from their trip, the situation that has occurred. Things become even more complex when Johnny tries to prevent his father from learning Anne not to be his fiancée, and keeping Anne from attending his father's dinner function where she wants to audition for his theatrical agent friends in hope to land a singing career.

A highly enjoyable comedy with an original premise done at a leisurely pace with a couple of classical songs thrown in for good measure making use of Deanna Durbin's singing talent, including Peter Tchaikowsky's "The Tchaikowsky Waltz" and Antonin Dvorak's "Going Home." Supporting players consist of Guy Kibbee as Bishop Maxwell; Walter Catlett as Dr. Harvey, the nervous family physician; Dorothea Kent as Jackie Donovan, Anne's roommate; Clara Blandick as The Nurse; and comedian Mantan Moreland adding humor as the harassed train station baggage man.

Obviously a high point in Durbin's career that did very well at box office, it's interesting to note that a fun movie such as this is not relatively better known. Durbin and Cummings do well in the roles that might have been tailer-made for Irene Dunne and Cary Grant for example. However, the characters of Anne Terry and Johnny Reynolds were obviously written for much younger performers as enacted by Durbin and Cummings.

IT STARTED WITH EVE did play for a while on American Movie Classics (1992-93) about the same time it was distributed on video cassette by MCA Home Video. The Hans Kraly story was redone by Universal as I'D RATHER BE RICH (1964) featuring Sandra Dee, Robert Goulet and Maurice Chevalier, with a few alterations, but like the original, has been lost to cinema history, known mostly by film scholars and historians. Even with the original currently available on DVD might offer IT STARTED WITH EVE some new life to a new generation of movie lovers looking for something amusing, nostalgic as well as lighthearted entertainment by its three principal actors. (***1/2).

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Deanna Durbin and Charles Laughton, an unlikely pairing in a movie, deliver the goods in It Started With Eve, 27 January 2008
7/10
Author: Terrell-4 from San Antonio, Texas

Would anyone not take a bet that a 20-year-old young woman would be mincemeat if she tried to take a film away from the skilled and hammy hands of Charles Laughton, especially when Laughton, to modern eyes, looks suspiciously like he's playing Tim Conway playing one of Conway's old, tottering geezers? It Started With Eve, an attractive romantic comedy, stars Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings and Charles Laughton. It was a shame Laughton wasn't a few years younger. He and Durbin turn out to be quite a pair, both of them adept at delivering smart lines, doing subtle double-takes or moving from subversive good cheer to tear-jerker moments of sincerity. They dominate the film and they do it as equals. Robert Cummings was a skilled light-weight lead. Here. as in so many of his films, he just doesn't have the leading-man gravitas to appear as anything but an earnest puppy. When he shares a scene with either Laughton or Durbin, he makes a pleasant second banana.

It Started With Eve begins with Jonathan Reynolds (Laughton), a rich old tycoon, apparently on his death bed. When his son, Jonathan Junior (Cummings), comes rushing in from a trip to Mexico, old Jonathan asks to meet young Jonathan's new fiancé, who has come to New York with him, accompanied by her mother. Young Jonathan tries to contact his fiancé, can't reach her, and believing his father is now dying, happens upon Anne Terry (Durbin), a hat-check girl. He rushes Anne to the side of his father and introduces her as his fiancé. But the next day his father recovers. Now young Jonathan has his fiancé he can't let his father meet, and his father wants to keep seeing Anne, thinking she's the fiancé. The movie's an hour-and-a- half of mistaken identity and screw-ball encounters. Love finally wins out, but only after Laughton plays matchmaker and Durbin sings two or three songs. Along the way we have some clever lines ("The trouble with being sick is you have to associate with doctors!"), a good deal of skullduggery as Laughton contrives to smoke the cigars his doctor forbids him, and a fast pace set by director Henry Koster. Laughton, of course, overacts but gets away with it. He also has a comb-up hair style that, if he were a foot shorter, would let him pass for a munchkin. He does a lot of stooped-over shuffling, squinting from under his eye- brows, and little bits of business that we wind up hardly noticing when Durbin is around. She must have been quite a challenge for him. Durbin, at 20, is no longer the child star. She's well-nigh gorgeous, with a figure that could make staring illegal. She is natural and straight- forward, and completely self-assured. She's one of the few actresses who could get away with sniffing mightily or falling down next to a piano and make us smile just at her style. She was, in a word or two, sui generis. And for those who admire subversive scene-stealers, the movie has that master, Walter Catlett, playing Dr. Harvey. Catlett was in hundreds of films, usually playing blowhards or flustered shysters. He's a bit subdued here, but just the sound of his voice is enough to make me smile.

The movie is a bit of froth, expertly served. If it's a little dated, well, so am I.

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0 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Highly enjoyable thanks to Laughton., 4 June 1999
8/10
Author: David Atfield (bits@alphalink.com.au) from Canberra, Australia

What insane casting director thought up teaming Deanna Durbin with Charles Laughton? But somehow it works. I can't imagine how they responded to each other on the set though.

But here we have an enjoyable little comedy with Laughton unforgettable as a dying old millionaire. The scene where he congas has to be seen to be believed.

Deanna ruins everything by singing but her acting is pretty good, and a very young Robert Cummings is also charming. No masterpiece but lots of fun.

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