Bette Davis plays identical twin heiresses, Kate and Pat Bosworth. Kate is a shy sincere artist. Pat is a shameless flirt. They have a lodge in New England that they use for vacations, and in Kate's wanderings there, looking for subjects to paint, she meets Bill Emerson (Glenn Ford). They become fast friends. Kate knows her sister is a maneater, so naturally she keeps Bill away from Pat and the home that they share. Then one day, Bill sees Pat and mistakes her for Kate. Pat plays along as though she is Kate and Bill is seeing "Kate" as a possible romantic partner for once, but then the actual Kate appears. But Pat continues to pursue Bill, claiming that she loves him. He gives in to her feminine wiles and marries her. Many months later, maybe a year or more, Pat comes to the New England lodge when Kate is there. They go sailing, but then a storm comes up and Pat is swept away and killed. Kate is thought to be Pat because she has Pat's wedding ring. She was trying to grasp Pat to save her and managed to grab only her wedding ring instead.
When Kate returns to consciousness and realizes the error in identification that has been made, she has only an instant to correct matters - instead she takes on the identity of Pat so that she can have Bill. But complications ensue when she returns "home" and realizes that Pat has been serially unfaithful to Bill, and he wants a divorce.
Bill had the fast friend, the person who understood him and was devoted to him in Kate, but as he admits, she was like a cake with no "frosting". Pat had that frosting, and in their whirlwind courtship Bill would have had no time to determine if Pat would be a supportive partner to him, because it was just all about the lust. This rather unwinds the plot up to this point, because after all the time spent showing us how moody and introspective and special BIll is, he turns out to be a total jerk. Why would Kate pine away for such a guy?
It's implied that beauty is mainly about confidence and presentation - and it really is - since Kate and Pat are identical twins. Bill couldn't really say that Pat was the prettier one, although Kate did say this, because of the different reaction she has had from men versus her sister.
And I have to wonder about the so-called "happy ending" that is presented in which Bill shows up at the lodge and tells Kate that he knows that she IS Kate, and that he finally realizes that he loves her after all. I do believe that he could have figured out that this new improved wife who gave sincere answers and seemed to feel shame for her past infidelities could not possibly be Pat, based on past behavior. But as for him suddenly realizing he loved Kate all along - I doubt this would hold up over the long haul. Men fall in love very quickly, and at this point he was probably just greatly relieved that Pat was the one who was dead and not his best friend/soulmate Kate, the "unfrosted" cake.
Oh well, if I am going to watch the films of 1946 I guess I'd better be prepared to deal with the values and fairy tale endings of 1946. It was a good performance by Bette - she really did seem to be two different people with entirely different personalities. She did a film with a different plot 18 years later in which she also plays identical twins and rivals, one that took advantage of the last gasp of the production code to introduce some more salacious plot points - "Dead Ringer". I'd recommend both films.
There's a good supporting role here for Dane Clark as a boorish but talented artist that Kate takes under her wing, but in the end, his role doesn't really lead anywhere and could have been omitted entirely with no impact to the plot.
When Kate returns to consciousness and realizes the error in identification that has been made, she has only an instant to correct matters - instead she takes on the identity of Pat so that she can have Bill. But complications ensue when she returns "home" and realizes that Pat has been serially unfaithful to Bill, and he wants a divorce.
Bill had the fast friend, the person who understood him and was devoted to him in Kate, but as he admits, she was like a cake with no "frosting". Pat had that frosting, and in their whirlwind courtship Bill would have had no time to determine if Pat would be a supportive partner to him, because it was just all about the lust. This rather unwinds the plot up to this point, because after all the time spent showing us how moody and introspective and special BIll is, he turns out to be a total jerk. Why would Kate pine away for such a guy?
It's implied that beauty is mainly about confidence and presentation - and it really is - since Kate and Pat are identical twins. Bill couldn't really say that Pat was the prettier one, although Kate did say this, because of the different reaction she has had from men versus her sister.
And I have to wonder about the so-called "happy ending" that is presented in which Bill shows up at the lodge and tells Kate that he knows that she IS Kate, and that he finally realizes that he loves her after all. I do believe that he could have figured out that this new improved wife who gave sincere answers and seemed to feel shame for her past infidelities could not possibly be Pat, based on past behavior. But as for him suddenly realizing he loved Kate all along - I doubt this would hold up over the long haul. Men fall in love very quickly, and at this point he was probably just greatly relieved that Pat was the one who was dead and not his best friend/soulmate Kate, the "unfrosted" cake.
Oh well, if I am going to watch the films of 1946 I guess I'd better be prepared to deal with the values and fairy tale endings of 1946. It was a good performance by Bette - she really did seem to be two different people with entirely different personalities. She did a film with a different plot 18 years later in which she also plays identical twins and rivals, one that took advantage of the last gasp of the production code to introduce some more salacious plot points - "Dead Ringer". I'd recommend both films.
There's a good supporting role here for Dane Clark as a boorish but talented artist that Kate takes under her wing, but in the end, his role doesn't really lead anywhere and could have been omitted entirely with no impact to the plot.