A Double Life
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Movie Reviews of A Double Life
Movie Review: A Double Life
Summary: 5 Stars
Directed by an Oscar-nominated Cukor, and boasting a literate, chilling script from Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, "Double" remains a first-rate psychological shocker. An aging Colman really earns his only Oscar in a complex part reputedly turned down by both Laurence Olivier and Cary Grant. And both Hasso and a sultry Winters score as unwitting flies caught in the web of Tony's diseased mind. See this unnerving feature, and you'll never think of Shakespearean tragedy in quite the same way. By all means, run for your "Life".Movie Review: Shelley Winters Doomed Again...
Summary: 4 Stars
A PLACE IN THE SUN, THE GREAT GATSBY, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, LOLITA, POSEIDON ADVENTURE: the list of films in which Shelley Winters dies young (orrelatively young or at least not quite yet ready for the home) goes on and on. What does that say about poor Shelley-Also-Known-As-Shirley? Well, I'm not sure, frankly. But I do know this movie preceded them all, and although I can't say for sure that it was the very first film in which she croaked, it's hard to imagine her doing any better job of it than she does here. At least in this one, she didn't end up all waterlogged.
But seriously, this is the film most often cited as Winters' breakthrough, despite the fact that she was a screen veteran by this point with 20 parts under her belt. It's not insignificant that the packaging of this DVD features her more prominently than the nominal female lead, the dignified but not very flashy Signe Hasso. Her "tough talkin' blonde from the wrong side of the tracks" was as close to archetypal as you could get. She didn't get a lot of screentime and a good deal of that was spent getting strangled, BUT she invested her character Pat Kroll with sufficient humanity that you couldn't help feel compassion for her and bemoan her fate.
The movie's lead was, of course, an aging Ronald Colman, whose star turn here as fading stage actor (fading more into insanity than oblivion, actually) got him a belated Oscar. Many contemporary viewers of this film might find that surprising. It's a meaty enough role, but by current standards at least, a bit on the hammy side. It's written that way: it's hardly the actor's fault. But if you're anything like me, you almost sure to cringe a little at some of the scenes. You know how they used to portray incipient madness back in the old days: the echoing voices, the distorted camera angles, the gay laughter in the background suddenly turning into a sinister cackle? It's all there.
And it's a little bit hokey. Legendary screenwriters Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon do manage to come up with a literate and entertaining script. The time-honored theme of the discrepancy between theatrical illusion and gritty reality is treated here entertainingly, if not especially profoundly. As suggested above, the casting of the two major feminine roles is telling. Winters' earthy, peculiarly American brand vulgarity is matched by Hasso's worldly sophistication and elegance. The filmmakers make use of the actress's international background and even have her privately coo at her leading man (and former husband) in her native Swedish.
Worlds collide here, with predictably tragic results. The elevated language of Shakespeare's OTHELLO (entire scenes of which are incorporated into the film's action) contrasts sharply with the jargon of the street savvy waitresses, cops, and journalists our lead encounters. You wonder how true it can really be that Shakespeare provided suitable entertainment for the rabble of his day.
It would be tempting to talk about the universality of Shakespearen themes and how the film cleverly relates the obsessive jealousy of Othello to the growing madness of the actor who plays him in "real life." Colman's character does have moments of heated jealousy and rage towards his ex-wife and her current admirers (one of whom, a regular Joe PR man for the play, he brutally assaults). And as you might guess, he transfers all that jealous rage onto the poor girl he murders, since she mentions, quite innocently, that she has other beaux.
It's an interesting mix of reality and illusion, and as we all know, that's what the theatre (and by extension, the cinema) is all about. In all fairness, I have no idea how fresh and new this notion may have seemed to movie-goers in 1947. If it all seems a bit hackneyed today--sorta like the kind of movies they were making 60 years ago--I guess that's in part because it WAS made 60 years ago.
Movie Review: It may be "inside the theater" stuff, but Ronald Colman gives us Othello, madness and a great exit
Summary: 4 Stars
If theatrical melodrama ever needed a set of unconventional and skilled parents, able to lay on insider nudges, the drama of putting on a drama, and fervid interior monologues, A Double Life found it with screenwriters Garson Kanin, Ruth Gordon and director George Cukor.
A successful Broadway actor, Anthony John (Ronald Colman) who is just coming off a smash comedy, finds himself drawn to accepting the role of Othello. Anthony John is unstable enough to make us uneasy, just sympathetic enough to make us like him and troubled enough to know this movie won't end happily. When Anthony John wraps his hands around his Desdemona's throat, the audience may be in for more than what they bought their tickets for. We know John will have a practice run with a coarse waitress (Shelley Winters) he picked up over a dish of chicken cacciatore.
