Deception (1946 film)
| Deception | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Irving Rapper |
| Produced by | Henry Blanke |
| Screenplay by |
John Collier Joseph Than |
| Based on | the play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil |
| Starring |
Bette Davis Paul Henreid Claude Rains |
| Music by | Erich Wolfgang Korngold |
| Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
| Edited by | Alan Crosland Jr. |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.3 million (US rentals) |
Deception is a 1946 movie released by Warner Brothers, and directed by Irving Rapper. The film is based on the play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil. The screenplay was written by John Collier and Joseph Than. It stars Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains who had also appeared together in the highly successful Now, Voyager (1942).
Christine Radcliffe runs up the stairs of a college concert hall in the rain. The hall is filled with enraptured students, and her eyes fill with tears as she recognizes the cellist on stage: Karel Novak who spent the war trapped in neutral Sweden. After the performance, Novak is mobbed by well-wishers, and a student reporter questions him about his favorite composers. Novak lists some famous ones, then adds, "And, of course, Hollenius."
Novak returns to his dressing room, Christine enters and their eyes meet in his mirror. The couple embraces while Christine cries, "I thought you were dead. I saw them kill you."
Karel and Christine return to her apartment. 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 pianist but this conflicts with the evidence in the apartment. He confronts her, but frightens himself with his own vehemence and apologises to her, then says he's leaving. She stops him with the confession she lowered herself to taking "rich, untalented pupils" who gifted her with the suspicious items.
They marry, but the composer Alexander Hollenius 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. Hollenius soon gives Novak a 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, 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.
Friction develops between Novak and Hollenius, and the composer angrily breaks off a dress rehearsal on the grounds of Novak's temperamental behavior. On the evening of the premiere, Christine visits Hollenius, who threatens to tell Novak of 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, and they leave the concert hall together .
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