A Double Life (1947)
Director: George Cukor
Honors:
Actors can be a peculiar sort. Some may be only able to act
in one style where they may only be able to their names with each character to
fit each production. Others struggle to discover a motivation for their roles
and may only end up simply read lines. Some are difficult to perceive as
individuals away from their craft as
they tend to act, or be “on,” all the time whether performing or not. Then
there are those that wrap themselves completely into there characters, allowing
the role to take over a portion of their psyche that makes the player feel as
if the character is best portrayed through them, as if possessed by the
character. This later style of actor is the seen as the subject of the Academy
Award winning performance of Ronald Colman in A Double Life. The tale is a thrilling drama of a man’s inner
struggle between his art and his relationships, a film shot beautiful
portraying the glamour and hard work of the Broadway stage, the seediness of a
mans inner self, and sacrifice one makes for the love of his craft.
A Double Life is a
film noir of a actor whose celebrated ability to be engulfed in the characters
he portrays spills over into his life, taking on the jealous rage of a famed
Shakespearean character leading to his own tragedy. Ronald Colman portrays Anthony
John, a distinguished Broadway star whose acting manipulates the person while
off stage. While working in a hit comedy he is a delightful person away from
the stage, while in dramas his personality swings towards a more serious and
sometimes darker persona. These swings in mood between productions is the reason
his is divorce from his wife, fellow actress Brita (Signe Hasso), who still
loves him and regularly works alongside of him, but she found his personality
changes unlivable for her.
Anthony’s newest role is Shakespeare’s Othello where he convinces Brita
to co-star as his Desdemona. The production
becomes a Broadway smash for the actor and production alike; however, Anthony’s
ability to conjure up the rage and jealousy of Othello begins to haunt him
psychologically. Beginning with voices heard only in his mind, he starts to lose
control of himself as the characteristic of Othello take over his own mind and
actions. Othello’s jealousy towards Desdemona mirror Anthony’s fears of Brita’s
presumed affair, a relationship she shares with the play’s press agent, Bill
Friend (Edmund O’Brien). With his feeling for his ex-wife Anthony’s mind fades
into Othello’s vengeance, nearly killing her during one of their performances
in the scene where Othello strangles Desdemona. Eventually Anthony gives into
rage resulting in him strangling a mistress of his, a young waitress named Pat
(Shelly Winters). The similar death to the Desdemona character begins to
attract attention to the play and eventually to the condemnation of Anthony,
who guilt stricken takes his life on stage as Othello does, finally confessing
of the murder before succumbing to his wound.
The film is a compelling melodrama with the wonderful flavor
of Broadway mixed in. The parallel of Othello and the main character in
tactfully done with brilliant acting of the respected veteran actor Ronald
Colman under the direction of George Cukor. The complex relation of the ex
husband and wife creates a complicated relationship that is filled with love
and frustration resulting in a film that may start off slow, but unsuspectingly
pulls you in as the plot builds culminating in a rather gripping Shakespearean
finale.
For a film that was originally intended to feature Laurence
Olivier in the starring role, Ronald Colman fills in more than admirably. Many
may wish to have seen Olivier as Anthony John, but to watch Colman carry
himself as a famed Broadway actor with the joie de vivre of a man energized by
his performances, yet at the same time battles the demons that come with it is
compelling and well deserving of the Academy Award and Golden Globe bestowed
upon him. Many actors in Hollywood would have loved to taken on such a role,
but the Shakespearean acting frighten most non-classical styled actors away,
including the likes of Cary Grant who was said to have turned down the role.
With this performance Colman garnered the top praise for his
craft, an honor that had eluded him at the 3rd Academy Awards in 1929, when
actors where nominated for their collective body of work during the year, and
1942 for his starring role in Random
Harvest. Once again Colman had arisen to the being among the greatest in
his field of acting; however he would only appear in a couple more feature films
during his career. Before his death in 1957 he would mostly make appearances on
radio shows and on television as he cut back on his work after a long,
celebrated livelihood on the silver screen.
Swedish born actress Signe Hasso portrays the loved ex-wife
of Anthony as Brita. Her performance evokes the touch of a loving wife with all
the frustrations one can imagine in a relationship that just could not work.
Her performance is soft, contrasted to Colman’s, providing the sturdy canvas
for which the drama of the picture plays against. For an actress once billed as
the next Greta Garbo, this picture would be her crowning achievement and her personal
favorite role in her career as feature work for her began to sputter over the
next decade, eventually seeing her later roles on TV movies and on stage.
As Brita’s love interest Billy, Edmund O’Brien’s performance
is sadly forgettable. Important to the overall plot of the movie as the scorn
of Anthony and Brita’s estranged yet romantic and professional relationship,
the role of Billy serves catalyst that sets Anthony off, while also being the amateur
detective the pieces together the crime committed. The way Billy is played by
O’Brien could have been done by any second or third level Hollywood actor, as
his performance adds very little interest to an otherwise important character.
O’Brien was still a very good actor, a future Oscar and Golden Globe winner at
that, but here as Billy it is clear that he is not playing up to a manner that
may take away from the film’s leading man in a highly dramatic role.
The breakout performance that is most attributed to the
picture would be that of Shelley Winters. Here the 27 year-old long suffering
actress who had been relegated to blonde bombshell bit roles for several years finally
found a role with substance as Ronald Colman’s mistress whom he murders under
the influence of his Othello induced mindset. Her performance is brief, but as
a street-wise, forward young woman working as waitress while a poorly aspiring
actress, she is willing to take home men that are agreeable to flirt with her.
Winters’ Pat makes for a different kind of woman’s character
not seen too often in film during this time, as promiscuous lady, a subject
censors tended to frown upon, yet she is the sympathetic victim that had done
nothing wrong but meet the wrong guy at the wrong time. For Winters after years
of failing to find good roles, shook off her Brooklyn accent and stayed the
coarse, studying acting while landing bit roles around Hollywood until this
role allowed her to display her talent, blossoming into the successful career
that spanned into the 1990s.
A Double Life was
well received, praised for its story, direction and acting. The picture was
premiered on Christmas Day 1947 in order to qualify for that year’s awards,
earning four Academy Award nominations, including Best Writing, Best Music, and
Best Director, but not for Best Picture. It would mark the only picture nominated
for Best Director not nominated for Best Picture that year, coming away from the ceremony with prizes for Best Actor and Best Music. For what was classified as a film noir with
its dark tones and dualistic nature of good versus bad, this picture remains
rather intelligent and strong in the ability to capture the feeling of Broadway,
acting, and relationships. It makes for a picture that is a rather surprise in
its unassuming way, giving us our last great feature for Ronald Colman vast film
career.
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