Ronald Colman definitely gives an award winning performance in "A Double Life." His Anthony John is played superbly and believably, giving the audience a sense of the conflicting characters. One can almost sense the confusion as he struggles mentally to distinguish between his role as Othello and his real life. Colman was most deserving of his Oscar and Golden Globe awards for 1947.
And, overall, "A Double Life" is a good movie about a man and woman who had married and then divorced, yet still loved each other and acted together on the stage. The rest of the cast were all good, but the screenplay wasn't anything exceptional. And, but for Colman's role and performance, the story itself wasn't particularly special. The film also won the Oscar for best music, and Miklos Rozsa's score and conducting was deserving. It contributed very well to the mood swings and scenes in the film. Had the story itself and more of the production been stronger, it would merit another star; and more superb performances by others of the cast could have pushed it to a 10. But an 8 rating is nothing to scoff at - and here it's due mostly to the star.
Here are a couple of samples of dialog from the film.
Max, "You and Brita - you've been divorced now, how long is it - two years?" Anthony John, "And four months." Max, "All right. And you're both still in love, aren't you?" Tony, "Uh, huh." Max, "Well?" Tony, "Why don't we marry again?" Max, "Yeah." Tony, "Heh, heh, we love each other too much for that."
Anthony John, "How's the chicken cacciatore?" Pat Kroll, waitress, "It's your stomach."
And, overall, "A Double Life" is a good movie about a man and woman who had married and then divorced, yet still loved each other and acted together on the stage. The rest of the cast were all good, but the screenplay wasn't anything exceptional. And, but for Colman's role and performance, the story itself wasn't particularly special. The film also won the Oscar for best music, and Miklos Rozsa's score and conducting was deserving. It contributed very well to the mood swings and scenes in the film. Had the story itself and more of the production been stronger, it would merit another star; and more superb performances by others of the cast could have pushed it to a 10. But an 8 rating is nothing to scoff at - and here it's due mostly to the star.
Here are a couple of samples of dialog from the film.
Max, "You and Brita - you've been divorced now, how long is it - two years?" Anthony John, "And four months." Max, "All right. And you're both still in love, aren't you?" Tony, "Uh, huh." Max, "Well?" Tony, "Why don't we marry again?" Max, "Yeah." Tony, "Heh, heh, we love each other too much for that."
Anthony John, "How's the chicken cacciatore?" Pat Kroll, waitress, "It's your stomach."