It Started with Eve

A wealthy old man believes he is dying and wants to meet his son's fiancée. She is out of town, so the son panics, grabs a girl working in the hotel cloakroom and introduces her as his intended. Then the old man recovers, and the lie has to be maintained. The film is not interested in the comedy of misunderstanding. It is interested in who chooses whom: the old man likes the false fiancée far better than the real one, and the film's true relationship forms between those two. The form is classic studio comedy: short scenes, brisk dialogue and songs placed in between. Deanna Durbin was one of the biggest earners of her day and was spoken of as the star keeping Universal afloat; the part uses both her comedy and her singing. Opposite her, Charles Laughton was known for heavy drama and plays pure comedy here, and their chemistry is the most praised thing in the film. Henry Koster directed. Robert Cummings plays the son. Who it is for: viewers who like light Hollywood comedy of the forties and Durbin's voice. Who it is not for: anyone used to modern pacing. The mistaken-identity structure is predictable and the film gives away its ending in the first half hour.