The Man with Two Faces | |
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1934 theatrical poster
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Directed by | Archie Mayo |
Produced by |
Robert Lord Hal B. Wallis Jack L. Warner |
Screenplay by | Tom Reed Niven Busch |
Based on |
The Dark Tower (play) by George S. Kaufman Alexander Woollcott |
Starring |
Edward G. Robinson Mary Astor |
Music by |
Leo F. Forbstein Bernhard Kaun |
Cinematography | Tony Gaudio |
Edited by | William Holmes |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. |
Release date
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August 4, 1934 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Man with Two Faces (1934) is a Warner Bros. film directed by Archie Mayo, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez, Louis Calhern, Mae Clarke, and David Landau. The story was adapted by Tom Reed and Niven Busch from the play The Dark Tower by George S. Kaufman and Alexander Woollcott.
The Man with Two Faces was actress Margaret Dale's last movie and her only talkie. She and Anton Stengel are the only two actors from the Broadway play to appear in the film. In 2010, this film became available on DVD from the Warner Archive Collection.
Jessica Wells (Astor) is a beautiful and talented actress, returning to the stage after a three-year absence. Although her triumphal return seems certain, family and friends are shocked when Vance (Calhern), her long-lost husband with a criminal past, shows up at the family home. He immediately exerts his influence on the vivacious Jessica, and she becomes a sleepwalking automaton blindly obeying orders.
The avaricious and opportunistic Vance (who appears carrying pet mice in a cage) has heard that his wife holds half the rights to the play in which she will be featured, a prospective hit, but a certain disaster in her somnambulist state.
Stage star Damon Wells (Robinson) lends theatrical prestige to his sister's comeback while helping to reclaim her talent as her acting coach. He and Jessica's manager (Cortez) realize that the verminous Vance must be dealt with at once, so Damon begins an elaborate ruse, presenting himself to the schemer as the bearded French theatrical producer Jules Chautard.