Dead Ringer (1964)

Director:

Paul Henreid

Writers:

Albert Beich (writer)
Rian James (story)

Release Date:

19 February 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, now who's the fairest twin of all?

Plot:

The twin sister of a callous wealthy woman murders her out of revenge and assumes the identity of the dead woman.

Plot Keywords:

Twins | Los Angeles | Funeral | Revenge | Murder

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips
Karl Malden	...	Sergeant Jim Hobbson
Peter Lawford	...	Tony Collins
Philip Carey	...	Sergeant Hoag
Jean Hagen	...	Dede Marshall
George Macready	...	Paul Harrison
Estelle Winwood	...	Dona Anna
George Chandler	...	George, Chauffeur
Mario Alcalde	...	Garcia
Cyril Delevanti	...	Henry, the Butler
Monika Henreid	...	Janet
Bert Remsen	...	Daniel 'Dan' Lister, Bartender
Charles Watts	...	Apartment Manager
Ken Lynch	...	Captain Johnson

Also Known As:

Dead Image (UK)
Who Is Buried in My Grave? (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Bette Davis originally wanted James Philbrook of "The New Loretta Young Show" (1962) to play the role that eventually went to Karl Malden.

Goofs:

Continuity: Edith arrives at her apartment above the cocktail lounge in broad daylight, but when her boyfriend Jim comes to visit less than fifteen minutes later it is dark outside.

Quotes:

Paul Harrison: Too bad I called and woke you last night. This might not have happened.
Margaret DeLorca: It wouldn't have mattered when you called. I've gotten so I'm afraid to turn around for fear of what will happen next.
Paul Harrison: Oh, just one of those rough patches, Margaret. Things will look better in a few months.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Shuffle Off to Buffalo

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest twin of all?"

Nobody in film has yet portrayed evil bitch, and sometimes crazy evil bitch, as well and as often as the late great Bette Davis, as evidenced by such films as "Of Human Bondage", "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane", and "The Nanny", just to name a few that come immediately to mind. Capable of spitting out lines such as "Ah'd luv tuh kiss yuh, but ah jus' washed mah hair" (from "Cabin In the Cotton", 1932), "Every time you kissed me, I had to wipe my mouth! Wipe my mouth!" (from "Of Human Bondage", 1934) to "But Blanche, yuh ahhh in that chair, yuh ahhhhhhh!" (from "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane", 1962), Bette Davis made a lucrative living with her hip-swinging sashaying stride and her mannerisms that still make her a favorite of drag queens everywhere.

In "Dead Ringer", Bette was once again cast in the dual role of good sister/bad sister (Edith Phillips/Margaret DeLorca) similar to her dual roles in "A Stolen Life" (1946, with Glenn Ford). Paul Henreid, her co-star in "Now Voyager" - remember him in the classic scene that involved his lighting two cigarettes and handing Davis's character one of them - directs. "Dead Ringer"'s premise is simple: good sister impulsively tries to step into shoes of deceased bad sister in an ill-conceived move to improve her own quality of life, without thinking of the inherent consequences. In this case, as in the case of "A Stolen Life", Davis inherits the dead bad sister's myriad mix of self-imposed problems, but with worse consequences.

And as veteran filmgoers have realized for many years, the family dog always knows who's who.

Karl Malden, as Davis' earnest boyfriend (and cop) Sgt. Jim Hobbson is basically re-enacting his earnest boyfriend characterization from "A Streetcar Named Desire", and Peter Lawford, who was a real-life playboy and drunk, (in addition to allegedly acting as a bit of a pimp for the Kennedys, circa the Marilyn Monroe/John F. Kennedy/Robert Kennedy liasons era), plays Tony Collins...the drunken playboy boyfriend of the dead bad sister, Margaret DeLorca.

"Dead Ringer" was made in an era of more rudimentary special effects, so Davis's two characters interacting almost face-to-face in some scenes was quite innovative for the time, well-done (better than the obvious stand-in used for some scenes) and still holds up well.

Fun times ensue for all. Classic Bette melodrama.