It Started with Eve (1941)

90% of users liked it
(482 ratings)

A man trying to make his dying father happy makes his love life very complicated indeed in this musical comedy starring Deanna Durbin. Jonathan Reynolds Jr. (Robert Cummings) is the playboy son of multi-millionaire business magnate Jonathan Reynolds, Sr. (Charles Laughton). Junior has told his… More A man trying to make his dying father happy makes his love life very complicated indeed in this musical comedy starring Deanna Durbin. Jonathan Reynolds Jr. (Robert Cummings) is the playboy son of multi-millionaire business magnate Jonathan Reynolds, Sr. (Charles Laughton). Junior has told his father that he's finally met the woman he's going to marry while on a recent trip to Mexico, and Father, who has been given a very short time to live by his doctors, wants to meet her right away. However, the woman in question is not available, so Junior persuades Anne Terry (Durbin), a hat-check girl and aspiring singer, to pose as his fiancée for the sake of his father's peace of mind. Father takes quite a liking to Anne, which is fine and good until he defies all the expectations of his doctors and makes a complete recovery. Now Father is spending a great deal of time with the woman he thinks is going to be his future daughter-in-law, and Junior isn't sure how to tell him that Anne isn't really the woman he wants to marry. As usual, Durbin sings several songs, including "Clavelitos" by Valverde and "Going Home," adapted from Symphony for the New World by Dvorak. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Henry Koster
Written By: Norman Krasna
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 26, 1941 Wide
On DVD: Jan 17, 1995

Critic Reviews

Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Comedy of a kind that doesn't get made any more (probably due to a lack of actors who can pull off this sort of thing).

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Cast

            Deanna Durbin as Anne Terry

            Charles Laughton as Jonathan Reynolds

            Robert Cummings as Jonathon Reynolds Jr.

            Guy Kibbee as Bishop Maxwell

            Margaret Tallichet as Gloria Pennington

            Catherine Doucet as Mrs. Pennington

            Walter Catlett as Dr. Harvey

            Charles Coleman as Roberts the butler

            Leonard Elliott as Rev. Henry Stebbins

            Irving Bacon as Raven

            Gus Schilling as Raven

            Wade Boteler as Newspaper Editor

            Dorothea Kent as Jackie Donovan

            Clara Blandick as Nurse

            Sig Arno as Waiter

            Chick Chandler as Frank (the newspaper reporter)

            John Eldredge as Hotel Desk Manager

            Mary Gordon as Cleaning Lady (II)

            John Hamilton as Thomas

            Robert E. Homans as Railway Conductor

            Selmar Jackson as Hotel Guest

            George J. Lewis as Maitre D'

            Marie McDonald
            
            Mantan Moreland as Railway Porter

            Jack Mulhall as Nightclub Photographer

            Sarah Padden as Jenny

            Tim Ryan as Assistant Newspaper Editor
See full cast

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