It stars Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, who had also appeared together in the highly successful Now, Voyager (1942),[3] which was also directed by Rapper.

Christine Radcliffe runs in the rain up the stairs of a large symphony hall in which a concert is already underway with a performance of Haydn's cello concerto in D. Her eyes fill with tears as she recognizes the cellist on stage: Karel Novak who spent the war trapped in neutral Sweden.

She has told him that she is living a financially precarious life as a pianist but this conflicts with what Karel sees in her apartment, such as a fur coat hanging in the closet and rare art on display.

On the evening of the premiere, Christine visits Hollenius, who threatens to allow Novak the joy of a successful performance only to destroy him by telling him about their love affair.

It opened on Broadway as Jealousy on October 22, 1928 at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, as a two-hander (a play with only two main characters), with Fay Bainter and John Halliday.

Indeed, Malone adds, Davis wanted to become proficient enough to play live for the camera, but director Irving Rapper told her that it was not worth the effort, because no one would believe it.

Near the beginning of the film, Jerry Spencer, an eager student reporter (Richard Erdman), asks Karel “Which of the living composers should I admire?” Karel demurs, but when asked who he likes best, he replies: “Stravinsky when I think of the present, Richard Strauss when I think of the past, and of course, Hollenius, who combines the rhythm of today with the melody of yesterday.” The last is an apt description of and probable tribute to Korngold.

[5] 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.

It's written by John Collier and Joseph Than ... With classical music filling the background, cheesy soap opera dialogue in the forefront, histrionics taking over the concert hall, none of the characters being likable and Bette Davis as hammy as ever, this preposterous opera-like tale is amazingly enjoyable as straight theatrical drama that is nevertheless campy and could easily have been treated as comedy.

"[12] Glenn Erickson notes that “The real fun is watching Claude Rains sink his teeth into a worthy role...

Rains' character is by far the most interesting, so it's no surprise that fans credit him with running away with the picture.”[7] According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $2,132,000 domestically and $1,130,000 in foreign markets.