1946 – A Stolen Life

A Stolen Life – 1946

The visual effects for this movie were centered around the same thing as the previous year’s winner, that is the idea of having a single actor play two characters, and having them on the screen at the same time, interacting with each other.  But as the film Wonder Man was a silly comedy, this one was a serious drama.  And this movie took the effect a step further than its predecessor.

Here we have Bette Davis playing twin sisters, and the effect was achieved using more than just trick photography.  There were shots in which there was a body double of the same height and weight, though in those shots, one of their faces is either out of focus or impossible to see altogether.  But there were plenty of examples where both women could be clearly seen.

One of the most tricky shots in the film is when Davis lights a match and hands it to herself.  There was nothing obscuring either of the sisters, and the illusion was perfectly executed.  I’m not even sure how they did it.  I even rewound the film and watched it a second time, but I couldn’t see any flickering of the image to indicate a cut or split screen.

There was also a violent storm at sea in which one of the sisters drowns.  In that sequence, it was the storm that was the effect, not the two images of the same woman.  There was a rear-projected image of the violent waters going up and down, wind, and spraying water to hide the faces well enough.  Whenever the woman in the front was the focus, her twin sister would be out of focus behind her, and their hair was constantly being blown in their faces.

And there were also a fair amount of matte-paintings that were blended seamlessly with the lives action.  The ending scene, in particular, was beautifully done.  The surviving sister is walking alone along the rocky hills overlooking the coast.  Everything was covered by a thick blanket of swirling fog.  The bare tree and the jagged, mountainous rocks were gorgeous.  And of course, when her lover emerges from the fog and takes her in his arms, it really made for a lovely scene.

However, reading some little facts about the movie on the IMDB website reminded me of something that is listed as a goof.  While the two sisters are being tossed about on rough waters, a man in the lighthouse looks at them through a telescope.  We get that small circular image of the boat from a distance, with everything outside the circle being blacked out.  Watch the image closely.  There is absolutely no sign of the violent storm that ends up throwing the sailboat onto the reef.  The skies are clear and the waters are calm.  But then, we go back to the boat and it is listing on its side as the wind tears at the sails.  But really, is that the fault of the special effects team, or the director?