A Double Life (1947)

Could it really be the first time in 10 months that I accepted a Meetup invitation to a film? At any rate, I finally took advantage of AFI's Shakespeare festival, even if it meant yet another Othello adaptation.

OK, that's not a fair summary; it's more of an adaptation of the little-remembered Men Are Not Gods. Tony (Ronald Colman) is a stage actor admired for his talent but notoriously hard to get along with, not least because his method acting runs away with him. This is especially problematic when he plays Othello for an improbable 300+ nights, opposite his ex-wife (Signe Hasso), and develops auditory hallucinations. I won't say precisely what crimes he commits, but his temporary insanity does not prevent him from making the trail a bit difficult for the police to follow correctly. Then an acquaintance grows suspicious....

This flick may be most notable for giving Shelley Winters a breakout role. It wasn't her first, just the first to garner much attention. She is a waitress, not Tony's co-star in the play, but she develops an interest in him before she knows even his claim to fame, much less his claim to infamy. Not an enviable position on any count. (Edmond O'Brien, Ray Collins, and Whit Bissell also rang bells for me, but I think you need to know a lot of oldies to appreciate their names.)

Previously, I had seen Colman only in earlier fare: Lost Horizon (1937), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), and Random Harvest (1942). He'd been quite a silents star before. For this reason, it interested me to see him emoting in a style more common for the late '40s. My Meetup companions thought there was a bit of overacting, but considering the plot, I think it pretty much had to be played to the hilt. Colman as a Laurence Olivier substitute has my respect.

George Cukor is best remembered for comedies and uplifting dramas, but he also did Gaslight. I call ADL his second creepiest noir to my knowledge; I'm not sure how to compare it in credibility. I also give kudos to writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, of Adam's Rib and Pat and Mike fame, for succeeding in another genre for once.