one of my absolute favorites!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

What can you say about something this flabbergasting? If your film preferences run toward the preposterous, camp, or 'silliest plots', then this is assuredly for you! Warner Bros gave it the full treatment, Production values ~ Performers ~ Photography ~ Music, all first quality and all wrapped up in unbelievable mush. Korngold's lush music score certainly deserved a better vehicle than this crazy story. Oscar winning Photographer Ernst Haller, known for superb work in "Gone With the Wind", Jezebel", and two of my cinematic favorites: "Humoresque" and The Glass Menagerie" (among many)...with 'Deception', he works brilliantly alongside stylish English born Director Irving Rapper ~ together they give this way over-wrought story a great look, at times saving it, but never completely.It also looks as if home educated screenwriter John Collier, was well aware this story, based on Louis Verneuil's 'Monsieur Lamberthier' from the 1920s, was by this time, heading out of date. Collier, being a writer known for his slightly bizarre fantasy stories and poetry, must have been torn between treating it as black comedy (Verneuil was known for his comedies) or melodrama of the most strained kind.Claude Rains, while always impressive, must have been born for this role. His flamboyant turns are quite astounding to watch. It's easy to imagine him at home, chuckling out loud while reading such lines from his script. Take a close look at his characters 'abode', even Royalty could look out of place in this remarkable 'museum'. While the main leads are certainly excellent, it's his picture all the way. Don't watch if you want serious, classic 40's drama. If you're after unintentional laughs or simply good performances, then this could work quite well for you....The TCM print screened in Australia was fair only.

I'll dispense with the details of the plot and move directly to Mr. Rains' performance as Hollenius the composer in this musico-melodrama.This is his show although Davis and Henreid attempt to hold their own in this film.His flair for manipulation and deception, hence the title, dominates the film. He does a great job of it, driving everyone crazy with his shenanigans and jealousy.The cinematography is well done and the story's setting in the world of post-WW II classical/modern music is interesting.I noted that early on, for instance, as Henreid finished a performance, audience members asked him who his favorite living composer was..."Sibelius...or Shostakovich...?" No mention of Aaron Copland or the many other composers alive at the time.Hollenius' work as a composer was a curious mix of tonal, traditional and slightly atonal influences, attempting to display "modern" music but watered down to keep the audience and us interested.The mimicking of the piano and cello performances by all three actors was fairly well done.I found it quite interesting too that both Davis and Rains were not "starving artists" like Henreid. Opulent apartments and lifestyles for piano teachers and composers were not common, but these two were well-off in an even garish sense.This was not the reality of the time in the music world.I'd recommend this film if you're a Rains or Davis fan. Henreid was not used for his full potential.

