The Dark Mirror

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.

The film is a little bit light, with a bumbling detective played by Thomas Mitchell and vintage Freudian psychoanalysis presented by Lew Ayres, but the twin sister role, one a good girl the other very bad, played by Olivia De Havilland has its moments. Her soft voice can go either direction, sweet and innocent or cold and devious, and the scenes where she is playing both parts, essentially talking to herself, convey a split personality, which might not have been such a bad idea, instead of making two distinct persons. It reaches a zenith in one scene in their dark bedroom with the innocent twin tormented by the mean one, who's telling her to take her sleep medication, and who in fact would like to see her overdose. Freudianism and bungling detective work win out in the end, making this all seem too convenient, and dodging a lot of the possibilities, but the central part, or parts, is DeHavilland at her best.

Psychology is a dubious science as it is, but, when a Hollywood screenwriter gets his hands on it, anything even closely resembling fact is thrown out the window. In the mid-1940s, Freudian psychology reached the peak of its popularity, and films such as Hitchcock's 'Spellbound (1945)' and Lang's 'Secret Beyond the Door… (1947)' utilised their own versions of psychoanalysis to provide easy answers for their characters' delusions. Robert Siodmak's 'The Dark Mirror (1946)' is no different, in that we are offered a half-baked pseudo-scientific dissertation on why even identical twins can be anything but identical when it comes to personality traits. In fact, screenwriter Nunnally Johnson (who also wrote and directed 'The Three Faces of Eve (1957)') actively pumps the familiar but questionable notion that twins respectively represent the good and evil sides of man. This duality is similar to that explored in the earlier versions of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920/1931/1941),' though the two sides of the human coin are here separated from their mutual shell and allowed to behave as independent entities.

Olivia de Havilland excels in dual roles as Terry and Ruth Collins, twin sisters who might just have pulled off the perfect crime, even if only one knows it. When the sisters' shared boyfriend is murdered in cold blood, two witnesses place one of the twins at the scene of the crime, while three more provide a solid alibi for the other. The only problem is that nobody can tell the pair apart. A police detective (Thomas Mitchell) is torn apart by the case: how can he charge either woman with murder if he can't decide which of the sisters is, in fact, a murderess? Only through Hollywood's good friend Dr. Freud can the true nature of the crime be exposed. The distinction between the "good" and "insane" twin is clearly drawn early in the film, with de Havilland playing one sister, Terry, as a cocky dominator, and the other, Ruth, as more softly-spoken, with eyes always downcast and hands delicately clasped together. Clarifying the dual relationship is some convenient symbolism used in the film's climax: Terry is dressed in black, and Ruth in white.

Convincing optical effects and the use of body doubles are employed successfully to create the illusion of two Olivia de Havillands. The actress does well as both characters, perhaps channelling her dislike of sister Joan Fontaine to portray the snarling, psychotic and homicidally jealous "evil sister." Though they start out perfectly alike, it doesn't take long for the two Collins sisters to develop distinct personalities in the eyes of the audience, and Siodmak should quickly have dispensed with the obvious name-tags (either a necklace or a single letter pin) added to ensure that the audience could follow who was who. Perhaps misguidedly, the presence of twins is at first played largely for laughs, with composer Dimitri Tiomkin keeping the atmosphere surprisingly light and fluffy. Fortunately, however, the mood darkens substantially in the film's second half, as the hatred simmering slowly within the darker twin threatens to spill over into reality. Though the unlikely psychology behind 'The Dark Mirror' tests one's credulity at regular intervals, the strong acting and unique storyline make this one worth seeking out.

When Dr. Frank Peralta is found stabbed to death straight to the heart in his apartment, two neighbors swear to the veteran Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell), who is charge of the investigation, that they saw Ruth Collins (Olivia de Havilland) leaving his apartment late night. The detective interrogates Ruth and she has the alibi of three witnesses that she was walking around in the Jefferson Park during the night. Then he visits Ruth in her apartment and discovers that she has an identical twin sister called Terry. Lt. Stevenson does not know who the killer is and the prosecutor does not accept to open the case. The sisters can not find a job and Dr. Scott Elliott (Lew Ayres), who is a specialist in twins that had been contacted by Lt. Steenson and has a crush on Ruth, offers a reasonable allowance to the sisters to be submitted to a series of tests for his research of personalities of twins. Scott finds through the results that Terry is a psychotic woman and Ruth might be in danger.

"The Dark Mirror" is a tense psychological film-noir with an intriguing story that has excellent beginning and conclusion. The impressive performance of Olivia de Havilland in a dual role is top-notch, using different attitudes for each sister; and the direction of Robert Siodmak is tight as usual. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Espelho d'Alma" ("Mirror of the Soul")

A murder is committed , and identical twin sisters , Ruth and Terry (Olivia de Havilland) are suspects . A prominent psychologist (Lew Ayres) and a detective (Thomas Mitchell) investigate the deeds to determine which good-bad siblings killed the mysterious corpse , because one of whom is a psycho and nutty woman .

This noir film contains suspense , tensions , psychological drama , a love story and is quite entertaining . Excellent actress Olivia De Havilland gives a completely convincing tour-de-force as a dual role as good and bad girl . Good and fine support cast as Lew Ayres , Thomas Mitchell, Gary Owen and Richard Long . Startling finale climax with an amazing plot twist . Nice special effects perfectly adapted , enabling De Havilland to play two diverse characters , FX are stunningly made by Deveraux Jennins . This psychological thriller has an interesting screenplay brilliantly written by Nunnally Johnson , also producer. Atmospheric musical score by Dimitri Tiomkin based on classic music and evocative cinematography in lights and shades by Milton Krasner . This was first film produced by the new joint venture Universal Pictures-International Pictures . The motion picture was well directed by German director Robert Siodmak who realized his best films during the 40s . His movies reflect a world of desperation , of dark , of threat and killing . The Siodmak's best films are¨ Phantom Lady¨, ¨The spiral staircase¨ and especially : ¨Criss Cross and ¨The killers¨-both starred by Burt Lancaster-, now acknowledged as a classic noir films in which Robert Siodmak set the pattern of the rest of his Hollywood's work, and of course ¨Dark mirror¨.