The Dark Mirror | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert Siodmak |
Screenplay by | Nunnally Johnson |
Story by | Vladimir Pozner |
Produced by | Nunnally Johnson |
Starring | Olivia de Havilland Lew Ayres Thomas Mitchell |
Cinematography | Milton R. Krasner |
Edited by | Ernest J. Nims |
Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
Color process | Black and white |
Production companies | International Pictures Nunnally Johnson Productions |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2,750,000 (US rentals) [1] |
The Dark Mirror is a 1946 American film noir psychological thriller film directed by Robert Siodmak starring Olivia de Havilland as twins and Lew Ayres as their psychiatrist. The film marks Ayres' return to motion pictures following his conscientious objection to service in World War II. De Havilland had begun to experiment with method acting at the time and insisted that everyone in the cast meet with a psychiatrist. The film anticipates producer/screenwriter Nunnally Johnson's psycho-docu-drama The Three Faces of Eve (1957). Vladimir Pozner's original story on which the film is based was nominated for an Academy Award. [2] [3]
Dr. Frank Peralta is stabbed to death in his apartment one night. The detective on the case, Lt. Stevenson, quickly finds two witnesses putting Peralta's girlfriend, Terry Collins, at the scene. However, when Stevenson finds and questions Terry, she has an iron-clad alibi, and several witnesses of her own. It is revealed that Terry has an identical twin sister, Ruth, and the pair share a job and routinely switch places for their own benefit. Stevenson and the district attorney are unable to prosecute since the twins refuse to confirm which of them has the alibi.
Unable to accept the "perfect crime", Lt. Stevenson asks Dr. Scott Elliot for help. Scott is an expert on twin study, and has been routinely encountering the Collinses at their shared workplace but does not know which is which. As a front, Scott asks Terry and Ruth if he can study them individually as part of his research. The twins accept, though Ruth is worried that Scott might find out that Terry was at Peralta's apartment the night of the murder. However, Terry is attracted to Scott and insists that they can keep the secret for the sake of seeing him. She also comforts Ruth, reminding her that she was only at Peralta's apartment but didn't kill him.
From Scott's psychological tests and by spending time with them, he discovers that Ruth is kind and loving, while Terry is highly intelligent and insane, and has been manipulating Ruth almost their entire lives. Terry is jealous that people keep preferring Ruth over her, and is enraged yet again when Scott falls in love with Ruth instead of her. Terry starts methodically gaslighting Ruth, making her believe that she's hallucinating and going insane, in the hopes of pushing her to suicide.
Scott reports his findings to Stevenson, who advises him to warn Ruth immediately. That night, Scott arranges to meet with Ruth at his apartment, but Terry intercepts the message. Terry leaves Ruth alone in their apartment and sets a music box in a hidden place to encourage Ruth to believe she's developing the madness erroneously believed always to afflict one of two twins. Terry goes to meet Scott, and he explains everything he's learned about the twins' relationship and Terry’s intense rivalry with her innocent sister, knowing all along that he's speaking to Terry, not to Ruth. Scott also believes that Peralta, who didn't know they were twins, wooed Terry but was really in love with Ruth, and Terry killed him for it. When Scott receives a call from the Lieutenant Stevenson, Terry considers stabbing him in the back with the nearby scissors. Stevenson is at the twins' apartment, having gone there on a hunch, and says he's found Ruth dead.
Scott and Terry go to the sisters' apartment, where Terry "confesses" to Stevenson that her "sister" killed Peralta and committed suicide out of guilt. Terry confirms all of Scott's psychological test results, but she herself claims to be Ruth, and says that she's relieved that "Terry” is dead. Just then Ruth enters the room, alive and well, which causes Terry angrily to throw her glass at a mirror reflecting the real Ruth's image. Stevenson did visit Ruth on a hunch but only found her in distress, not dead; he then faked the phone call to trap Terry, who is arrested. Scott and Ruth are free to enjoy their future together.
