Waste of time

It is a performances centric movie

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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.

A wealthy man (Charles Laughton) is dying, and his last request is to meet his son's (Robert Cummings) fiancée. Unable to comply with this wish, Cummings asks hat check girl (Deanna Durbin) to accompany him and pose as his fiancée for the last hours of his father's life.Doesn't sound very much like a good plot for a romantic comedy, does it? Without giving too much away, an unexpected turn of events leads to the necessity of continuing the charade, and the two lead characters falling in love. "It Started With Eve" is a rare treat in that it mixes comedy, romance, and truly moving drama into a single film that is nothing but a joy to experience.So what is it exactly that makes this film so special? In my opinion, one of the major flaws of most romantic comedies both then and now is the over-reliance on stock characters. One goes into these types of films expecting the same sorts of people: the boy and the girl who either hate or love each other from the outset, and the interfering ex-girlfriend or parent intent on keeping them apart. In this film, these stereotypes are turned on their heads. The two leads neither hate nor love each other, but are simply thrown together and their relationship develops from there. The typical unwilling parent is replaced by a father who admires Durbin's character so much that he works to bring her and his son together.The style in which this film is directed also sets it apart. While most movies of this type usually veer towards either broad farce or melodrama, the feeling here is something in between, which results in that the acting is more realistic and makes the film more believable. The stellar casting is only enhanced by the great performances and genuine chemistry between the three leads (Cummings, Durbin, and Laughton). Laughton and Durbin especially seem to get along so well that in the scene where they burst out in uncontrollable laughter, you can't help but join in with them.While this film is not as well known now as it was in its day (it just had its premiere on TCM this December), it is one that should be better known, simply for the fact that it is truly a cinematic gem.

How did I miss the talent of Deanna after all these years, I swore it was not her actually singing in this film it was so highly professional and exceptionally beautiful! My dear grandfather admitted this was his favorite actress and was always curious as to why...At first glance she does not appear to be your typical Hollywood beauty, so natural, youthful, and unsophisticated. Then you see her interact with the immense talent that is Charles Lawton and a few songs and one crazy dance later you are mesmerized.How sorry I am not to have followed-up on grandfathers declaration over half a century ago, but hopefully she had a long, fulfilling life and I have finally had the opportunity to appreciate her lovely talents.High recommend for a voice better than Judy's!!

Although this was a Deanna Durbin movie and she does sing a few songs in the film, It Started With Eve is completely stolen by Charles Laughton playing Robert Cummings's father. Laughton is in the kind of role normally reserved for someone like Charles Coburn, but Laughton does make the most of it.It Started With Eve does start out solemn enough, Laughton is on his deathbed and his last wish is to see the girl whom his son Robert Cummings has been engaged to. Cummings being a dutiful son endeavors to get his fiancé Margaret Tallichet to Laughton's deathbed for the old man's last request. But a mixup leaves Cummings without meeting Tallichet and with time running out, he offers a hatcheck girl Deanna Durbin $50.00 to come home and pretend to be his fiancé. What girl couldn't use an honest $50.00 so Deanna agrees.But she so captivates Laughton upon meeting him that the old guy gets a new lease on life. I think you can figure the rest of this situation out and how the film ends.Of course Deanna is an aspiring singer, that's a given in her early films. She does do a few numbers, but I have a feeling she may have had more in It Started With Eve, but the people at Universal Studios saw that Laughton was stealing the film and may have cut a few of her songs. Of course she stayed with top billing because until Abbott&Costello arrived on the scene with Buck Privates, Durbin was their chief money making star at Universal Pictures.It Started With Eve was Laughton's first comedy since Ruggles Of Red Gap and in his scenes he steals all, but the furniture. His facial expressions are priceless. What a foxy scheming old man he was, determined to see Cummings marry Durbin or have Durbin in the family one way or another. I do believe if it came to it, he'd have married Durbin himself.All in all like Richard Bennett in If I Had A Million, Laughton plays another millionaire who starts the film on his deathbed, but by the end of it has plenty of reason to live. The reports of his death are greatly exaggerated, but the laughs in It Started With Eve are not.