Fatalidade

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 Some are almost unwatchable due to the complete difficulty in sympathizing with outdated modes of thinking.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.

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.

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!

Just the mention of playing role of Othello makes Ronald Coleman's Anthony John start hallucinating. Triggered by this project suggestion, Anthony finds himself murmuring lines from Shakespeare's tragedy while walking down the street alone and sitting by himself in restaurants.

Anthony's total commitment to his craft of fantasy, unfortunately, takes a deadly toll on his private life. Signe Hasso's Brita understands this, and instantly fears for her ex-husband's--now co-star's--happiness.

Here's a modern tragedy, scripted by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, of an actor who just couldn't leave his role at the stage door.

"When the actor starts believing he's the character he's playing, that's the time to fire him," remains a wise theatre management adage.

It's a darned good principle, too.

When the actor fails to maintain an "invisible wall" between himself and his co-actors, that's the time for some concern. Although practioners of the Stanislavsky tradition may achieve great "truth" in their work, they may not realize that this achievement is more "relative" than "absolute" and can become a "double edged-sword."

Anthony John's "character-absorption" tendency, while earning him a "great performance," conversely yields a decidedly unconstructive home life. Unless the actor finds some kernels of project idealism to enhance his personal development, the entire enterprise may be negligible.

Milton Krasner's dark cinematography and Miklos Rozsa's dissonant score supports George Cukor's pessimistic direction. Likewise, Walter Hampden's advisement for the "Othello" sequences adds authenticity to the Shakespearian flavor.

In the end, we have a shattering drama, holding within its fold a grave thespian caution: "it's only a character being played, not real life."

For his fine work as Anthony John, Coleman received an Academy Award.