Many of her fans refused to believe she was gone. with updates on movies, TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes podcast and more. She ends her affair with Rains and tries to pretend it never happened. Over the years, we have been providing quality content, commentaries, opinions and insights on arts and music. For the mephistophelian performance of Claude Rains in this villainous role makes her look completely childish and, from the viewpoint of logic, absurd. Enjoy! Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. 'Deception' feels almost subtle in comparison (who am I kidding??). Warner Bros. originally purchased the play as a vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Henreid. 23, Opus 57 in F Minor (Appassionata), "AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores Nominees", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deception_(1946_film)&oldid=1124511490, Einar Neilsen as Neilsen, orchestra conductor (uncredited), This page was last edited on 29 November 2022, at 02:39. Rains' character is by far the most interesting, so it's no surprise that fans credit him with running away with the picture.[9], According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $2,132,000 domestically and $1,130,000 in foreign markets.[1]. It's a delight and one more reason to treasure this film. Bette DavisKarel Novak . Betty Davis was worth an estimated $40 million when she died in 1989. . Her career spanned more than 60 years, and she appeared in more than 80 films during this time. It was a fairly ordinary melodrama. The young man confesses, and the play ends with the expectation that he will get off easily. Needless to say, hell hath no fury like a Hellanious scored, and the remainder of the film has Christine telling lie upon lie to keep the truth from Karel (who is prone to fits of jealous rage), while the vindictive Hellanious watches on in malicious amusement. How did I never come across Deception (1946) before? Just a few short years earlier, in Bette's own vehicles ("Now, Voyager" or "The Great Lie"), the same kind of material could be treated with a degree of sensitivity and artistry. Henreid plays a masterful cellist with whom Davis was in love during the war in Europe. Shawn and Shawna He spends his time lazing about in a dressing gown, petting a drugged kitty and taking biting innuendo and sarcasm to a level previously unseen on screen. . Davis attributes her success to hard work. Her passing occurred at the age of 81. When they become reunited, they marry. 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. Oh, and I forgot to mention the amazingly good symphony performance scenes, with an original cello concerto by Korngold, ("played" by Henreid with the arms of two real cellists reaching in from either side to play the instrument). Davis was taken to the hospital outside Paris for an emergency after arriving in Europe to receive an award. It was directed by Paul Henreid from a screenplay by Oscar Millard and Albert Beich from the story La Otra by Rian James, previously filmed in a Mexican version starring Dolores del Ro. On the evening of the premiere, Christine visits Hollenius, who threatens to allow Novak the joy of a successful performance only to destroy him by telling him about their love affair. Christine is going to be his muse and help him regain his confidence by getting Hollenius to help him present his music. . It is not only brilliantly acted by Rains, it is an example of screenwriting at its wittiest and sharpest. Peter is very much interested in cultural practices around the world including music, history, languages, literature, religion and social structures. Your AMC Ticket Confirmation# can be found in your order confirmation email. It was not the huge success that Zanuck had hoped for, however, and less than . "It's like grand opera, only the people are thinner" said one reviewer Absorbing acting and filming, top of their games in an aging musical genre, Top Warner Brothers cast in one of Davis' last great films, This Movie, Seen On TV 30 Years After Its Release, Gave Me An Education In Music, Superb Trio in Classic of Classical Music Score, "You can't choke the truth out of a person!". It opened on Broadway as Jealousy on October 22, 1928 at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, as a two-hander (a play with only two main characters), with Fay Bainter and John Halliday. And Bette, a trained pianist, playing Beethoven at her wedding party (she really wanted to play it herself but Jack Warner decided against it but you can see she knows what she's doing in fingering the keys). After his performance, Novak is mobbed by well-wishers. She has really been in love with cellist Karel (Henreid), but thought him a war casualty, and circumstances forced her into her relationship with Hellanious. Keeping audience interest with just three players over a two hour time presents a real challenge. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. She regrets that she could have played Scarlett OHara, but she declined the role for many years. