It will take you awhile to get to Lew Ayres as a character though. The movie opens on the body of a murdered man in a dark room. At first it looks as though this is going to be a police procedural with Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell) in the lead as he methodically finds out who last saw the dead man alive, who the murdered man was with, etc. Suspect number one is whittled down to a woman who runs a magazine stand in the office building where the dead doc worked. She is hauled in for questioning, but she has an ironclad alibi that includes a concert and a walk in the park, both miles from the scene of the crime, and she has witnesses that have no reason to lie for her. The good lieutenant is just about at his wit's ends when he discovers his suspect has an identical twin. (Olivia DeHaviland as Terry and Ruth Collins). So, the lieutenant quips that one is guilty of murder the other obstruction of justice unless they fess up. Terry quips back "which are you charging with which crime?" The twins have a lawyer and are armed with the fact that you can't haul multiple people in for the same crime when you know one is innocent and just see how it shakes out.
At this point Thomas Mitchell fades into the background and the film becomes a psychological drama with Lew Ayres becoming the male lead. Ayres plays Dr. Scott Elliott, initially called in as a witness for the police, but when the Lieutenant discovers Dr. Elliott has spent his career studying twins, he proposes that he make friends with the Collins sisters, offer to use them in a study, and see if he can determine which is the murderer through a psychological profile.
This is the part I find hard to swallow. The Collins twins have all their ducks in a row legally, and mum is the word when it comes to talking to the police, and yet they both agree to be studied by a doctor specializing in twin psychology, both yapping their brains out about their individual thought processes, all based on the fact that the good doctor SAYS he is not working for the police? I'll let you watch and see how this all shakes out.
I will say that Olivia DeHaviland, like Joan Crawford, was much better at choosing roles that showed off her acting talent than her original studio - in her case Warner Bros. From 1935 until she freed herself from WB, she was pigeonholed as a light comedienne or the love interest of Errol Flynn in whatever swashbuckler he happened to be appearing. That doesn't mean she wasn't entertaining in those roles, I'm just saying she was capable of so much more. This film is a seldom seen example of DeHaviland's excellent skill. You actually see the two distinct personalities of the twins emerging as Olivia has several conversations with "her twin" that only exists as a result of editing and trick photography.
Very much worth your time, and since it is hard to find any other way, I have to highly recommend the recent pressed release by Olive Films. I don't like to plug individual commercial products, but I know of no other way to see this fine piece of writing and acting.
At this point Thomas Mitchell fades into the background and the film becomes a psychological drama with Lew Ayres becoming the male lead. Ayres plays Dr. Scott Elliott, initially called in as a witness for the police, but when the Lieutenant discovers Dr. Elliott has spent his career studying twins, he proposes that he make friends with the Collins sisters, offer to use them in a study, and see if he can determine which is the murderer through a psychological profile.
This is the part I find hard to swallow. The Collins twins have all their ducks in a row legally, and mum is the word when it comes to talking to the police, and yet they both agree to be studied by a doctor specializing in twin psychology, both yapping their brains out about their individual thought processes, all based on the fact that the good doctor SAYS he is not working for the police? I'll let you watch and see how this all shakes out.
I will say that Olivia DeHaviland, like Joan Crawford, was much better at choosing roles that showed off her acting talent than her original studio - in her case Warner Bros. From 1935 until she freed herself from WB, she was pigeonholed as a light comedienne or the love interest of Errol Flynn in whatever swashbuckler he happened to be appearing. That doesn't mean she wasn't entertaining in those roles, I'm just saying she was capable of so much more. This film is a seldom seen example of DeHaviland's excellent skill. You actually see the two distinct personalities of the twins emerging as Olivia has several conversations with "her twin" that only exists as a result of editing and trick photography.
Very much worth your time, and since it is hard to find any other way, I have to highly recommend the recent pressed release by Olive Films. I don't like to plug individual commercial products, but I know of no other way to see this fine piece of writing and acting.