El abrazo de la muerte

Ronald Colman gives an electrifying performance as Tony John, a Broadway actor who can't separate his offstage life from Shakespeare's Othello, the character he plays on stage....Two important scenes illustrate Tony's dilemma. The first one takes place in producer Max Lasker's office. Acting is a matter of talent for the practical-minded Lasker. But Donlan, Tony's friend, disagrees: "No, no. When you do it like Tony does it, it's much more. The way he has of becoming someone else every night...so completely. No, don't tell me his whole system isn't affected by it."....The other scene occurs in waitress Pat Kroll's apartment. Tony tells her his name is Martin. She thanks him. Then he says: "Or Paul. Hamlet. Joe. And maybe Othello."....When Tony begins rehearsing Othello, we learn that though he's trying to keep his real life separated from his stage life, "The part begins to seep into your life, and the battle begins. Reality against imagination." He can't keep the two separated: In his mind Pat is Desdemona and he's Othello, and he wrongly believes she has been unfaithful to him. He murders her....Colman's bravura performance, in a complex and difficult role, earned him 1947's Academy Award for Best Actor. Oscar nominations went to Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin for Best Original Screenplay. Not to be overlooked is Milton Krasner's atomspheric cinematography.

There is an atmospheric film noir quality to A DOUBLE LIFE and one that is so fitting for the kind of story it tells. Ronald Colman is an actor who becomes obsessed with his role when playing Othello and goes off the deep end. He does his role so convincingly that it is almost frightening to see him in the grip of his delusions--a Jekyll and Hyde sort of transformation takes over when his dark side emerges. A brilliant performance and he's surrounded by excellent supporting players, notably Shelley Winters in one of her earliest roles as a dumb waitress. Signe Hasso and Edmond O'Brien are fine too. Her fear of Colman's manic state looks genuine as he looms over her figure on the bed, preparing to strangle her.

Not the sort of film you'd expect George Cukor to direct but he does it well with only occasional slow stretches in a story that could have been more tightly controlled with too much repetition in the stage scenes. Brooding and absorbing with a fine background score by Miklos Rozsa. Colman's Oscar-winning performance makes it well worth seeing.

An awesome movie from the opening frames to closing credits. It deals with a successful stage player , Ronald Colman, but things start to look really bad when he is cast in the role of cursed Othello playing with actress Signe Hasso and whose despair when the character he plays start to seep into his personal life and take over . It leads him to fateful consequences : to commit a grisly crime . But Signe Hasso and Edmond O'Brien soon discover his propensity for violence.

This one was the first of Cukor's string of fruitful collaborations with screenwriters marriage Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin about a Broadway matinee actor including a grand ending of on-stage retribution. Adding the theatre scenes that are richly and brilliantly observed. Over-the-top interpretations , as Ronald Colman is top-notch, giving a real recital as the the gifted stage actor whose unsettling personality and murderous moods come from performing the lead in Shakespeare's Othello . Colman acting is absolutely fascinating and deservedly won an Academy Award for this difficult character . Shelley Winters' first movie break after a hit on stage , it stars as a blonde buxom , a sultry waitress who is attracted to the married thespian. Along with Signe Hasso, Edmond O'Brien, and other secondaries as Ray Collins , Joe Sawyer, Whit Bissell, Philip Loeb , Millard Mitchell , all of them give excellent interpretations .

It contains an atmospheric and dark cinematography in black and white by great cameraman Milton Krasker . Furthermore, the moody soundtrack garnered aother Oscar for Miklos Rosza .The motion picture was compellingly directed by George Cukor , though it has some flaws . Cukor was one of the best Hollywood filmmakers , shooting a number of successful and classic movies with penchant for melodrama , comedy and musical , such as : David Copperfield , Margarita Gautier , Little Woman , Adam's Ríb , Born Yesterday , The Women , Philadelphia Story , Corn is Green, Dinner at Eight , Gaslight , A Star is Born, Les Girls , Holiday , Heller in Pink Tights , I Should Happen to you , What price Hollywood ? , Woman's Face and this A Double Life . Rating 7/10 . Worthwhile seeing . Essential and indispensable watching for Ronald Colman fans .

If you like "Othello," you'll love this flick since half the movie revolves around the stage production of the play.

The film has a great cast with Signe Hasso and Shelley Winters as the women in Colman's life while Edmond O'Brien plays the enterprising press agent.

A couple of the supporting players I particularly liked were Millard Mitchell as the grizzled reporter who finds an angle and Joe Sawyer, the 1940's answer to Drew Carey, who plays the cop on the case.

Great raw moments in this one with noir realism throughout.

Colman gives one of his greatest performances of his career and won an Academy Award as a Shakesperean actor whose off stage life imitates his theater role of Othello where he kills a woman he believes to be Desdemona. Electrifying suspense, laced with crackling dialogue and melodrama. Winters, in one of her earliest roles, is divine as the victim of Colman's madness. This film gives new meaning to the phrase "disappearing into a character."