A Stolen Life (1946)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Curtis Bernhardt

Writers:

Karel J. Benes (novel) and
Catherine Turney (writer)

Release Date:

6 July 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

BETTE DAVIS IN HER GREATEST OF ALL HER TRIUMPHS! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

Kate Bosworth and her twin sister Patricia fall in love with Nantucket lighthouse inspector Bill Emerson...

Plot Keywords:

Twins | Lighthouse | Boat | Sister | Kept Husband

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Kate Bosworth / Patricia Bosworth
Glenn Ford	...	Bill Emerson
Dane Clark	...	Karnock
Walter Brennan	...	Eben Folger
Charles Ruggles	...	Freddie Linley (as Charlie Ruggles)
Bruce Bennett	...	Jack R. Talbot
Peggy Knudsen	...	Diedre
Esther Dale	...	Mrs. Johnson
Clara Blandick	...	Martha
Joan Winfield	...	Lucy

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Australia:G | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #10763, Adult Audience) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Long Beach Airport - 4101 E. Donald Douglas Drive, Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

B.D. Production

Trivia:

The last film Bette Davis made at Warner Brothers (during her contract from 1932-1949) to make a profit upon release.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bridal Chorus

The lighthouse shows the way...

The subject is not really new.In her last film "Two-Faced woman" ,Greta Garbo played "twins" (but actually there was only one woman) with different personalities.More interesting was Siodak's "the dark mirror" where Davis' good friend Olivia de Havilland played twin sisters too,one of whom was suspected of murder.

Twins were certainly trendy at the time since ,the very same year as De Havilland,Davis tried her hand at the subject,not in a thriller,but in a melodrama.Davis was as subtle an actress to portray two different women.One of them is an artist ,a romantic loyal woman ;the other one is a real bitch,who steals her sister's boyfriend (Glenn Ford).

There are scenes with an "accursed " anarchist artist who becomes Kate's teacher cause he thinks her painting is lousy.The reason,he says ,is that she was never a real woman (like sister Patricia ,maybe?)Those scenes with Karnock are mostly filler,and the film becomes interesting again when Kate pretends to be Patricia,although these scenes show more than a distant resemblance with "Two-faced woman" by Cukor.

Not a major Davis movie,but interesting for her numerous fans.