Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Dark Mirror stars a very talented Olivia DeHaviland, who would go to play another disturbed woman in Snake Pit. In this film, she plays the demanding role of twins, which sounds easy to do; but as we find out, there is a world of difference between twins. DeHaviland pulls it off, and the viewer will have a tough time deciding which twin is the killer, and which is the innocent one. Lew Ayres is very good as the psychiatrist who has to test the twins to see who is relatively normal, and who is out there in Howdydoodyville. A fascinating film to watch from beginning to end.

In its depiction of a pair of twins, one of whom is a psychotic killer, THE DARK MIRROR is a film very much ahead of its time. It's an engrossing period piece that benefits greatly from a fine performance from Olivia de Havilland playing the twins, Terry and Ruth Collins. Accompanied by some excellent back projection work (you won't see the seams!), you never stop believing for a second that both twins are separate people.Elsewhere, the plotting is fairly ordinary for a film noir type thriller. There are the flat-footed policemen getting nowhere, a dedicated shrink who finds himself falling for the murder suspect(s) and some effectively grim, doom-laden atmosphere from director Robert Siodmak. It's the sort of film somebody like David Cronenberg would have been making had he been working during the 1940s. The twist ending is particularly strong.

Hey! I'm certainly no prude, but, regardless of whether it's "just-a-movie", or not, I am one who thinks it's absolutely deplorable when a "professional" (such as a physician or a psychiatrist) who, due to having a very low standard of ethics, becomes romantically involved with one (or more) of their patients.And this, I'm sorry to say, was the case here in The Dark Mirror.Supposedly a "respected" psychiatrist, Dr. Elliot, who was psycho-analyzing both Ruth & Terry Collins (to determine if either one of these identical twins could, in fact, be a murderess) became romantically involved with the "good" twin. (natch) The doc literally came onto this woman like a horny-toad buzzard, passionately and frequently embracing her, and kissing her, and telling her that he loved her.And I don't care that this was "just-a-movie" (even if it was from the 1940s), I think that this sort of unprofessional behaviour was absolutely despicable and completely unacceptable.And I definitely don't think that even "in-the-name-of-love" any movie (unless it's porn-trash) should give the green-light to something as contemptible as this in nature. No movie should treat this lousy business of a doctor sleeping with a patient as if it were alright. 'Cause it's not! When it comes to the likes of a professional's morals and ethics, it is very, very wrong. Indeed! And, like, who the hell did the producers of this picture think they were telling the audience that it's OK for a psychiatrist (out of his own selfish desires) to encourage sexual relations with his/her patient? And for that, this film only rates one star from me.

As stated in everyone's write-ups, this is a story of a murder with a twist; the perp is one of two identical twins. One alibis for the other, and since both can't be prosecuted for the crime, the guilty one walks. This does not sit well with Insp. Thomas Mitchell, who tries to think of a way to implicate the guilty one - whichever one that is. And so he enlists the help of psychiatrist Lew Ayres.At first, the murder is presented as an unsolvable conundrum and in a light-hearted vein, but things get serious thereafter and, unfortunately, the plot begins to bog down over some technical psychological data. But Olivia DeHavilland saves the day and the movie with a splendid performance (or two) as the twins. Gradually there appear personality differences so that even the audience can tell the difference between the two. Not many actresses could have pulled off the layered performances of the twins, but not many actresses are as proficient or as skilled as DeHavilland.This is another neglected gem from Universal's cobwebbed movie vaults that needs to be put into circulation by that comatose studio. It is one of Ms. DeHavilland's best performances and raises an average, talky movie to classic status.