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A Double Life

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6.3/10 • 74

1947-12-251h 44m

DramaThriller

A Shakespearian actor starring as Othello opposite his wife finds the character's jealous rage taking over his mind off-stage.

Directors
George Cukor
Editors
Robert Parrish

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Ronald Colman

    Ronald Colman

    Anthony John

  2. Signe Hasso

    Signe Hasso

    Brita

  3. Edmond O'Brien

    Edmond O'Brien

    Bill Friend

  4. Shelley Winters

    Shelley Winters

    Pat Kroll

  5. Ray Collins

    Ray Collins

    Victor Donlan

  6. Philip Loeb

    Philip Loeb

    Max Lasker

  7. Millard Mitchell

    Millard Mitchell

    Al Cooley

  8. Joe Sawyer

    Joe Sawyer

    Pete Bonner

  9. Charles La Torre

    Charles La Torre

    Stellini

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jul 7, 2022

7/10

Ronald Coleman always did like playing either two parts, or one with a dual-personality - and he does the latter very well indeed here. If you've a basic knowledge of Shakespeare's "Othello" the that helps a bit as he portrays an actor "Tony" who, after many year playing the title role with ex-wife "Brita" (Signe Hasso) - who is also his wife "Desdemona" in the play - is really beginning to become delusional about which existence is real... His distress isn't helped by meeting Shelley Winters "Pat" in a bar, they hook up but it isn't what he really wants. That is happiness with "Trina". When he asks her to re-marry him, she declines sending him into spiral of depression that has tragic consequences as he again descends in to his character - only it is "Pat" who suffers. There is an intensity about Colman here - his eyes, menacing; his almost schizophrenic character genuinely quite scary at times, and his Shakespearian on-stage effort decent - if not exactly Olivier - when required. All of this, coupled with strong contributions from Hasso and his friend "Bill" (Edmond O'Brien), who ends up perilously close to getting of the blame for the worst of his Colman's excesses, make for a compelling, expertly shot, story of split-personality gone, quite literally, mad! George Cukor keeps this tense and focussed, and Miklós Ròsza again provides a score that aides wonderfully with the atmosphere of the piece.

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
madnessjealous husbandsuspicion of adulterydual personalitysuspicious husbandshakespeare's othello