Dead Ringer (1964)

Excellent adaptation.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

In the past, I tended to avoid Bette Davis movies because something about her rubbed me the wrong way. So I don't know why I sat down to watch "Dead Ringer", but I am glad that I did. I have to admit that Davis gave a very good performance in both of her roles, making her characters not quite sympathetic, but interesting enough that you keep watching in order to see what will happen to them. Though the fact that the production code was still in effect will tell you what will eventually happen long before it does, director Paul Henreid puts plenty of life and interesting developments along the way that keeps you watching.The movie is good enough to be worth watching. However, I did have a couple of minor quibbles with the movie:(1) At nearly two hours in length, the movie is a bit long. While the movie never gets boring or tedious, and that every scene does provide a purpose, I do think that several scenes could have been cut down in length slightly to make the pace somewhat brisker.(2) The main character does not find herself in serious trouble until the last twenty minutes of the movie. Up to that point, she does have some challenges, but manages to quickly solve them. I think the movie would have been better had the screws slowly been tightened as we followed the main character, leading to tension growing bit by bit.Despite those quibbles, as I said earlier, the movie is worth a look.

Back in 1948 Paul Henreid produced and starred in "Hollow Triumph," a.k.a. "The Scar," the story of a criminal on the run who murders and disposes of a psychiatrist he closely resembles, in order to assume the man's identity. But soon he discovers there are people out to kill the psychiatrist. And now, in 1964, Henreid reworks the same basic story, this time with aging Bette Davis playing twin sisters, one of whom kills and replaces the other, only to find that her sister has a fatal secret of her own. Like so many B-movies of the 1960s, "Dead Ringer" has the flat look and glacial pacing of a TV mystery, which is no surprise since Henreid by this time was a busy television director. It would have been a much better picture if he had trimmed about twenty minutes.

Bette Davis in a dual role as twin sisters, one good and one bad. Edith Phillips is the sister of the callous and wealthy Margaret DeLorca. Edith is not very stylish and runs a cocktail lounge in a seedy area of Los Angeles. She actually lost her lover to her sister in avoiding a scandal. When the man that both women loved dies, down-on-her-luck Edith finally decides to seek some revenge by murdering her rich sister and assuming her identity. Edith doesn't realize that Margaret was involved in some dirty dealing and being the glamorous twin doesn't mean a carefree life. A double dose of Davis in a ghoulish plot. Also starring are: Karl Malden, Philip Carey, Peter Lawford and George Chandler. DEAD RINGER is directed by talented actor Paul Henried.

If you buy Bette Davis as a bar owner in love with Karl Malden, then you might find this claptrap enjoyable. Otherwise, be warned, this is really a very un-stylish camp horror film clearly made to cash in on Davis' post Baby Jane rebirth.Davis plays twins (one is rich, one is the aforementioned bar owner). One of them kills the other and takes her place. The dead sister's sleazy gigolo boyfriend (the ideally cast Peter Lawford) suspects something right away and sees dollar signs. In addition to Lawford, the supporting cast includes Jean Hagen and a kooky Estelle Winwood. Davis is Davis, Malden is stern and capable. The movie, however is sunk by the dull direction of actor Paul Henreid.