Deanna Durbin had matured from teenage roles in, among others, the 1936 Three Smart Girls and its 1939 sequel, when director Henry Koster and producer Joe Pasternak asked her to star in It Started with Eve. The movie’s three songs may not qualify it as a musical, but the antics of Durbin and co-star Robert Cummings, as they conspire to please his dying father (the great Charles Laughton) on his deathbed with their mock engagement, will leave audiences with the same feel-good sensation.
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Alex Anisimow // Aug 12, 2008 at 11:57 pm
IT STARTED WITH EVE is one of Deanna Durbin’s best films. I have heaps of information about the movie at this link:
http://www.deannadurbindevotees.com/movies-f1/it-started-with-eve-t56.htm
Enjoy and best wishes,
Alex (Administrator)
2 John DiLeo // Aug 13, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your message. I checked out your site and loved it. You have some wonderful photos that I’ve never seen before, and I enjoyed your bits of trivia regarding the making of the film. I think you’d appreciate my take on the movie, which I feel is Deanna’s finest. My inclusion of this film in SCREEN SAVERS has aroused considerable interest from Deanna Durbin fans around the world. It was a lovely surprise to learn that she is not only still remembered but highly regarded. Again, thank you for getting in touch.
3 Mark // Dec 16, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Love the movie, but I think it’s a neat scripting trick that they make Durbin feel “guilty” for having thwarted Cummings’s effort to get her out of his life when he wouldn’t even take 5 minutes to listen to her sing after she’d saved his Dad’s life. lol!
This film was credited with reviving Laughton’s career after disappointing audience response to films like THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED, and, like several of Durbin’s films, it received “Honorable Mention” in the NEW YORK TIMES’ list of “Ten Best Films of the Year” for 1941.
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