Review of A Stolen Life

A Stolen Life (1946)
5/10
Time-filler
18 July 2010
Kate (Bette Davis) travels to stay with her twin sister Pat (Bette Davis) and meets Bill (Glenn Ford) en route. Kate and Bill spend their time together on evening dates and at his lighthouse home - yes, he is one of those freaks who live in a lighthouse. However, once Bill meets twin sister Pat, he falls in love with her and the two of them get married. Kate is devastated. A boating accident allows Kate another chance into Bill's life.....

The storyline is just a heap of unconvincing nonsense and is quite slow. It drags on numerous occasions. Bette Davis does well in her two roles and is a class above the rest of the cast. Watch her reaction as both evil sister Pat and good sister Kate when Pat tries to throw her bouquet in Kate's direction. Top quality. Glenn Ford is OK, although he does resemble a gormless monkey on occasions. A mention for the character of the struggling artist "Karnock" as portrayed by Dane Clark - he is terrible - what an unrealistic performance. It defies belief but provides unintentional humour. The ending is a great example of pure Hollywood cheese. It's sappy and totally stupid but what we are all expecting to happen.

The film is OK in that it passes the time. A better film containing the twins theme that was released in the same year is "The Dark Mirror", in which Olivia de Havilland plays good and evil twin sisters. A better film starring Bette Davis from the same year is "Deception".
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