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The Dark Mirror

Play trailer Poster for The Dark Mirror 1946 1h 25m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
After a doctor is murdered, Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell) questions the man's girlfriend, Terry Collins (Olivia de Havilland). Sensing that she's keeping a secret, Stevenson confronts Terry in her home, where he meets her identical twin sister, Ruth (also de Havilland). Both women appear exactly alike, sometimes even posing as each other. However, when twin expert Dr. Elliott (Lew Ayres) analyzes the sisters, he finds that one twin is normal, while the other is psychotic -- but which one?

Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 11/26/2012
Its evocation of biological destiny wrenches the modernistic romance into tragedy. Go to Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia 03/08/2024
7/10
A gripping and finely tuned psychological thriller of film noir, which never loses its sense of intrigue as it narrates its plot of murder, jealousy and psychoanalysis with the formidable performance of Olivia de Havilland. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Justine Smith Vague Visages 11/21/2023
It complicates our perception of good and evil by suggesting that within us — existing simultaneously — is the choice between good and evil. Go to Full Review Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm 07/27/2020
3/4
...a fiendishly fun double role for Olivia de Havilland. Go to Full Review Josephine O'Neill Daily Telegraph (Australia) 04/02/2019
This engrossing psychological drama frames a remarkable performance by Olivia de Havilland. Go to Full Review Geoffrey O'Brien The New York Review of Books 08/13/2018
The texture triumphs, partly because Robert Siodmak's direction imparts an appropriately somnambulistic tone to the proceedings. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D 01/18/2024 The acting is great but nothing else is even good. See more Georgan G 06/10/2023 Even by today's standards, this 1946 psychological thriller was terrific. The acting & camera work are well done. This is one film I could see many times in the future. See more 12/29/2021 Acting at its best. Very enjoyable. See more paul d @PaulusLoZebra 11/13/2021 Robert Siodmak's The Dark Mirror is a psychological thriller and police whodunit that starts with a jolt in its first frames. Then it cleverly resets to a slow and steady tension that builds through its plot twists to a satisfying climax. Olivia de Havilland plays twin sisters and is on screen for most of the film, doing a great job showing the subtle differences of identical twins that is at the heart of the story. Thomas Mitchell and Lew Ayres hit just the right tone as the police lieutenant and psychology professor, respectively, with a special mention to Ayres for a particularly genuine and convincing performance. See more 01/11/2019 Hokey melodrama about twin sisters, one of whom is an evil murderess. Boringly acted by a miscast Olivia de Havilland and glib Lew Ayres, this doesn't begin to mine the premise for all the psychological possibilities on offer. And its tone is strangely comic, not helped by an overwrought Dimitri Tiomkin score. Not one of Robert Siodmak's finest hours. See more 05/17/2014 Engrossing psychological thriller, although there's plenty of plot holes as far as the police investigation is concerned, however the sum of its parts pleases. See more Read all reviews
The Dark Mirror

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Cast & Crew

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Robert Siodmak

Director

Olivia de Havilland

Terry

Lew Ayres

Dr. Scott Elliott

Thomas Mitchell

Lt. Stevenson

Richard Long

Rusty

Garry Owen

Franklin

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The Dark Mirror

The Dark Mirror (1946) The Dark Mirror (1946) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After a doctor is murdered, Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell) questions the man's girlfriend, Terry Collins (Olivia de Havilland). Sensing that she's keeping a secret, Stevenson confronts Terry in her home, where he meets her identical twin sister, Ruth (also de Havilland). Both women appear exactly alike, sometimes even posing as each other. However, when twin expert Dr. Elliott (Lew Ayres) analyzes the sisters, he finds that one twin is normal, while the other is psychotic -- but which one?
Director
Robert Siodmak
Producer
Nunnally Johnson
Screenwriter
Nunnally Johnson
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
International Pictures, Nunnally Johnson Productions
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 18, 1946, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 10, 2017
Runtime
1h 25m