A Stolen Life

Purchased several years ago, but I still watch it. Love old Bette Davis movies.

I find it a great movie and excellent performance by Betty Davis but then again she was a great talent in all her movies .

I have always enjoy a Bette movie & This was Doubly good!!

If you can ignore the wild implausibility of the plot line, (who could ever expect to step into their dead twin sister's life and marriage, without knowing anything of said siblings relationships?) then "A Stolen Life' is great fun. Anyone who enjoys watching Bette Davis is bound to love watching TWO of her at once in many scenes, and the split screen effects are very impressive--often showing one character crossing behind or in front of the other, or reaching into the other one's side of the frame. Even today this would be considered impressive effects work.The story is a bit exasperating, in that the Glen Ford character openly ditches kindly Kate--with whom he has started a romance--for the obviously wicked sister Pat, while Kate remains inexplicably in love with this ne'er do well who has jilted her. On top of that, she remains civil to the sister who stole him out of her arms.When Pat dies in a boating accident and Kate decides to step in to Pat's life and marriage--effectively "killing herself" by pretending to be the dead sister, things get predictably difficult for her as she finds she cannot bluff her way. On top of that, Patricia has been a very bad girl, so Kate is in fact inheriting a you-know-what storm. (This plot was essentially cloned two decades later for another Davis film "Dead Ringer" with equally head-scratching plot contrivances).Why, for example, once Kate finds out that Glen Ford hates his new wife, does she not simply admit she's Kate after all? It's not like she'll go to jail! Unlike in "Dead Ringer", she hasn't killed her sister, so why not just tell the truth rather than live out the consequences of Pat's bad karma?On top of that, she martyrishly buddies up with an obnoxious "artist" that does nothing but insult her and call her names (all while accepting her financial help for supplies and a place to work) to the point where one is ready to wonder if watching Pat be a bad girl for 90 minutes might not have been more enjoyable than watching Kate be a good one.However, it all wraps up strongly enough that by the end, you've been well-enough entertained and amused to feel you've gotten your money's worth.

Pretty good film--suspenseful and it's Bette Davis--and the script is solid if not stunning. But my question is, and it's not rhetorical, I'm really trying for inter-active reviews so do let me know cause I'm far from the Wizard on the Mountain on classic films--I just really like them a lot. Anyway how many films did Bette Davis do where she played twins or sisters or just two or more parts for the hell of it? Now I'm assuming she didn't do it more than Peter Sellers did, but I would like to know, and when counting her movie roles (you know for Guinness Book of Records Reasons--does she get credit for two roles even if it's the same movie. Could she have been nominated for one twin but not the other? Certainly one of the performances could be better than the other. Now I'm not counting performances like Marlene Dietrich in "Witness for the Prosecution" cause she's playing a character who's playing two parts (can't say any more or I'd have to add 'Spoiler Alert'--though if you're over 15 and haven't seen "Witness for the Prosecution" my question (this time it is rhetorical) Why the Hell Not? I think this same rule of thumb would apply to Joanne Woodward in "The Three Faces of Eve"--I mean she won the academy award--but only one--But maybe she should have been nominated for all three faces--but then she probably would have split her own vote and wouldn't have even won, which she probably deserved, though I don't know who else was nominated that year or even what year it was.) But anyway getting back to "A Stolen Life" Davis gives two fine performances (or is it really just one?--whadda you think? Oh in keeping with this theme please see "Sleuth"--and I'm not gonna say another word about that film because, well, you know--Just see it. In fact you should see all the films I've mentioned in this hopefully Inter-active review--but "A Stolen Life" is probably the least well known and it's definitely worth the double look.

If I could I would give this film 4 and a half stars instead of just 4 stars. There is a lot of truth in this story. By that I mean that it shows how much trouble we can get into when we rush into things, with passions blazing, without really thinking things through with reason: Who is this person I'm attracted to? Is this a good person capable of growth and of changing and moving past their faults; capable of admitting mistakes? Or are they selfish, immature and shallow? It also shows the folly of trying to bring about something good through a lie. I liked the story and I didn't know what was going to happen so that was good as well. I didn't care for Dane Clark's character Karnock who is very arrogant and not at all enjoyable to watch. However, his presence does add tension because we don't know what role he might play as the story unfolds. He keeps us guessing. It was very surprising to see what a fine job they did of making us believe there were two Bette Davises. Fascinating! Until I saw this I thought the gold standard in depicting twins played by the same actress in the same scene was when Alice's cousin Emma came to visit the Brady Bunch. I never realized that 30 years before that there was a superior example. Great atmosphere! Interesting storyline! Mostly likeable characters except for Pat and Karnock. I recommend it!

Had been searching for this film for ages. Remembered this one from my childhood - was always my favourite. Seeing it again after all these years made me remember why I loved it so much.

this is a great story and of couse bette davis was at her best.really enjoyed watching this.will watch it again.recommend to anyone loving a great story.which was gripping at times

I didnt know this film but would watch anything with Bette Davis in and she does not disappoint. Not on of my favourite films of hers but great nonetheless

This is a movie I watched when I was younger, and was always searching for it. I thoroughly enjoyed the second viewing, Bette Davis and Glen Ford are a pleasure to watch in action.

I was so happy to get this film, brilliant story