A Double Life (1947)

A famous actor (Ronald Colman) has a tendency to live his roles offstage. But when he plays the title role in Shakespeare's OTHELLO, it proves deadly when he becomes insanely jealous of his co-star and ex wife's (Signe Hasso) relationship with a press agent (Edmond O'Brien). Written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin and directed by George Cukor. It's got a terrific premise and Cukor's direction is solid. But despite his winning an Oscar for best actor for his work here, Ronald Colman's performance simply isn't good enough to carry the film. His performance is erratic. He's very good in some scenes yet in other scenes, he can't seem to resist the urge to overact. Worst of all, he's a lousy and passionless Othello. It's hard to imagine his OTHELLO lasting two weeks, much less the two years in the movie. It's a pity because there's much that's good about the film. I've seen the film referred to as noir (maybe because of Milton R. Krasner's B&W lensing) but I think it's actually closer to a horror movie, a variation on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Miklos Rozsa's score also won an Oscar. With Shelley Winters (very good as a waitress who becomes Colman's victim), Betsy Blair, Ray Collins and Millard Mitchell.