Stolen
Cats: Romance|I love this picture. It was a constant employee selection, on the screen at the store. You have double the Bette, how great is that? Nobody was better at playing evil, wicked, b - word, women that Bette Davis. Not only does she give a great performance as one of the meanest sisters ever played on screen, she plays her own polar opposite twin. By playing Kate Bosworth and her twin sister Patricia, Ms. Davis should have been nominated two times that year for an Oscar.
Patricia steals the man her nice sister Kate is in love with and marries him. Through a series of incidents, mistaken identity and a fatal sailboat ride, Kate is mistaken for Patricia. Stealing this life seems like a good idea to Kate. What she does not expect is to inherit all the trouble that Patricia has gotten herself into along the way. Oops.
The special effects for this picture were nominated for an Oscar, why it did not win is beyond me. There is nothing like seeing Bette Davis throw the bridal bouquet to herself. Ms. Davis produced this picture at the suggestion of Jack Warner. Notorious for not getting along (that’s putting it mildly) J.L. said if she wanted to make better pictured why don’t you shut up and produce one herself. She did and this was the last time. This was also the last picture she made at Warner Brothers to make money upon it’s release.
In 1964 Ms. Davis repeated this theme (twin sisters - one good, one evil) in a picture called Dead Ringers. It co-stars the ever reliable Karl Malden and, in what I feel was one of his best performances, Peter Lawford playing a very slimy gigolo who finds out the true meaning of going to the dogs. The picture was directed by Paul Henreid, Victor Laszlo of Casablanca and one of Ms. Davis’ favorite actors.
February 5th at 11:30 AM on Turner Classic Movies
