A Stolen Life (1946)

When a woman's twin sister is drowned, she assumes her identity in order to be close to the man she feels her sister took from her years before.

Director:

Curtis Bernhardt

Writers:

Catherine Turney (screen play), Margaret Buell Wilder (adaptation),

Stars:

Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Kate Bosworth and her twin sister Patricia fall in love with Nantucket lighthouse inspector Bill Emerson. Patricia and Bill are married. To forget, Kate returns to painting. Bill goes to Chile; Kate and Patricia go sailing; Patricia is washed overboard and drowned. Kate's boat capsizes and, when she recovers consciousness ashore, she (believed to be Patricia) is told that Bill is returning from Chile.

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Plot Keywords:

sister | twin | lighthouse | boat | sexual awakening | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 July 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Uma Vida Roubada

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

B.D. Production, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because of her constant insistence for better productions to work on, and an overall better atmosphere on set, Jack L. Warner asked Bette Davis to produce the film. It would be the first and only time she would be able to do this. Reportedly, she was so overworked and also intrigued by this job that she started a relationship with the director of this film to iron out her mind.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #22.221 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"The Sailor's Hornpipe"
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

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.