German-American filmmaker Siodmak’s The Dark Mirror is a melodrama representative of a Hollywood genre emerging in the 1940s concerning Abnormal psychology and its treatment through Psychoanalysis. [4]
The cinematic handling of the topic in The Dark Mirror reflected Siodmak’s roots in German expressionism. Film historian Andrew Sarris observed that Siodmak’s Hollywood films “were more Germanic than his [German]-made films. (the director fled Nazi dominated Europe in 1940). [5] The application of the techniques of German expressionism are evident through the use of chiaroscuro shadow, distortions in sound effects and dialogue and the use of mirrors to emphasize the psychotic descent of the characters, culminating in a “genuine tour de force.” [6]
Siodmak directed a series of psychological dramas in subsequent years including Phantom Lady (1944), Christmas Holiday (1944), The Suspect (1945), The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) and The Killers (1946), the latter an adaption of Ernest Hemingway’s short story. [7]
When first released the staff at Variety magazine gave the film a mixed review, writing, "The Dark Mirror runs the full gamut of themes currently in vogue at the box office - from psychiatry to romance back again to the double identity gimmick and murder mystery. But, despite the individually potent ingredients, somehow the composite doesn't quite come off...Lew Ayres is cast in his familiar role as a medico - a specialist on identical twins. Slightly older looking and sporting a mustache, Ayres still retains much of his appealing boyish sincerity. But in the romantic clinches, Ayres is stiff and slightly embarrassed looking. Copping thespic honors, despite a relatively light part, Thomas Mitchell plays the baffled dick with a wry wit and assured bearing that carries belief." [8]
In her 2019 biography, Olivia de Havilland: Lady Triumphant, Victoria Amador quotes James Agee's November 9, 1946, review in The Nation : “I very much like Olivia de Havilland’s performance,” Agee wrote. “She has for a long time been one of the prettiest women in movies; lately she has not only become prettier than ever, but has started to act.” [9]
Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times , was critical, writing, "The Dark Mirror, like so many of its ilk, suffers from its author's lack of ingenuity to resolve his puzzle in a satisfying manner. As in his earlier and superior mystery, The Woman in the Window , Mr. Johnson solves the problem with a bit of trickery which is no credit to his craftsmanship. Still, one must hand it to Mr. Johnson for keeping his audience guessing, if not always entertained." [10]
In a 9 February 1947 review in Australia's Daily Telegraph, Josephine O'Neill wrote: “This engrossing psychological drama frames a remarkable performance by Olivia de Havilland... so thoughtful and subtle that each girl becomes a clear-cut personality early in the film. That production trick of identity jewels to distinguish the pair is unnecessary. In fact, Olivia's is the Academy Award work of the year... The quiet, distinguished production...obtains an extraordinary amount of suspense with the minimum of action... Robert Siodmak's clever, low-keyed direction is as unusual as his cast... (Lew) Ayres does a fine, sensitive, and charming job. Thomas Mitchell... is in excellent form... it's a long time since Mitchell has had so good a story. To sum up: one of the best in its class.” [11] [12]
In the August 15, 1991, issue of The New York Review of Books, Geoffrey O'Brien included The Dark Mirror in a list of 16 videos leading a piece headlined “The Return of Film Noir!” [13]
As of July 2020, Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 67% fresh, based on 6 reviews, most of them dating from the 21st century. [14] The site quotes Richard Brody's positive review in the November 26, 2012, issue of The New Yorker : “ Its evocation of biological destiny wrenches the modernistic romance into tragedy.“ [14] [12]
The Dark Mirror was remade as a TV film in 1984 with Jane Seymour as the twins, Stephen Collins as the psychiatrist, and Vincent Gardenia as the detective.
Robert Siodmak was a German film director. His career spanned some 40 years, working extensively in the United States and France, as well as in his native country. Though he worked in many genres, he was best known as a skilled craftsman of thrillers and film noir, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for The Killers (1946).
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue ten Academy Award nominations for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
The Heiress is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed and produced by William Wyler, from a screenplay written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 stage play of the same title, which was itself adapted from Henry James' 1880 novel Washington Square. The film stars Olivia de Havilland as Catherine Sloper, a naive young woman who falls in love with a handsome young man despite the objections of her emotionally abusive father who suspects the man of being a fortune hunter. Montgomery Clift stars as Morris Townsend, and Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper.
