The Dark Mirror
Encyclopedia
The Dark Mirror is a 1946 American psychological thriller film directed by Robert Siodmak
, starring Olivia de Havilland
as a pair of 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
. Vladimir Pozner's original story on which the film is based was nominated for an Academy Award.
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."
Bosley Crowther
, film critic for The New York Times
also 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.
Film critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film and wrote, "Siodmak deserves high praise for keeping the melodrama agreeable and intelligent when dealing with both the doppelgänger
effect and the sibling rivalry; he does it better than the way most films have covered those subjects, showing that identical twins might look the same but have different psychological attitudes."
as the twins and Vincent Gardenia
as the cop.
Robert Siodmak
Robert Siodmak was a German born American film director. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for the series of Hollywood film noirs he made in the 1940s.-Early life:...
, starring Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
as a pair of twins, and Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
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
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
at the time and insisted that everyone in the cast meet with a psychiatrist. The film anticipates producer/screenwriter Nunnally Johnson
Nunnally Johnson
Nunnally Hunter Johnson was an American filmmaker who wrote, produced, and directed motion pictures.Johnson was born in Columbus, Georgia. He began his career as a journalist, writing for the Columbus Enquirer Sun, the Savannah Press, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and the New York Herald Tribune...
's psycho-docu-drama The Three Faces of Eve
The Three Faces of Eve
The Three Faces of Eve is a 1957 American film adaptation of a case study by Corbett H. Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley. It was based on the true story of Chris Costner Sizemore, also known as Eve White, a woman who suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder formerly known as multiple personality...
. Vladimir Pozner's original story on which the film is based was nominated for an Academy Award.
Plot
This psychological thriller tells the story of a pair of identical twins, one loving and nice and the other severely disturbed. A doctor is killed and witnesses identify one of the twins as the person seen having a quarrel with the victim shortly before his death. A detective investigating the case cannot determine which twin did the killing since each can provide an alibi for the other. The cops ask for assistance from a doctor who studies twins to help crack the case.Cast
- Olivia de HavillandOlivia de HavillandOlivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
as twins Terry and Ruth Collins - Lew AyresLew AyresLew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
as Dr. Scott Elliott - Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell (actor)Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Lt. Stevenson - Richard LongRichard Long (actor)Richard Long was an American actor better known for his leading roles in several ABC television series, including The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor and Bourbon Street Beat.-Early life:...
as Rusty - Charles EvansCharles EvansSir Robert Charles Evans M.D., DSc, , was a British mountaineer, surgeon, and educator.Born in Liverpool, he was raised in Wales and became a fluent Welsh language speaker. Educated at Shrewsbury School and Oxford University, where he studied medicine, he qualified as a doctor in 1942 and joined...
as Dist. Atty. Girard - Garry Owen as Franklin (as Gary Owen)
- Lela Bliss as Mrs. Didriksen
- Lester AllenLester AllenLester Allen was a screen, stage, vaudeville, circus actor, and film director. In vaudeville, he appeared in a double act with Nellie Breen and also emceed at the Palace Theatre.-Selected filmography:...
as George Benson
Critical reception
When first released the staff at VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
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."
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, film critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
also 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
The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window is a film noir directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of psychology professor Richard Wanley who meets and becomes enamored with a young femme fatale....
, 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.
Film critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film and wrote, "Siodmak deserves high praise for keeping the melodrama agreeable and intelligent when dealing with both the doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
effect and the sibling rivalry; he does it better than the way most films have covered those subjects, showing that identical twins might look the same but have different psychological attitudes."
Remake
Dark Mirror was remade as a TV film in 1984, with Jane SeymourJane Seymour (actress)
Jane Seymour, OBE is an English actress best known for her performances in the James Bond film Live and Let Die , East of Eden , Onassis: The Richest Man in the World , and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...
as the twins and Vincent Gardenia
Vincent Gardenia
Vincent Gardenia was an Italian American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life:...
as the cop.
See also
- List of American films of 1946
- The Guilty (1947)
- The Man with My FaceThe Man with My Face (film)The Man with My Face is a 1951 American United Artists film noir crime/thriller motion picture starring Barry Nelson, Carole Mathews, Lynn Ainley, John Harvey, Jim Boles, and Jack Warden. The film marks Jack Warden's movie debut....
(1951) - Dead RingerDead Ringer (1964 film)Dead Ringer, also known as Who is Buried in my Grave? is a 1964 thriller film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Paul Henreid and produced by William H. Wright from a screenplay by Oscar Millard and Albert Beich from the story La Otra by Rian James...
(1964)
External links
- The Dark Mirror at Senses of Cinema