A Stolen Life

1946

Drama

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 76% · 2 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 76% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.2/10 10 4426 4.4K

island based on novel or book twin sister massachusetts painter lighthouse keeper

Plot summary

A twin takes her deceased sister's place as wife of the man they both love.

Director

Curtis Bernhardt Photo
Curtis Bernhardt

Top cast

Bette Davis Photo
Bette Davis as Kate Bosworth
Lillian Bronson Photo
Lillian Bronson as Gushy Woman
Tom Fadden Photo
Tom Fadden as Fisherman
Glenn Ford Photo
Glenn Ford as Bill Emerson
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
984.37 MB
958*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds 10
1.78 GB
1438*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds 17

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by blanche-2 8 / 10

A sudser with two Bettes and one Glenn

Bette Davis is Kate and her twin Pat in "A Stolen Life," a 1946 film which also stars Glenn Ford, Walter Brennan, Charles Ruggles, and Dane Clark. We first see Davis as the artist Kate visiting the family's New England cottage (these people have homes everywhere). There she meets the drop-dead gorgeous lighthouse man Bill (Ford, in his first role after the war). She falls hard. Then we find out she has a twin sister who is much less reserved, sexier, and who goes after what she wants. On her way to a lunch date, Pat sees Bill, who mistakes her for Kate. One look at him, and she's ready to play along. But really, who could blame her? That day, Bill finds out that Kate is a twin, and that Pat turns him on - while he's only fond of Kate. Nature takes its course, and guess which Bette gets left out.This is a very entertaining movie with Davis creating two different characters. In the very beginning, you don't know Davis has a twin. She returns home and enters her room with the light off, and her sister starts talking to her from the other side of the room - with a perkier voice, so not even that gives it away. Slowly, we realize they're identical twins, and that she hasn't let Bill into the house because her sister is a man magnet.Glenn Ford is one film away from big stardom in "A Stolen Life" --next, he would romance Rita Hayworth in "Gilda." At 30, he was stunningly handsome with the easygoing, gentle, and sweet manner that would hold him in good stead for the next 45 years. Truly an ideal leading man. He and Davis get excellent support from Charles Ruggles, in a nice performance as the girls' cousin, and Walter Brennan, Ford's irascible lighthouse boss. Dane Clark's role is somewhat troublesome. In the John Garfield vein, he plays a rough, temperamental artist who teaches Kate to paint better and becomes interested in her, but his role drops off. The entire role could have been cut.Davis was 37 when she made this film, which she produced herself. With three years left on her contract, it was sadly her last hit at Warners. Deservedly so, because she is terrific in the dual roles. She would repeat this device later on in her career with "Dead Ringer," and some of the plot points are reminiscent of that film.Wonderfully entertaining and a must for Davis and Ford fans.
Reviewed by AlsExGal 7 / 10

Glenn Ford gets a stomach ache from a piece of frosted cake

Reviewed by jotix100 8 / 10

Two Bettes for the price of one!

Bette Davis is at her best in "A Stolen Life" playing the most satisfactory characters in the decade of the forties. The mere idea of showing Ms. Davis on the same frame with herself must have presented a challenge for the director, Curtis Bernhardt. We can't think of any other actress that could have pulled this off with the elegance and the good instinct that Bette Davis brought to the project.The mere fact of playing two women so different from one another must have been what inspired Ms. Davis to take the dual role, which proved to be one of her most popular on the screen. The good Kate is sweet and unassuming, while Patricia, the identical twin sister, is vain, envious and shallow. In taking Bill away from Kate, Patricia doesn't change her way of life, something that pains Bill, as he has second thoughts about the mistake he made in marrying the wrong woman.The film will delight all Bette Davis fans because they will get two Bettes for the price of one. Ms. Davis' trademark movements and those expressive eyes are seen throughout the film. Glenn Ford proved to be the right kind of leading man because he always projected an honesty and an integrity little seen in other actors of his generation. Both actors make the movie work in unexpected ways.The supporting cast is also interesting. Walter Brennan, Dane Clark, Charles Ruggles, and the rest are perfect in the background. The musical score by Max Steiner plays well with the action in the film. The excellent cinematography of Ernest Haller and Sol Polito adds another layer to the movie. Curtis Bernhardt directed with flair and made "A Stolen Life" a film in which to cherish for the great performances he got from Bette Davis and Glenn Ford.
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