Hold Back the Dawn is a 1941 American romantic drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen, in which a Romanian gigolo marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her. It stars Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen, Walter Abel, Curt Bois, Rosemary DeCamp, and an uncredited Veronica Lake.
The Snake Pit is a 1948 American psychological drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Beulah Bondi, and Lee Patrick. Based on Mary Jane Ward's 1946 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, the film recounts the tale of a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum and cannot remember how she got there.
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland was a British and American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. At the time of her death in 2020 at age 104, she was the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner and was widely considered as being the last surviving major star from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Her younger sister, with whom she had a noted rivalry well documented in the media, was Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine.
Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in nine films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Johnny Belinda (1948).
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was an English-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Fontaine appeared in more than 45 films in a career that spanned five decades. She was the younger sister of actress Olivia de Havilland. Their rivalry was well-documented in the media at the height of Fontaine's career.
To Each His Own is a 1946 American romantic drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Olivia de Havilland, Mary Anderson, Roland Culver and John Lund. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Charles Brackett and Jacques Théry. A young woman bears a child out of wedlock and has to give him up.
George Brent was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. He is best remembered for the eleven films he made with Bette Davis, which included Jezebel and Dark Victory.
The Spiral Staircase is a 1946 American psychological horror film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore. Set over the course of one evening, the film follows a mute young woman in an early-20th century Vermont town who is stalked and terrorized in a rural mansion by a serial killer targeting women with disabilities. Kent Smith, Rhonda Fleming, Gordon Oliver and Elsa Lanchester appear in supporting roles. It was adapted for the screen by Mel Dinelli from the novel Some Must Watch (1933) by Ethel Lina White.
Phantom Lady is a 1944 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, and Alan Curtis. Based on the novel of the same name by Cornell Woolrich, it follows a young Manhattan secretary and her endeavors to prove that her boss did not murder his wife.
The Pallbearer is a 1996 American romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Matt Reeves in his directorial debut and starring David Schwimmer, Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette, Michael Vartan, Michael Rapaport, and Barbara Hershey. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
The Guilty is a 1947 American film noir directed by John Reinhardt, based on Cornell Woolrich's short story "He Looked Like Murder". The film was produced by oil millionaire Jack Wrather, the husband of lead actress Bonita Granville.
Dark Mirror or The Dark Mirror may refer to:
Red Light is a 1949 American film noir crime film starring George Raft and Virginia Mayo, and directed and produced by Roy Del Ruth. Based on the story "This Guy Gideon" by Don "Red" Barry, it features strong religious overtones.
That Lady is a 1955 British-Spanish historical romantic drama film directed by Terence Young and produced by Sy Bartlett and Ray Kinnoch. It stars Olivia de Havilland, Gilbert Roland, and Paul Scofield.
Night World is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film featuring Lew Ayres, Mae Clarke, and Boris Karloff. The supporting cast includes George Raft and Hedda Hopper.
Murder with Pictures is a 1936 American crime-mystery film based on a story by George Harmon Coxe. The film was directed by Charles Barton, the screenplay was written by Jack Moffitt and Sidney Salkow. Lew Ayres starred as Kent Murdock, Gail Patrick starred as Meg Archer; Paul Kelly and Benny Baker also appeared in the film. The film was released September 25, 1936.
This filmography lists the film appearances of British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916–2020), as well as her television, stage, and radio credits. De Havilland's career spanned fifty-three years, from 1935 to 1988. During that time, she appeared in forty-nine feature films, and was one of the leading movie stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. She is best known for her early screen performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with the Wind (1939), and her later award-winning performances in To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949). De Havilland made her screen debut in Reinhardt's film adaptation A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935. She began her career playing demure ingénues opposite popular leading men of that time, including Errol Flynn, with whom she made her breakout film Captain Blood in 1935. They would go on to make seven more feature films together, and became one of Hollywood's most popular romantic on-screen pairings.