A Stolen Life (1946) Reviews

• Two Bettes for the price of one!

  jotix1002006-02-17

  Bette Davis is at her best in "A Stolen Life" playing the most satisfactory characters in the decade of the forties. The mere idea of showing Ms. Davis on the same frame with herself must have presented a challenge for the director, Curtis Bernhardt. We can't think of any other actress that could have pulled this off with the elegance and the good instinct that Bette Davis brought to the project. The mere fact of playing two women so different from one another must have been what inspired Ms. Davis to take the dual role, which proved to be one of her most popular on the screen. The good Kate is sweet and unassuming, while Patricia, the identical twin sister, is vain, envious and shallow. In taking Bill away from Kate, Patricia doesn't change her way of life, something that pains Bill, as he has second thoughts about the mistake he made in marrying the wrong woman. The film will delight all Bette Davis fans because they will get two Bettes for the price of one. Ms. Davis' trademark movements and those expressive eyes are seen throughout the film. Glenn Ford proved to be the right kind of leading man because he always projected an honesty and an integrity little seen in other actors of his generation. Both actors make the movie work in unexpected ways. The supporting cast is also interesting. Walter Brennan, Dane Clark, Charles Ruggles, and the rest are perfect in the background. The musical score by Max Steiner plays well with the action in the film. The excellent cinematography of Ernest Haller and Sol Polito adds another layer to the movie. Curtis Bernhardt directed with flair and made "A Stolen Life" a film in which to cherish for the great performances he got from Bette Davis and Glenn Ford.

• Bette has fun with dual role in good soaper...

  Doylenf2001-04-21

  'A Stolen Life' is designed to give Bette Davis an interesting dual role--and she plays it extremely well, more introspective than usual. With Glenn Ford, Walter Brennan and Dane Clark in support, it's an interesting melodrama of good sister vs. bad sister when the bad one falls in love with the good twin's sweetheart. Romantic rivalry goes into high gear and the plot thickens when the bad twin is accidentally killed in a boating accident--thus giving the good woman an opportunity to pose as her sister in order to be close to her former lover. While it's all highly improbable, especially when described in plot outline, there are a lot of good touches that make the film absorbing, entertaining and believable. Glenn Ford plays the confused young lighthouse keeper convincingly. Dane Clark has a peripheral role as a cynical artist that completely wastes his talent and seems to serve no useful purpose. Walter Brennan, Charles Ruggles and Bruce Bennett have good supporting roles. The trick photography gives the illusion that Davis is really two separate personalities--very effective indeed. For Davis fans, this is a "must see" film. Smoothly directed by Curtis Bernhardt, there's a tasteful background score by Max Steiner that appropriately accompanies images of a New England village setting.

• A sudser with two Bettes and one Glenn

  blanche-22006-09-10

  Bette Davis is Kate and her twin Pat in "A Stolen Life," a 1946 film which also stars Glenn Ford, Walter Brennan, Charles Ruggles, and Dane Clark. We first see Davis as the artist Kate visiting the family's New England cottage (these people have homes everywhere). There she meets the drop-dead gorgeous lighthouse man Bill (Ford, in his first role after the war). She falls hard. Then we find out she has a twin sister who is much less reserved, sexier, and who goes after what she wants. On her way to a lunch date, Pat sees Bill, who mistakes her for Kate. One look at him, and she's ready to play along. But really, who could blame her? That day, Bill finds out that Kate is a twin, and that Pat turns him on - while he's only fond of Kate. Nature takes its course, and guess which Bette gets left out. This is a very entertaining movie with Davis creating two different characters. In the very beginning, you don't know Davis has a twin. She returns home and enters her room with the light off, and her sister starts talking to her from the other side of the room - with a perkier voice, so not even that gives it away. Slowly, we realize they're identical twins, and that she hasn't let Bill into the house because her sister is a man magnet. Glenn Ford is one film away from big stardom in "A Stolen Life" --next, he would romance Rita Hayworth in "Gilda." At 30, he was stunningly handsome with the easygoing, gentle, and sweet manner that would hold him in good stead for the next 45 years. Truly an ideal leading man. He and Davis get excellent support from Charles Ruggles, in a nice performance as the girls' cousin, and Walter Brennan, Ford's irascible lighthouse boss. Dane Clark's role is somewhat troublesome. In the John Garfield vein, he plays a rough, temperamental artist who teaches Kate to paint better and becomes interested in her, but his role drops off. The entire role could have been cut. Davis was 37 when she made this film, which she produced herself. With three years left on her contract, it was sadly her last hit at Warners. Deservedly so, because she is terrific in the dual roles. She would repeat this device later on in her career with "Dead Ringer," and some of the plot points are reminiscent of that film. Wonderfully entertaining and a must for Davis and Ford fans.

• Double Trouble

  BumpyRide2004-06-02

  I found the first half of the picture dragged for me, with a lot of dark shadows, and meandering scenes at the light house. Once the story picked up, and the "evil" twins goes over the side of the boat, then I knew I was in for some good old fashioned Bette Davis fun. I was very impressed with the creation of the "twins." For 1946, I found the scenes quite convincing, and wondered how they did that. The sets were fabulous, I'd take any of those houses, but thought the costumes were somewhat lacking. No, "Now, Voyager" stunning outfits for sure. Glenn Ford was fine, and very young, however I didn't care for the struggling artist side story. I would like to have seen much more of Kate trying to pass herself off as Pat, for that was the fun part of the film for me.

• The Good Bette and the Bad Bette

  bkoganbing2006-02-16

  Twin Sisters played by Bette Davis both have the hots for Glenn Ford although why I'm not sure. He's not a terribly ambitious fellow, wants nothing more in life than to be a lighthouse keeper, maybe succeed Walter Brennan as head lighthouse keeper when Brennan moves on. Bad Bette is a selfish spoiled brat who traps Glenn into marriage simply to spite good Bette. Then both sisters are out sailing and a sudden storm, much like the one that swamped the S.S. Minow succeeds in drowning one of the sisters. You have to watch the film to decide which one. A Stolen Life is a Bette Davis triumph. It's not easy for any player to do multiple roles in any film. For that alone fans of Bette Davis should make this a must see melodrama. Additionally the special effects with the storm are quite well done. Glenn Ford got a big career boost just in co-starring with Bette Davis, it was a break from doing the potboilers he was doing at Columbia. Dane Clark plays a truculent artist in the best tradition of a John Garfield wannabe. The twins gimmick makes the film worth seeing. Bette was in a post war career slump from The Corn is Green until she left Warner Brothers and did All About Eve with 20th Century Fox. A Stolen Life is not the worst film she did during that period and she's got some good moments. But it isn't Now Voyager or Dark Victory or The Little Foxes.