After the mutual collaboration with the director Irving Rapper on NOW VOYAGER, the great trio of superb performers, Bette Davis, Claude Rains and Paul Henreid appeared again in DECEPTION – a rather simple, even soap opera-like story ornamented with high-toned classical music setting (the film begins and ends with a concert). The protagonists are all musicians whose lives may be more complicated than one foresees...yet, there is something far more important that you also cannot see in advance: the miracle of silver screen's power to communicate ideas in a tremendously vibrant manner. After seeing it, I admit that it has been one of the truly rare surprises for me in the film-viewing experience – a superb movie with practically three people within the 'scheme' of the plot. Their intercourse, though dated at certain moments, kept me in my chair delighted and thrilled for almost two hours.DECEPTION is clearly a Bette Davis vehicle. Although vehicles may sometimes fail a test of time, this movie is a pure exception thanks to the First Lady of the American Screen as she was often referred to. In her last days at her home studio, Ms Davis does not only manifest perfectionist acting through her world acclaimed amazing eyes but she also plays with all her heart making her character a vibrant depiction of the drama and tension it evokes. She is no longer an innocent girlish actress but a woman of thirty eight, a woman with certain past. Though, what past is it here? Hard memories, dreams unfulfilled, absorbing secrets that are bound to be revealed sooner or later, constant attempts to make herself look decent – she is Christine Radcliffe, a truly troubled figure whose recent decisions have made her life as complicated as she could not imagine before in the darkest nightmares. Her scheme between two men and the dual behavior she depicts supply the plot with involving labyrinth of script and signals. Her moments develop with intense emotions and striving attempts to end it all well. Does she manage? One of her best moments is the wedding when two men meet for the first time and Christine plays Beethoven's Sonata Appassionata (originally played by Shura Cherkassky). The finale, which is influenced by the requirements of the Production Code in its heyday (the mid 1940s), is also captured thanks to the creative ideas of the great acting potential that Bette Davis had. Her face combines riddle with certainty, hesitation with decisiveness and she primarily makes DECEPTION an overwhelming psychological melodrama from the start to the end.Her portrayal would not be that great if it were not for the fruitful contribution of others, particularly her co-stars and....the cinematographer Ernest Haller. It is useful to watch the film for the second time with the disc commentator Foster Hirsch on who highlights certain characteristics that prove the great creativity of Haller's cinematography and Bette's cooperation with the camera. Just to mention her hand gestures, close-ups and meaningful signals of duality that highlight the undertones of the plot. Seemingly, the greatest achievement of sublime cinematography is most memorably manifested in two atmospheric scenes: Christine and Karel's chat at the window filled with drops of falling rain and the moment she murders Alex on the stairs. These are milestones of visuals in DECEPTION. Consider the haunting shadows on the walls, the static camera, music and close-ups when the feelings grow in tension. There are also dreamlike shots of Hollenius's mansion. A great credit to cinematographer Ernest Haller! The music score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold also constitutes a significant factor as far as the undertone and the atmosphere are concerned. However, it would be a highly condensed view to claim that it is Bette Davis who dominates the screen. Her two male co-stars also do splendid jobs and, although both Claude Rains and Paul Henreid portray rather peculiar, obstinate artistic personalities, they still address the European viewer as intensely and effectively as they did in 1946. (more European than American) Why? There are two building blocks of their psyches: both have some difficult memories from the past (PAST...what a 'European' word) and ... both aim at successful career at classical music. Is it jealousy, rivalry? Not merely...it is far more... Also, both are a little neurotic figures who reveal their nerves in splendid acting achievements. While Paul Henreid as Karel has his moments of jealousy and suspicion being depicted (which is also expected from him in the storyline) and is pretty sympathetic even if his moments of rage are sometimes disruptive, Claude Rains gives a fabulous performance as Alex Hollenius. A man who does as he pleases, who is devilishly afraid of one thing...death. He is perceived by Karel as 'egomaniac', 'dictator' (mind you that many terms are rather filled with the European taste, too). He feels extremely comfortable in the role of a petty, cruel and vain man. We can feel the essence of flawless commitment that he put in his work (consider the moment he appears at the wedding). But the climax of all is the scene at the restaurant. Many describe it as a Claude Rains scene and the best scene of the movie...indeed, a must see for all who dream of finding a masterpiece of acting. Foster Hirsch nicely puts it that he 'misbehaves as an old fashioned neurotic' and Glenn Erickson accurately describes Hollenius as the man who 'delights in manipulating people like chess pieces.' But I would add that he captures the entire, even the subconscious attention of a viewer. Simply superb! A timeless performance!Except for the finale which appears to be hardly believable as a purely 'artificial' outcome of the Production Code, DECEPTION is an enjoyable, fascinating film that accurately manifests a sentence derived from what Bette Davis's character says: 'Everything passes but acting' In spite of its 'old age' and 'dated technology' the perfectionist acting emerges and rivets viewers who have hardly been so close to the performers elsewhere.

Deception, made in 1946, reunited Bette Davis with Paul Heinreid and Claude Rains (Now Voyager) and was directed by Irving Rapper. It is a slow burn; building tension gradually throughout the film until the drama at the end. Bette Davis and Paul Heinreid are both good and reliable with Heinreid convincing as the war damaged European cellist. Davis is good at an emotional level but her performances are rarely flawless and she goes over the top occasionally. She also never entirely convinces as a pianist and artiste - perhaps deliberately. In this film it is Claude Rains who steals the show as the jealous jilted lover, building on the quiet and implacable menace while entertaining. The excruciatingly frustrating scene in the restaurant before the audition is a tour de force. The print on the DVD is a luminous black and white example of that era and great to look at, even on the small screen. Sit back and accept it for what it is, a classic 1940s movie.