This is Davis at the nadir of her career, when acting ceased to be a passion and became a way to pay the bills (her daughter's wedding, perhaps?). Davis is mannered and unconnected to the material and to the other actors in their scenes, doing the right things but without the inner fire of her early work, and overplaying all over the place. But you just can't keep your eyes off her! She's about 15 years too old to play these two sisters; the bad makeup and "lifts" under her wigs do little to hide this fact. Even as the rich pampered sister, in expensive clothes, she looks frumpy and out of shape, even dowdy, a look which is right for the "poor" sister Edie, but not for Margaret. It's a sad thing to watch this great talent go through the motions.
The production, a first rate studio job, is a classic Warners melodrama, which could have been made in the 30s but for the slightly smarmy 60s overlay. It's full of plot holes: the twins would not have had the same fingerprints or dental work and it'd have been easy, even without DNA evidence to tell them apart from these and made it clear just WHO was standing trial for whose murder! But it is a movie after all, and it does have some fun moments in spite of this. Henreid's direction is adequate, though he could have given stronger direction to Davis and reined her in more, as she claimed to like strong directors. Perhaps their being good friends stood in his way. The supporting cast of character players is very good. Previn's score is masterfully chilling.
The production, a first rate studio job, is a classic Warners melodrama, which could have been made in the 30s but for the slightly smarmy 60s overlay. It's full of plot holes: the twins would not have had the same fingerprints or dental work and it'd have been easy, even without DNA evidence to tell them apart from these and made it clear just WHO was standing trial for whose murder! But it is a movie after all, and it does have some fun moments in spite of this. Henreid's direction is adequate, though he could have given stronger direction to Davis and reined her in more, as she claimed to like strong directors. Perhaps their being good friends stood in his way. The supporting cast of character players is very good. Previn's score is masterfully chilling.