The classic example of double star roles, from a literary source, where
the resemblance is a crucial plot point, is The Prisoner of Zenda, in at
least three versions (Lewis Stone, Ronald Colman, and Stewart Granger).
The good/evil twins genre includes: Bette Davis in A Stolen Life
(a remake of an Elisabeth Bergner film), Olivia de Havilland in The
Dark Mirror, Bette Davis in Dead Ringer, and Jeremy Irons in
Dead Ringers. Conrad Veidt played twins in Nazi Agent, Douglas
Fairbanks jr played Siamese twins separated in The Corsican Brothers,
and then there's the last-minute revelation of two sets of twins at the
end of The Palm Beach Story (plus two sets of mismatched twins in
Start the Revolution Without Me). Twin Falls, Idaho?
--Bob Keser
Laura Jean Carroll wrote:
> Hi; apologies for cross-posting.
>
> I'm looking for a film to discuss in my thesis where a single actor plays
> two different parts and the characters look alike or identical. (e.g., they
> are twins, siblings, doppelgangers, reincarnations, whatever.) It needs to
> be an important part of the story that the two characters look alike - the
> plot might turn on mistaken identity or something - but it's clear that they
> are not, in the fiction, the same person (so not VERTIGO.) To be of use to
> me the film must, must, must be adapted from a literary work (but not a
> play), and inherit the look-alikes from it. (Ideally the actor in question
> would be a star, or at least a familiar face; and the film would be
> something worth studying & thinking about.
> Thanks very much,
>
> Laura Carroll
>
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