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Ronald Colman is actor Anthony John, who finds himself leading "A Double Life" in this 1947 film directed by George Cukor and written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin.

There are mutterings in the beginning of the film about some problem with "Tony" (Colman) the last time he took on a serious role, such a bad problem that his wife, fellow actress Brita (Signe Hasso), could no longer stay with him. When Tony is finally convinced to do the title role in "Othello," we begin to see what the problem is. He disappears into his role and acts it out offstage as well as on -- and pretty soon, his onstage performances become pretty terrifying.

The elegant Colman is terrific as Anthony, particularly the offstage Anthony, who believes he's Othello and searches for a Desdemona to murder. His actual Othello is good but slightly old-fashioned. The trend today is more naturalistic. Nevertheless, for the times, he had the speaking voice and the style.

Shelley Winters has an early role as a victim - she's very young and pretty.

Recommended -- see it for Colman's Oscar-winning performance.

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 .

While COVID-isolated, I binge-watched Ryan Murphy's "Hollywood", a hypothetical look at what US entertainment could've been had people stood up to racism and homophobia in the 1940s. A couple of episodes depict George Cukor, and one episode mentions "A Double Life". A few days after watching that episode I saw the movie in question. It's an intense one, with Ronald Colman (in an Oscar-winning role) as a thespian who lets his performance gain too much control of his existence. It's impressive how, in these movies focusing on stage performances, the play can sometimes come across as more intense than the person's life, as happens in this movie.

It's not a masterpiece, but Colman puts on one of the most haunting performances of all. I definitely recommend it

Films like people age very differently from one another. Some are almost unwatchable due to the complete difficulty in sympathizing with outdated modes of thinking. The truly great films of course are timeless and leave you instead with a marvel for their wonderful freshness. Colman's Oscar winning portrayal of a stage actor who loses his grip on reality, while great to watch for the actor's work, is sadly wrapped inside of a rather poorly constructed film. None of it very believable, and the characters muster zero sympathy from us. The relationship lines are vague and confusing, and for the most part unimportant. The whole story is uncommonly weak, what you will remember most are the hammed up but effective scenes from Othello. Colman's genteel whisky cured voice, and aristocratic affectations you can tell are in him the genuine articles. He though also dated, is interesting to behold, and thought provoking as you get a feel for what was considered the best acting 60 years ago, and how different it is today. The film includes a couple of rather daring and explicit sexual innuendos, unusual for its time.

I was astonished at how good this picture was - Ronald Colman's scenery chewing was great, as well as the script and all supporting performances, as well as it being one of George Cukor's better but least seen works. It is a very disquieting film, almost in a Hitchcockian sort of way, and perhaps that accounts for its obscurity. Besides, an early Shelley Winters film is all right by me (carumba!) Hopefully you can find a better print than the one I saw on cable which looked like it was culled from a 16mm positive. C'mon, film preservationists, get on it!