Film of the Week: Deception, 1946

Christine wants some answers.
Davis and Rains
Warner Brothers

By 1946, as Bette Davis was precariously dangling from the pinnacle of her career, Warner Brothers decided to reteam Davis with Paul Henreid and (her favorite costar) Claude Rains. The three had starred together in the tremendous success, Now, Voyager. In order to ensure further success, the studio attached the same director—Irving Rapper—to the package. The film was to be Deception—a property that had been originally purchased as a vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Henreid. Warner Brothers thought the film would sell better with Davis opposite Henreid once again. It’s a pity that they weren’t right. While an artistic triumph, the picture lost money and began the downturn of Davis’ career at the top of the box office—for awhile anyway.

"A Tang Horse fit for a museum!"
Paul Henreid as "Karel" lambasts Davis' "Christine"
Warner Brothers

Deception is based on the French play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil—first produced in 1927. The play came to Broadway as Jealousy and had a successful run which ended in an initial 1929 film version, also called Jealousy. The play was revived in 1946—retitled Obsession—when it was purchased by Warner Brothers.

The studio renamed the script Deception and rewrote the story from the original though the gist of it is still the same. It’s a tale of treachery—some innocent enough, some just petty jealousy, and some pure madness. Bette Davis plays Christine Radcliffe, a talented pianist who thought her lover, Karel (Paul Henreid), was killed by the Nazis. She’s quite shocked to find him in the United States and is overjoyed when they are reunited. In her enthusiasm, she suggests they marry. But, she was forgetting one thing. Christine was already tied to another man—the powerful composer, Alexander Holenius (Rains). And, so Christine is caught between two terribly jealous men and tries to find a way to deal with both of them. She tries everything except telling the truth. And, that’s her downfall.

Always wear your finest white fur when murdering your lover.
Bette Davis teaches Claude Rains a lesson.
Warner Brothers

The film is moody and beautifully acted. Of course, being a film about the world of classical music, the score was of the utmost importance. Composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold scored the picture and composed “Holenius’” concerto which is rather a fascinating piece of 1940’s-esque classical music.

I really don’t know why this picture flopped because it’s truly quite good. For some nice, noir-ish, slightly melodramatic cello-playing, gun-shooting, wife-choking, bread-toasting, glass-breaking, shoulder-pad-wearing, dinner-ordering fun, I’d recommend Deception.