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"Guest Starring" movie commentary Note: The views and opinions expressed in "Guest Starring" movie commentary are not necessarily the views of 3BlackChicks Enterprises™; commentary presented in original form as submitted by "Guest Star" commentator, except where noted otherwise; copyright belongs to respective authors.
"...Becoming Someone Else
Every Night..." A Double Life (1947)
Review Copyright Roger Zotti,
2000
A scene illustrating Tony's predicament takes place, early on, in producer
Max Lasker's office. For the practical-minded Lasker, acting is a matter
of talent. According to Lasker, Tony plays Othello; and when his performance
is over, he simply returns to himself and to whatever he does when he's
not acting.
But Victor Donlan (the irrepressible Ray Collins, in a fine performance)
knows Tony and disagrees with Lasker. "No, no," he says. "When you do
it like Tony does it, it's much more. The way he has of becoming someone
else every night for just a few hours so completely. No, don't tell me
his whole system isn't affected by it."
Later, when Tony begins rehearsing Othello, we learn directly from him
(in voice-over narration) that he's trying to keep his real life separated
from his stage life, but "The part begins to seep into your life...Imagination
against reality."
Unable to "keep each in its place," Tony murders a waitress, Pat Kroll
(Shelley Winters), whom he befriended. In his distorted mind, she's "Desdemona"
and he's "Othello", and she has been unfaithful to him. Just the way Shakespeare
wrote it.
Double images recur in the film and suggest Tony's madness. In several scenes he sees his reflection in either mirrors or store windows. His reflection changes to Othello's, and he hears the Moor's voice quoting lines from the tragedy.
Colman's bravura performance, in a complex and difficult role, earned him 1947's Academy Award for Best Actor. Miklos Rosa also won an Oscar for his haunting score. Oscar nominations went to George Cukor for Best Director and to Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin for Best Original Screenplay. And don't overlook Milton Krasner's atmospheric cinematography.
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