L'anima e il volto

Wealthy New England artist Bette Davis (as Kate Bosworth) emerges late from her star vehicle, and misses the boat taking her to visit her cousin, the distinguished Charlie Ruggles (as Freddie Linley). Handsome young Glenn Ford (as Bill Emerson) happens by, and Ms. Davis bums a ride in his dinghy. The two pick up Mr. Ford's crusty lighthouse keeper, Walter Brennan (as Eben Folger). On the verge of spinsterhood, Davis is clearly attracted to Ford, and arranges to paint Mr. Brennan's portrait - but, she really wants to show Ford her etchings. Later, cocky Dane Clark (as Karnock) intrudes.

You can definitely sense some subtext and symbolism in this picture…

And, you can't go wrong with Bette Davis melodramatically falling in love amidst crisp direction by Curtis Bernhardt, beautiful black-and-white photography by Ernest Haller and Sol Polito, a sweet soundtrack by Max Steiner, and the crew at Warner Bros. Throw in the fact that Bette Davis (also as Patricia "Pat" Bosworth) plays her own slutty sister, and you've struck movie gold. Expect, of course, the titular "A Stolen Life" as the evil Davis moves to steals her sister's man. Assisted by special effects wizardry from Willard Van Enger and Russell Collings, both Davis and Davis are terrific in their roles.

******** A Stolen Life (7/6/46) Curtis Bernhardt ~ Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark, Walter Brennan

I was surprised that I liked this movie as much as I did. As an artist and someone who has worked with machinery, I found the budding relationship between artist Kate and lighthouse engineer Bill easy-going and authentic, plus I loved the scenes of sailing, boating, and the lighthouse in fog on a rocky island. I'm glad I stumbled upon it on broadcast TV one late night. The message that we should be true to ourselves was very hopeful. No movie plot with one actress playing identical twins will ever be plausible, but it makes for good fiction and is an interesting illustration of the actors' ability to stretch into unusual roles.

I have lost count of how many times I've watched this wonderful film. Each time I get something from it and i believe it is Bette Davis best work - which is a big statement ! Viewers will be hypnotised by Bette's amazing performance and the filmography is truly amazing. To watch this film through modern eyes, you often find yourself trying to work out how the director and editor managed to get away with the 'two bette' film sequences. This is no evidence of 'lines' in the film, or murky backgrounds and if you didn't know it was the same women, you would really think they were twins. The story line is terrific, Glenn Ford (very young) fits the role perfectly and Dane Clark's performance is very direct and well played. There really is something for everyone in this film and a must watch.

Twin Sisters played by Bette Davis both have the hots for Glenn Ford although why I'm not sure. He's not a terribly ambitious fellow, wants nothing more in life than to be a lighthouse keeper, maybe succeed Walter Brennan as head lighthouse keeper when Brennan moves on.

Bad Bette is a selfish spoiled brat who traps Glenn into marriage simply to spite good Bette. Then both sisters are out sailing and a sudden storm, much like the one that swamped the S.S. Minow succeeds in drowning one of the sisters. You have to watch the film to decide which one.

A Stolen Life is a Bette Davis triumph. It's not easy for any player to do multiple roles in any film. For that alone fans of Bette Davis should make this a must see melodrama. Additionally the special effects with the storm are quite well done.

Glenn Ford got a big career boost just in co-starring with Bette Davis, it was a break from doing the potboilers he was doing at Columbia. Dane Clark plays a truculent artist in the best tradition of a John Garfield wannabe.

The twins gimmick makes the film worth seeing. Bette was in a post war career slump from The Corn is Green until she left Warner Brothers and did All About Eve with 20th Century Fox. A Stolen Life is not the worst film she did during that period and she's got some good moments. But it isn't Now Voyager or Dark Victory or The Little Foxes.

Bette Davis is reason enough to see any film and was always worth watching regardless of what the material was like, although she had a lot of great material in her career she did have some that was not worthy of her talent or gave her not enough to work from. She had a fair share of magnificent performances and was seldom bad. Have always been fond of Max Steiner, Glenn Ford was always watchable and Walter Brennan was always a pleasure (especially in the curmudgeonly kind of roles).

'A Stolen Life' doesn't see either at their absolute best. None of them come off too badly at all, with Davis of course coming off best, though all did work that was a lot better and stuck in the mind much more. Is 'A Stolen Life' worth the look? Yes it is and namely if one is a fan of Davis and wants to see as many films of hers as possible or wants to see everything left to see of hers (the case with me). Is it an essential? To me, it wasn't quite and could have been better than it was.

The best thing about 'A Stolen Life' is Davis, who is absolutely marvellous in her not-easy-to-pull-off dual role that she brings a lot of authority and pathos to. She is helped too by some of the best use of trick photography on film, expert use of split-screen. It is a very nicely filmed and made film, the interiors and the eerie lighting really standing out. Steiner's music score brings out a lot of emotion without going too overboard, well it is Steiner overall so that wasn't a surprise.

Script mostly is thought-provoking and when 'A Stolen Life' picks up in the second half, with the Kate's deception subplot, it is very entertaining. The cast generally do quite well, though nobody is properly up to Davis' level. Brennan comes closest tied with charming Charles Ruggles. Was slightly more mixed on Ford, although slightly uncharacteristically gormless he does quite well with what he has.

Conversely, 'A Stolen Life' does take a little too long to get started and the first part meanders. It can be a bit silly and the ending is sappy and too convenient.

Dane Clark's performance is also very weak, he has a role that one really questions the point of and he injects very little personality to it.

All in all, decent if not mind-blowing. See it for Davis. 7/10