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Meredy <meredy@meredy.com> and Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu> and Denny Jackson Another weak aspect is the editing. By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Instead, her rival Crawford accepted the award on behalf ofAnne Bancroftfollowing one of the industry's ugliest Oscars campaigns. Hollenius' Cello Concerto was written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who composed the music for this film. [7] The 1929 film is set in Paris, and the characters are the owner of a dress shop, the young artist she marries, and the elderly boulevardier who bought the dress shop for her. This film conyains one of Miss Davis' greatest performances, as she enters into the very heart of what a loveless life can do, to a young woman, and finnaly an older woman, living in a house with a cousin who caused so much of her loneliness. . They wanted to pretend they were making an A picture. American actress Bette Davis was born on April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts. The movie itself has draggy moments, but Claude Rains is at his suave, epicene best. Regal As they walk out a lady says, "Oh, Christine, you must be the happiest woman in the world," which eventually elicits a wan smile from Christine. While Bette Davis, alone in her studio, is talking to Claude Rains on the telephone, the highly visible shadow of a crew member is moving back and forth across the piano behind her. They inserted serious classical music here and there. As Margot, she is the absolute star of the production - positively chowing down on the furniture in one of her most hand-swivelling and eye-rolling turns. Presumably Christine and Karel will then head off in the sunset and a life of artistic success. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2022. Every step of the way, its own delusions get in the way of its effectiveness. If you haven't seen it, do check it out. Her greatest regret was not finding a good match for her four previous marriages. And forget about uncompromising unkind critics; after all, Jan Sibelius once said, "Who ever built a monument to a critic?" In France, where her work is revered, her death was front-page news. With a hit in the can, at long last, her star was on the rise. the plot was interesting and it had me guessing for a while. Experience The Magic Of Allens One-Hour Show Of Spectacular Illusions! The ending is predictable, but that is not the point. Did Bette Davis Really Play The Piano In The Movie Deception? Her last film was The Whales of August, which was released in 1987. and The Silence of the Lambs. If you're a Claude Rains fan--and there are MANY, MANY of them out there--you might have read my profile on his career in CLASSIC IMAGES, a long article with many photos that appeared in the December 2000 issue. One can see he thoroughly enjoyed the role he's called upon to play, executing it with a flamboyant style all his own. Not fair! Maybe try one of the links below or a search? She rejected the glamour image that Hollywoods stars were usually expected to convey. At Loew's CriterionTHE DARK MIRROR, screen play by Nunnally Johnson from a story by Vladimir Pozner; directed by Robert Siodmak; produced by Mr. Johnson for Universal-International Pictures.Terry Collins . Privacy Policy Here's a quick summary. As I sat down to watch "Deception" for the first time some years ago, my mother, who was a huge Betty Davis fan, nonetheless said Claude Rains' performance in this film blew Davis' out of the water. Deception (1946) A marvelous chamber piece, in a way, involving orchestral music. If you haven't seen it, do check it out. Contents 1 Life and career 1.1 1908-1929: Childhood and early acting career 1.2 1930-1936: Early years in Hollywood 1.2.1 Legal case 1.3 1937-1941: Success with Warner Bros. The sets are incredible and have a whole life of their own - huge luxurious drawing rooms, shadowy stairwells, grand staircases made for dramatic death scenes, lots and lots of cine-rain spattering windows and flooding the street of the evocative opening sequence. (Check out the rococo New York brownstone mansion in which he's ensconced, more magnificent than anything a lesser studio could provide for a monarch in a story involving royalty!). Distraught, Christine shoots him dead. It could have been and should have been much better. , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. This labor is titled "Deception," and it came to the Hollywood yesterday.The Warners may hate us for snitching, but "Deception" is based upon the same Verneuil play as is "Obsession," a current revival on Broadway. Deception is a 1946 American film noir drama released by Warner Brothers and directed by Irving Rapper. The restaurant scene deserves all the mention it got here previously, but how about mink coated Bette confronting Rains in his bed reading Dick Tracy? As has been stated, he is an older guy who loses out on Bette Davis to a younger guy. A recent re-evaluation has convinced me that this is a bit of a classic. She won two Academy Awards as a best actress for her roles in 86 films. Also gumming up the works is the Production Code, which wasn't about to accept a woman finding happiness after admitting to years of unmarried sex.[9], The working title of the film was Her Conscience, but Davis objected. When she spots him at a concert in NYC years later, the handwriting is on the wall for Rains. Her first film, Bad Sister, was released in 1931. . Davis was known for her outspokenness and her ability to command attention, and her last words are often seen as a reflection of her personality. Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! The world's greatest living composer, Alexnder Hollenius. Its story about a love triangle that involves classical musicians is characterised by mendacity, suspicion and passions that run so high that they eventually lead to murder and there's also an ever-present tension that exists because the stakes are so high for everyone involved. Of course, Karel turns up alive and well, and Christine keeps her relationship with Hellanious a Big Secret. . Great picture with Bette Davis and great male leads. When Davis received her 10th Academy Award nomination for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, she became the most Oscar-nominated actor of the time. Peter Williams is a graduate of B.A Arts and Culture from the University of Technology Sydney. Even Davis has a hard time holding her own with this old pro, who was a favorite co-star of hers. This collection gives us The Old Maid, seldom seen before VHS and this DVD. Irving Rapper's "Deception" reunited the three stars of a much better Bette Davis' vehicle: "Now Voyager". But every scene is a gem, such as the scene where Claude takes them to a haute cuisine French restaurant and spends 10 minutes going back and forth over whether to order pheasant, trout, or saddle of lamb and whether to go with a Hermitage or a Vosne Romanee wine. What Deception is is a high powered duel between flamboyant personalities (Davis and Rains) wiping their costar (Henreid) right off the screen. Hollenius soon gives Novak a manuscript score of his new cello concerto, which Novak agrees to perform at its premiere. Who can top that 'tour de force'? Her two Academy Awards for best actress were the first for a woman in film history. It stars Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, who had also appeared together in the highly successful Now, Voyager (1942). The film is based on the 1927 play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil. [6] In the play, the character played by Rains is a voice on the phone. Davis lunges at him, wanting to marry him immediately. She told Playboy in 1982 that she did not dare to be hated and that she would never get to where she wanted to be. See Davis at her best in The Letter. . Many scenes are 30% longer than they had to be. She is overjoyed that he is alive, but their reunion is uneasy, as he suspects that she found someone else in his absence. . After marrying her long-lost love, a musician finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her. In short, it lacks emotional punch. The younger guy is Paul Henreid playing a WWII survivor, thought dead by Davis. . DECEPTION; screen play by John Collier . The story is complete hokum of course and is performed with such overwrought feeling and pungent relish that you are constantly expecting the characters to burst into song. Fans around the world are paying tribute to one of Hollywood's most enduring stars, Betta Davis. Though she didnt fight in World War II, Davis did everything she could to support the Allied troops as a civilian. Davis died in 1989, and her last words were reportedly Im so tired, Im so tired. These words have been interpreted in various ways, but they are generally seen as a reflection of Davis exhaustion both physically and emotionally. A fellow musician and composer who has just barely survived life in Europe during WWII, Karel is sick and emotionally frail. The couple embraces while Christine cries, "I thought you were dead. Here is a list of the films on this set and the special features, as listed at Turner Classic Movies: Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2012. While well-wishers wait, Christine confesses everything to her husband, and they leave the concert hall together. Well, you'll find out. When he returns alive, they marry, but are menaced and threatened by a wealthy, egotistical composer she started dating on the rebound. [10], Paul Henreid says he enjoyed working with Bette Davis again but did not get along with Irving Rapper, the two men barely speaking to each other.[11]. Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. . Of course, it helps having two of the most dominating performers of the time, Davis and Rains, as leads. [1] Daviss solo piano performance of Beethovens Piano Sonata No. This movie could have been good, but it doesn't meet the audiences expectations for a movie called deception. "Deception" tried to be more than it was. The nervous, insecure Karel, fresh from probably a concentration camp, is suspicious of this so-called friendship, but Christine continually lies to him - Hollenius likes to give fancy gifts to friends, he won't go out with someone who is poorly dressed, he heard her play the piano and bought her a piano - yada yada yada. Davis is his paramour and a serious musician in her own right. Of Claude Rains' character in this picture. . Fine Claude Rains fare. Tap "Sign me up" below to receive our weekly newsletter Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. Terms and Policies Murf the Surf: Jewels, Jesus, and Mayhem in the USA: Season 1, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Link to Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Link to Golden Tomato Awards: Best Movies & TV of 2022, Link to 10 WTF Horror Movies to Watch if You Loved, Link to Christian Slater and Jonathan Kasdan Talk. She was known for her performances in a range of genres, including the classics All About Eve and Jezebel, for which she won her first two Academy Awards. Drama released by warner Brothers and directed by Irving Rapper the Whales of August, which Novak agrees to at... 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