10 Takeaways: Olivia de Havilland, 'The Dark Mirror' 1946

 

Olivia de Havilland as twin sisters Ruth & Terry Collins, one good & one bad, natch!
 From 1946's "The Dark Mirror."

For the first time, I just watched 1946's The Dark Mirror, though this kind of dark '40s melodrama is right up my noir alley. Sadly, the story of a murder, with twin sisters (Olivia de Havilland) as suspects, was just moderately entertaining, considering its possibilities. 

Typically subtle poster art for the era, 1946's "The Dark Mirror."

Here are my 10 takeaways on The Dark Mirror.

#1)  Olivia de Havilland's dual performances as twins Terry and Ruth are the best thing about this dark film. She gives subtle differences to the two sisters, who are seemingly close. While Olivia’s style was certainly an actress of her time, she was much more restrained than other movie divas that certainly would have gone too big—no names mentioned!

Lew Ayres as the doctor and Olivia de Havilland as one of the sisters, in 1946's
"The Dark Mirror." From this angle, Olivia looks a bit like Joan Crawford.

#2)  Nunnally Johnson’s screenplay is far from seamless. Johnson seemed to do better with comedy than drama, though he later scripted The Three Faces of Eve. Here, the cops are supposed to provide comic relief, headed by Thomas Mitchell. Well, that doesn't exactly inspire confidence in their abilities, when they're leering at the sisters, or comically trying to guess who is who! And did the psychiatrist, played by Lew Ayres, really have to fall in love with one of the sisters? It does bring out the jealous sibling's rage, but it seems umm… a bit unprofessional!

Psychiatrist Lew Ayres does the taste test to determine which twin is a killer
in 1946's "The Dark Mirror."

#3)  Robert Siodmak was famed for his tight, dramatic film noirs. The Dark Mirror runs at a lean 85 minutes. Perhaps that's why the film feels a bit cartoonish, since the story is given the bum’s rush, jumping through hoops. But frankly, there's not much of a story, and it's obvious who the bad twin is from the get-go, so perhaps less was more.

Are you a good twin, or a bad twin? Lew Ayres wonders about Olivia de Havilland,
in 1946's "The Dark Mirror."

#4)  The cinematography by Milton R. Krasner and score by Dimitri Tiomkin are top notch and help add to the mood and suspense.

#5)  I know it was a different era, but if I was 30 and lived with my twin, sharing a room with twin beds, wearing twin outfits, and sharing one job, I'd probably be homicidal, too!

Olivia de Havilland's twin sisters even dress in the same style nighties!
From 1946's "The Dark Mirror."

#6)  I thought Olivia's performance made the differences between the twins subtle enough that the wardrobe department didn't have to constantly identify the twins with monogrammed clothes and rapper-style bling that spelled their names.

"The Dark Mirror" makes sure you don't mix up the sisters by giving them big bling!

#7)  The cast, despite the one-dimensional script, makes the movie fun. Thomas Mitchell (Scarlett's father or George Bailey's uncle, take your pick) is always watchable, Lew Ayres is a strong but gentle presence, and an impossibly young Richard Long as a bellhop is handsome —I always got him mixed up with Gig Young, BTW!

#8)  Like more than a few film noirs, The Dark Mirror finale is an eye-roll.

The male authority figures have interesting ways of finding out the truth in 1946's
 "The Dark Mirror."

#9)  The Dark Mirror was a wave of mid-40s movies that first dealt with psychiatry. Two years later, De Havilland would star in The Snake Pit.

#10)  Fantasy casting, don't get me wrong, Olivia is terrific in The Dark Mirror. But what if they'd dropped the twin aspect and just cast real life sister Joan Fontaine? Their hatred would have been quite believable. And I'll let you decide who should have played the evil sister!

Mirror, mirror, on the wall... Olivia times two in 1946's "The Dark Mirror."

Interesting fact: Olivia's WB pal Bette Davis played twins, good and bad, the same year in A Stolen Life, much more subtly than decades-later Dead Ringer. 

The bottom line: If you like film noir and are not bothered by over the top plotting, The Dark Mirror is fun to watch. Most importantly, the film was another stepping stone in Olivia de Havilland's path to stronger roles.

Olivia and Bette Davis play good/bad sisters, In This Our Life. My look: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2020/06/rivalry-racism-fuel-in-this-our-life.html

My Olivia de Havilland tribute:

https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2020/07/all-about-olivia-de-havilland.html

Which twin is green with envy in 1946's "The Dark Mirror?"