The Dark Mirror (1946) / Jealousy (1945)

September 19, 2014 - 7:30 pm

Billy Wilder Theater

The Dark Mirror (1946)

Directed by Robert Siodmak.

When a doctor is murdered, several witnesses identify Ruth Collins (Olivia de Haviland) as a prime suspect, but she has several airtight alibis. Then, the police realize that Ruth has an identical twin sister and put a psychiatrist (Lew Ayres) on the case. The doppelganger motif, so prevalent in noir and German cinema (Metropolis [1927]), allows director Robert Siodmak to construct a dark world of moral ambiguity, in which mirrors reflect multiple realities.

Inter-John, Inc. Producer: Nunnally Johnson. Screenwriter: Nunnally Johnson. Cinematographer: Milton Krasner. Editor: Ernest Nims. Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, Thomas Mitchell, Richard Long, Charles Evans.

35mm, b/w, 85 min.

Jealousy (1945)

Directed by Gustav Machatý.

Both melodrama and film noir, Jealousy tells the story of a suicidal émigré writer whose lack of success makes him increasingly depressed, jealous, violent and willing to commit murder; yet it is he, not his young wife who falls victim to a murder of passion. A story of exile and loss: loss of the mother country, of success, of self-esteem, of a loved one's affections and of freedom. The film's schizophrenic atmosphere is underscored through strong diagonal compositions and typical film noir high-contrast lighting.

Gong Productions, Inc. Producer: Gustav Machatý. Screenwriter: G. Machatý, Arnold Phillips. Cinematographer: Henry Sharp. Editor: John Link. Cast: John Loder, Jane Randolph, Karen Morley, Nils Asther, Hugo Haas, Holmes Herbert.

35mm, b/w, 71 min.

Part of:

Exile Noir

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The Dark Mirror (1946) / Jealousy (1945)