A Double Life (1947)

Anthony John is an actor whose life is strongly influenced by the characters he plays. When he's playing comedy, he's the most enjoyable person in the world, but when he's playing drama, ... See full summary »

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin,

Stars:

Ronald Colman, Signe Hasso, Edmond O'Brien

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ronald Colman	...	Anthony John
Signe Hasso	...	Brita
Edmond O'Brien	...	Bill Friend
Shelley Winters	...	Pat Kroll
Ray Collins	...	Victor Donlan
Philip Loeb	...	Max Lasker
Millard Mitchell	...	Al Cooley
Joe Sawyer	...	Ray Bonner
Charles La Torre	...	Stellini
Whit Bissell	...	Dr. Stauffer
John Drew Colt	...	Stage Manager
Peter M. Thompson	...	Asst. Stage Manager (as Peter Thompson)
Elizabeth Dunn	...	Gladys (as Elizabeth Dunne)
Alan Edmiston	...	Rex
Art Smith	...	Wigmaker

Storyline

Anthony John is an actor whose life is strongly influenced by the characters he plays. When he's playing comedy, he's the most enjoyable person in the world, but when he's playing drama, it's terrible to be around him. That's the reason why his wife Brita divorced him; although she still loves him and works with him, she couldn't stand living with him anymore. So when Anthony accepts to play Othello, he devotes himself entirely to the part, but it soon overwhelms him and with each day his mind gets filled more and more with Othello's murderous jealousy.

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Plot Keywords:

actor | jealousy | insanity | bar | waitress | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

1948 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Inspiration

Filming Locations:

Eùpire Theatre, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kanin Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Anthony John was originally written for Laurence Olivier. Olivier was unavailable when the film finally went into production.

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Goofs

At the end of the last "Othello", Tony appears to be distracted by someone just off-stage. We know that Bill, the policeman, and the restaurant owner are standing where he is looking, but the only one he knows is Bill. He had seen the restaurant owner only once, and surely couldn't have recognized him in the dark; and he had never met the policeman. His final act implies that he knows he has been found out, but what gave him that idea?

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Quotes

Anthony John: How's the chicken cacciatore?
Pat Kroll: It's your stomach.

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Connections

Featured in The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Opus 10 No. 3 in E Major"
(1829-32) (uncredited)
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Played a bit on piano by Brita

User Reviews

Even after 45 years still great

I stumbled on this late last night n TCM.

Hadn't seen it since it came out originally, but had never forgotten it.

I had completely forgotten how gorgeous and talented Signe Hasso was when she was still young, ditto for Shelly Winters before she balooned out.

Ronald Coleman, though, was the quintessential state actor of his time - I had read Othello in high school English - and HATED it. After seeing "A Double Life" I read it again and finally understood what the play was about.

The Gordon/Kanin writing team was at its peak when this script was done -

A movie well worth remembering and rewatching,