Excellent film, probably more a dramatic thriller than a 'noir' but it certainly has its nourish moments. Surprisingly light and almost comedic at the start and Thomas Mitchell as the cop keeps this up throughout the movie but he's likeable enough and the rest of the film soon darkens and becomes completely captivating with many a chilling scene. Lew Ayres strikes a fine balance between serious doctor/psychologist and potential boyfriend but it is the stunning performances of Olivia de Havilland as both sisters that is central here. Even on Blu-ray you cannot see the joins as we are shown both sisters at once almost throughout the entire movie. So well is the optical illusion effected and so well does de Havilland perform that as the film climaxes and the differentiating name tags disappear, we still have no difficulty telling the two apart, the good from the evil!

It will take you awhile to get to Lew Ayres as a character though. The movie opens on the body of a murdered man in a dark room. At first it looks as though this is going to be a police procedural with Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell) in the lead as he methodically finds out who last saw the dead man alive, who the murdered man was with, etc. Suspect number one is whittled down to a woman who runs a magazine stand in the office building where the dead doc worked. She is hauled in for questioning, but she has an ironclad alibi that includes a concert and a walk in the park, both miles from the scene of the crime, and she has witnesses that have no reason to lie for her. The good lieutenant is just about at his wit's ends when he discovers his suspect has an identical twin. (Olivia DeHaviland as Terry and Ruth Collins). So, the lieutenant quips that one is guilty of murder the other obstruction of justice unless they fess up. Terry quips back "which are you charging with which crime?" The twins have a lawyer and are armed with the fact that you can't haul multiple people in for the same crime when you know one is innocent and just see how it shakes out.At this point Thomas Mitchell fades into the background and the film becomes a psychological drama with Lew Ayres becoming the male lead. Ayres plays Dr. Scott Elliott, initially called in as a witness for the police, but when the Lieutenant discovers Dr. Elliott has spent his career studying twins, he proposes that he make friends with the Collins sisters, offer to use them in a study, and see if he can determine which is the murderer through a psychological profile.This is the part I find hard to swallow. The Collins twins have all their ducks in a row legally, and mum is the word when it comes to talking to the police, and yet they both agree to be studied by a doctor specializing in twin psychology, both yapping their brains out about their individual thought processes, all based on the fact that the good doctor SAYS he is not working for the police? I'll let you watch and see how this all shakes out.I will say that Olivia DeHaviland, like Joan Crawford, was much better at choosing roles that showed off her acting talent than her original studio - in her case Warner Bros. From 1935 until she freed herself from WB, she was pigeonholed as a light comedienne or the love interest of Errol Flynn in whatever swashbuckler he happened to be appearing. That doesn't mean she wasn't entertaining in those roles, I'm just saying she was capable of so much more. This film is a seldom seen example of DeHaviland's excellent skill. You actually see the two distinct personalities of the twins emerging as Olivia has several conversations with "her twin" that only exists as a result of editing and trick photography.Very much worth your time, and since it is hard to find any other way, I have to highly recommend the recent pressed release by Olive Films. I don't like to plug individual commercial products, but I know of no other way to see this fine piece of writing and acting.

Fans of this movie will be delighted to know that the new DVD release from Olive Films is in pristine condition and makes viewing it a double pleasure, especially for de Havilland fans.THE DARK MIRROR ('46) is a brisk, supercharged 85 minutes, a taut psychological suspense tale directed by Robert Siodmak (who directed THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE and THE KILLERS). Dimitri Tiomkin's clever background score is an added bonus.It stars Olivia de Havilland in a fascinating dual role as Ruth and Terry Collins, sisters involved in the murder of a doctor they were both dating. When good sister Ruth gives her bad twin an alibi, detective Thomas Mitchell asks psychiatrist Lew Ayres to determine which twin could be the killer, based on their differing personalities. Of course he falls in love with the good twin and solves the case in an effective ending which gives de Havilland the chance to do some real emoting. A clever scene has the bad twin pretending to be the good one in a serious talk with doctor Ayres in which he reveals what makes the psycho sister tick.It's a double-layered cat-and-mouse scene in which he is really talking about her (not her sister) and de Havilland's reactions are fascinating to watch. Thomas Mitchell is excellent as a relentless but befuddled detective unhappy with the game the sisters are playing. Richard Long has a small role as an admirer of one of the twins--or is it both of them? Bit roles are well played with occasional flashes of humor and the whole thing moves swiftly under Siodmak's tight direction.By the way, 1946 was a strong year for de Havilland. After being off the screen for more than two years due to legal action against Warner Bros., she suddenly had four films in release: DEVOTION (as Charlotte Bronte), THE WELL GROOMED BRIDE, TO EACH HIS OWN and THE DARK MIRROR, entering a four-year period climaxed at the end of the decade by THE SNAKE PIT and THE HEIRESS--and two Oscars.Summing up: two Olivia de Havilland's are better than one. Life magazine reported that she "contributes to the impression gained from TO EACH HIS OWN that she is the actress to beat for this year's Academy Award."

As stated in everyone's write-ups, this is a story of a murder with a twist; the perp is one of two identical twins. One alibis for the other, and since both can't be prosecuted for the crime, the guilty one walks. This does not sit well with Insp. Thomas Mitchell, who tries to think of a way to implicate the guilty one - whichever one that is. And so he enlists the help of psychiatrist Lew Ayres.At first, the murder is presented as an unsolvable conundrum and in a light-hearted vein, but things get serious thereafter and, unfortunately, the plot begins to bog down over some technical psychological data. But Olivia DeHavilland saves the day and the movie with a splendid performance (or two) as the twins. Gradually there appear personality differences so that even the audience can tell the difference between the two. Not many actresses could have pulled off the layered performances of the twins, but not many actresses are as proficient or as skilled as DeHavilland.This is another neglected gem from Universal's cobwebbed movie vaults that needs to be put into circulation by that comatose studio. It is one of Ms. DeHavilland's best performances and raises an average, talky movie to classic status.