Wizard-8 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.

Movie Critic This would have gotten a 10 if Davis had pulled off the crime but this is Hollywood and that can't be damn.I love this type noirish movie---yes it is a bit of a run on attraction from Baby Jane but it is still decent.It just irks me that Hollywood never lets them get away with things there was a very similar movie Hollow Triumph that is worth watching.To get a movie where the bad guys win you need to turn to cynical Europe...The Double Hour is good. This is a lot better than Sunset Boulevard...watchRecommend.

bkoganbing Among her contemporaries Bette Davis is the only one I know who managed to carry off playing twin sisters twice in films. The first time was in A Stolen Life and in 1964 she did it again in Dead Ringer. The first time she was a good and a bad twin, but in Dead Ringer both twins commit evil acts during the course of the movie.Bette's former co-star Paul Henreid directed her in Dead Ringer with co- stars Karl Malden and Peter Lawford. Back in the day one twin stole the man the other was in love with because he was rich, prosperous, and part of old California society. That one got rich, the other never married and now lives owning a bar that she's way behind in debt with.When the husband dies the bar owner learns that back in the day he was tricked into marriage with a false pregnancy story and as the family was Catholic he married her and couldn't divorce. That sets the bar owner into a murderous frenzy and she kills the widow and then assumes her place while she also fakes a suicide story.With a few bumps along the way Bette settles into the other Bette's life. Then a lowlife boyfriend played by Peter Lawford comes back in the picture. Lawford is a gigolo/golf pro and he and society Bette have some deep secrets. The rest you can see for yourself.Oddly enough A Stolen Life also involved a twin taking another's place and as for the rest of the story, if you know what happens in The Postman Always Rings Twice you know what happens here.With the possible exception of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, Dead Ringer maybe Davis's best film of the Sixties. She throws herself into both roles so well that it like watching twins in action. She also has a nice group of supporting players in roles they are well cast in. But this one is Bette's show.Watch her steal another life.

dan-2522 This is movie of a type they don't make any more- regrettably. It goes way beyond melodrama and has a plot with twists and turns that is way beyond most movies nowadays. The script is clever as opposed to contrived and keeps the tension up right up till the end. Undeniably this movie is a star vehicle for Bette Davis who carries off the dual roles of two sisters with amazing ease and aplomb. The supporting actors - Karl Malden & Peter Lawford are similarly excellent. Made at a time when special effects were still pretty rudimentary- it is all the more "clever" for the seamless way in which some scenes are covered. Fans of other Davis's films of the 60's that reached into the bizarre, horror genres - this one stands with the best of them. I highly recommend it.