Themes: Haunted By the Past, Lovers Reunited, Musician's Life
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, John Abbott, Benson Fong
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
Plot
Deception is an operatic rehash of the 1929 film Jealousy. Music teacher Bette Davis--who evidently has a large student pool, judging by the size of her penthouse apartment--is reunited with her cellist lover Paul Henreid, whom she believed to have been killed in the war. Henreid wants to marry Davis, but he is unaware that she has, for the past several years, been the "protege" of composer Claude Rains. Rains agrees to keep quiet about his affair with Davis, but takes sadistic delight in tormenting the woman and working behind the scenes to sabotage Henreid's career. When Rains tells Bette of his plans to publicly humiliate Henreid, she shoots her ex-lover dead. Henreid agrees to stand by Davis no matter what is in store for her. Director Irving Rapper had originally wanted to treat the hoary plot twists of Deception comically, with the three principals walking off together at the end with a "what the hell?" attitude. He was tersely told to stick to the script; after all, people didn't pay to see Bette Davis but to see her suffer. Like the 1929 version of Jealousy, Deception was based on a play by Louis Verneuil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Melodramas don't come much soapier than Deception. If that means the film doesn't qualify as art, it doesn't prevent it from being a rollicking good time -- provided one is willing to let oneself get in the right mood. That mood might be called "Bette Davis on the Loose," for Deception is one of those pictures in which Davis is called upon to suffer nobly and hints of glycerin tears in the eyes; to use halting body language to disguise her ill-concealed past; and to vent her wrath in a no-holds-barred manner that shakes the heavens. It's not one of Davis' great performances, but it has the sound and fury that is so rewarding. The same cannot be said of Paul Henreid, whose performance is lifeless and annoying. But Claude Rains is another matter. Whereas Davis is simply playing to the balcony, Rains gives a truly fine performance. He's a cold and manipulative monster, but the actor understands that a veneer of warmth, a tendency to underplay and an ability to keep the fires on the inside rather than belching out can add definite layers of interest to a character. Irving Rapper's direction is nowhere near as fine as in Now, Voyager, but he hits the high points in an audience-friendly manner. Ernest Haller's cinematography enhances the picture, but modern viewers are likely to find Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score a bit too much for their tastes. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Anton Grot - Art Director, Bernard Newman - Costume Designer, Irving Rapper - Director, Alan Crosland, Jr. - Editor, Jack L. Warner - Executive Producer, Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Composer (Music Score), Leo F. Forbstein - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ernest Haller - Cinematographer, Henry Blanke - Producer, George James Hopkins - Set Designer, John Collier - Screenwriter, Joseph Than - Screenwriter, Louis Verneuil - Play Author
Christine Radcliffe (Bette Davis) runs up the stairs of a college concert hall in the rain. She slips into the back of the hall which is filled with rapt students, and her eyes fill with tears as she recognizes the cellist on stage: Karel Novak (Paul Henreid) who, it eventually turns out, has spent the war trapped in neutral Sweden. After the performance Novak is mobbed by student well-wishers, and a student reporter questions him about his favorite composers. Novak lists some famous composers and then adds, "And, of course, Hollenius".
When the crowd dies down and Novak returns to his dressing room, Christine enters and their eyes meet in his mirror. The couple embraces while Radcliffe cries, “I thought you were dead. I saw them kill you.”
Karel and Christine return to her apartment where Karel becomes suspicious of the rare artwork on display and the fur coat hanging in the closet. Christine has told Karel that she is living a precarious existence as a piano player and this conflicts with the evidence in the apartment. They marry, but the composer Alexander Hollenius (Claude Rains) makes a dramatic entrance at their wedding reception. It is evident he is jealous, and the stress leads him to break a wine glass without deliberate intent. Soon Hollenius gives Novak the manuscript score of his new cello concerto, which Novak agrees to perform at its premiere. It becomes apparent to Christine that a cellist in the orchestra, Bertram Gribble (John Abbott), is being tutored in the solo part by Hollenius. Suspecting the sabotage of her husband's career, she unsuccessfully attempts to bribe Gribble into not co-operating.
During the dress rehearsal there is great friction between Novak and Hollenius, the latter angrily breaks off the rehearsal on the grounds of Novak's temperamental behavior. On the evening of the premiere, Christine visits Hollenius, and he threatens to tell Novak about their love affair. Distraught, Christine shoots him dead. Another conductor, Neilsen, takes the place of the absent Hollenius, and the performance is a great success. While well wishers wait, Christine confesses everything to her husband. She insists on going to the police, and the couple leave the concert hall.
Davis' solo piano playing was performed by Shura Cherkassky. Henreid's cello playing was dubbed by Eleanor Aller. The music for Hollenius' Cello Concerto was by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who composed the music for this film.
Reception
Despite the earlier success of Davis, Henreid, Rains and director Rapper, and generally positive reviews, Deception proved to be an expensive exercise for its producers. With high production costs and modest cinema patronage, it became the first Bette Davis film to lose money for Warner Bros.[1]
