says waitress Shelley Winters (Pat) in the funniest line from the film. She's a waitress that has a dalliance with esteemed stage actor Ronald Colman (Anthony). She looks slim in this film but as soon as you recognize her, it's pretty obvious about her fate. The film is about weirdo Colman losing his identity in the roles that he plays and so, of course, his next role is Othello where he gets to murder Desdemona every night. This is pretty obvious stuff.The idea is fine but everything about the film can be anticipated, especially as it is told at such a snail's pace. Boring? Yep. Especially as they throw in huge segments of the actual Shakespearean performance of Othello. I didn't buy a film about the play but this is what you end up watching. You get huge irrelevant sections of the very boring play. The best version of the Othello death scene is done by the cast of Cheers. As this film seems to contain so much footage of the Othello performance, it is aptly relevant to review the Cheers performance as a comparison. Cheers does it way better! There are some nice techniques employed in the film to convey Colman's madness but the story doesn't make any sense at all – from the initial idea of the actor going mad and losing his identity in his role, to the ludicrous relationship he has with ex-wife and fellow actress Signe Hasso (Brita), to the insultingly daft investigation into the killer being caught. The film, unfortunately, just drags even in spite of Whit Bissell turning up in a small role. I recommend you watch the Cheers episode instead of this for a much more realistic and funnier tale of a man being consumed by jealousy and acting out the Othello thing.

A Double Life is an enthralling but hammy melodrama. It is regarded as a film noir but I never thought George Cukor was cut out for such type of pulpy film but it does have noirish elements.Tony John (Ronald Colman) is a stage actor who lives his parts. Initially he is charming and urbane because he is presently playing a proper gent in a comedy.His ex wife also an actress Brita (Signe Hasso) mentions how he got so wrapped up in his roles. They fell in love when they appeared in a comedy and got divorced when doing Chekov.When Tony is persuaded to play Othello with Brita as Desdemona things slowly come to a head. The play is a hit but the Moor's jealousy, suspicion and rage start to come to a forefront in his personal life as each night he has to strangle his Desdemona. Tony John and Othello seem to merge as one personalities. He gets carried away with paranoia one night leading to murder.The film does come across as heavy handed but director George Cukor also had a keen sense of making the theatre come alive as the actors step on to the stage with the bright lights blinding them.Ronald Colman won an Oscar as the befuddled actor who is slowly losing his sanity and Shelly Winters is striking as the brassy waitress he picks up.

I saw "A Double Life" half a dozen times or so during its first run, as an usher at the old Rio Theater in Appleton, Wisconsin. I just happened to think of it tonight, even including the title, for the first time in years.A distinct memory: A "typical" police-beat reporter presses the detective to say "Kiss of Death"; he finally agrees: "Okay, kiss of death," and all the reporters run for the payphones.I think this was the first time I ever saw Ronald Coleman in a movie, although I was familiar with him and his wife Benita as Jack Benny's neighbors, heard occasionally on Benny's radio show.

A Double Life is directed by George Cukor and written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. It stars Ronald Colman, Signe Hasso, Edmond O'Brien, Shelley Winters, Ray Collins, Philip Loeb and Millard Mitchell. Music is by Miklos Rózsa and cinematography by Milton Krasner.Renowned actor Anthony John (Colman) becomes unable to differentiate between real life and his stage role of Othello.Colman would win the Academy Award for best actor for his riveting performance here, and it was justifiable reward. Truth is is that as a technical production it's pretty stunning all round. Krasner's chiaroscuro photography provides a cloak of psychological disharmony, Rózsa score (also Academy Award winning) pumps the blood through the story, the screenplay is skillfully literate and Cukor, in his only foray into film noir, has wonderful theatrical experience to draw on to really infuse the picture with meticulous realism.Dualities and the blurring of what's real and what's illusion are the prominent features here, while Colman's transformations between persona's are in turn heartfelt and terrifying. It looks and sounds immense, in fact the opposing contrasts between the stage scenes and the murky discord of the streets are to die for for the film noir visualist. However, there's still a whiff of pretentiousness about the picture that stops it being the whole package, while the play within a play idea certainly makes for an interesting backdrop, yet it renders the pace of the piece as being laborious at times.Are the flaws enough to stop it being a must see film? No, not at all, there's just too much great on both sides of the camera to be ignored. 7/10