John is amused by the plot description and by Tonia's odd intensity, and he volunteers to pay the initial cost of their play's production: five hundred dollars, the exact amount of their bad check.
Distraught and heartbroken, both Natasha and Tonia resolve to return to New York City - on foot if they must - then decide that life is no longer worth living anywhere.
Tonia, overjoyed, reveals that she loves him; he makes his declaration to her in return, then leaves to see Larry and Nikolai off to their enlistment in the Canadian army.
The play ends with the three Russians elated, their troubles over and a rosy future ahead, and Tonia (who is to marry John) declares that she no longer wants to produce a tragedy; instead, she begins to describe her idea for a marvelous comedy, about three downtrodden actresses invited to spend a weekend in Long Island.
The idea for the play came to Miramova in 1939, when she and Leontovich awkwardly and conspicuously visited the home of a well-to-do American family; she imagined that their gloomy weekend might form the basis of a delightful comedy.
[4]) Though she had no playwriting experience, a less-than-perfect command of the English language, and had already been told by the playwright Moss Hart that her idea was charming but unworkable, Miramova began work on Dark Eyes shortly thereafter, spending three months at her typewriter from seven in the morning until midnight.
[5] Harris, absent from the theater scene for five years prior, had already struck a deal with Twentieth Century Fox for the company to finance an unspecified number of his plays.
[7] A few weeks later, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and Julie Bishop were cast to play the three Russian ladies, and a release date of June 1944 was set.
[13] In October 1944, Jack Benny joined the cast, and Jerry Wald was named as the film's producer; the release date was pushed back to 1945.
The New York Times praised Dark Eyes after its opening night performance, dubbing it "a very engaging, entertaining and charming play that is beautifully directed and acted to the last line that is in it.
"[15] Time magazine reviewed the play on 25 January 1943 and praised the skillful acting and directing, but panned the "wobbly playwriting" of the script and the "monotonous" nature of the comedy.
[16] Theater critic George Jean Nathan recognized Dark Eyes as the Best Farce-Comedy of the Year in 1943, calling it "intelligently entertaining playgoing".
[17] The play enjoyed widespread success with its American performances; one audience letter referred to the "unanimous approval of the New York critics",[18] and director Jed Harris related, "This Dark Eyes is proving a real hit--no question about it.
"[19] The opinion abroad was also positive, with The London News-Chronicle calling the Russians' antics "utterly absurd but very enjoyable" and promoting the play as "a delirious farce of slight pretensions.
"[20] Published audience letters agreed with official sources, with one writer stating that Miramova "deserves the success she is having" with her "hilarious comedy".