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, Edmond O'Brien, Signe Hasso

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ronald Colman	...	Anthony John
Signe Hasso	...	Brita Kaurin
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 Dunne	...	Gladys
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 | character says you're hurting me | character says you keep out of this | have cake and eat it too idiom | f rated | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Swedish

Release Date:

1948 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

The Art of Murder

Filming Locations:

Republic Studios - 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kanin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Technical advisor Walter Hampden, who supervised the Othello sequences, was a well-known Broadway actor-manager, with an extensive background in Shakespeare.

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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: You want to know my name - Martin.
Pat Kroll: Thank you!
Anthony John: Also Ernest and Paul, and Hamlet and Jo and, maybe, Othello. I'm French and Russian and English and Norwegian.
Pat Kroll: I got mixed blood too!

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits appear against a theatre image with stage curtain.

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Connections

References Babes in Arms (1939)

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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,