A Double Life is a hymn to the actor's life, full of cliché's and self importance (and a turgid murder detection)...yet redeemed by the dark, brooding direction of Cukor, by the screenplay which is knowing and respectful, by some fine performances from a supporting cast that includes Signe Hasso, Edmund O'Brien, Ray Collins and Philip Loeb, and...overwhelmingly...by the performance of Ronald Colman.
Colman was one of the great romantic stars of the Thirties. Whether skewering a Ruritarian villain, wooing a noblewoman or sacrificing himself for noble causes, men admired him and women swooned. With that great voice of his, he never overacted; he projected amused aplomb or serious devotion, and he easily handled romance, adventure, sacrifice and honor. His great movies may seem somewhat dated now, but let yourself slip into A Tale of Two Cities, Random Harvest, The Prisoner of Zenda and Lost Horizon, and you'll see a degree of style, charisma and noble regret that make Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio come across as overacting, aging teens.
Anthony John's descent into roaring, jealous madness is aided by Colman's ability to handle Othello's lines with authenticity. Much of the movie is Colman acting Othello on stage or voicing Othello's thoughts in voice over. Who would have thought that the mellifluous Colman and the rough, raging Moor could be a match? Could, say, John Gielgud be a better Moor on stage? Probably. But Gielgud as Anthony John would have been gobstopping. Colman won an Academy Award for his role. This was the last major movie of Colman's career
Movie Review: Psychological Melodrama & Murder among the Footlights.
Summary: 4 Stars
Ronald Colman won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1948 for his leading role in "A Double Life". Colman plays Anthony John, a talented and popular theater actor who has a reputation for being difficult and moody when he does intense dramatic roles. When his producer proposes that he take the title role in a production of Shakespeare's "Othello", a trepidatious Anthony replies, "I've got a feeling it isn't the sort of thing I ought to do, great or no." But he succumbs to Othello's lure, and plays the Moorish king opposite his ex-wife and frequent co-star Brita (Signe Hasso) as Desdemona. Anthony has a affair with a waitress, Pat Krall (Shelley Winters), who propositioned him as she served him. Gradually, the character of Othello seeps so deeply into Anthony's psyche that he cannot separate Othello's jealousy and rage from his own and he becomes convinced that Pat is having an affair with his press agent Bill Friend (Edmond O'Brien).
"A Double Life" is psychological melodrama. Anthony John's passions are larger than life. His manner is studied and refined. And this all seems appropriate to the milieu: the theater. Anthony John's obsession -or possession- might have been an excuse to make a movie about theater. The film is immersed in the theatrical world. Great attention to detail were paid to the appearance and workings of the theater and its staff. We learn about Anthony's life and character through a monologue. Later, a soliloquy takes us through the actor's preparation for his role. Writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin create the drama by giving the process through which an actor transforms himself a sinister twist. Anthony describes his method: "The part begins to seep into your life. The battle begins. Imagination against reality. Each in its place. That's the job, if you can do it." He couldn't this time. "A Double Life" will be too melodramatic for some viewers and too stilted for others. But it's an interesting tribute to theater and a reasonably entertaining crime film. The Republic DVD (2003) has no bonus features, but the print and sound quality are good.
Movie Review: Ronald Colman's award-winning performance; Shelley Winters in her star-making role
Summary: 4 Stars
Director George Cukor strips away the glitter and tinsel of Broadway in the 1947 psychological thriller A DOUBLE LIFE, starring Ronald Colman in the role which finally netted him an Academy Award.
Acclaimed stage actor Anthony John (Ronald Colman) takes up the role he has been dreaming of for years - Shakespeare's diabolical Othello. Co-starring with his ex-wife Brita (Signe Hasso) as Desdemona, Tony's role starts to take a serious toll on his mental state as the show runs to audience and critical acclaim for many, many months. Finally, his nerves as brittle as the Bard's dialogue, Tony snaps and kills pretty waitress Pat (Shelley Winters) using his Othello "kiss of death" strangle-hold.
Featuring a sharp script from Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, A DOUBLE LIFE was the film that first established Shelley Winters as a promising new star; and while she only features in two relatively brief sequences, her character is the key to Ronald Colman's most amazing acting scene in the entire film. Gorgeous Swedish actress Signe Hasso lights up the screen as Brita and has a lovely chemistry with Colman. Edmond O'Brien co-stars as the publicity agent who suspects Tony of murder; also keep your eyes peeled for a young Betsy Blair.
The DVD from Artisan/Republic Pictures features a print that has been independently restored by the UCLA Archive. While quite serviceable, it does exhibit some telecine wobble and other age-related print damage problems. I'd love to see Universal release this title with some bonus features and a comprehensive restoration job, but somehow I doubt it will ever happen. A real pity, because this is one of the all-time best from George Cukor.