6/10
Intrigued with deception
26 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Because Of Him casts Deanna Durbin as the most winsome young ingénue seen on screen since Katharine Hepburn in Morning Glory. Durbin is determined to succeed on the stage and is willing to use some extralegal contrivances to get there. But as this film is light she's not as ruthless as Eve Harrington.

What she does do is pretend to be an autograph seeker and seeks out famous stage actor Charles Laughton's autograph on a folded piece of paper which opened up is a letter of introduction to a famous producer. It costs her a job at the restaurant she works at as Charles Halton her boss fires her. But it does work and Laughton is intrigued by her even with her deception.

Also intrigued is playwright Franchot Tone who has a role similar to that of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in Morning Glory. Therein lies the triangle, but I don't think anyone expected Laughton to get Durbin.

In fact the final scene of the play within a movie is Laughton's best as he changes Tone's dialog and the play itself to get the two of them together.

Durbin has three songs and why she wasn't after a musical career is beyond me. Still fans of Laughton, Durbin, and Tone will like this.
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