Double Exposure (1944) User Reviews

Flick's Pics nearly nix the hicks

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 24 January 2012]

Double Exposure casts Chester Morris as the editor of a photo journalistic magazine called Flick who on the strong suggestion of the owner Richard Gaines hires Nancy Kelly as a new staff photographer. Chet likes her, but she comes as a package deal along with Philip Terry whom she says is her brother.

The film is from the budget school of Pine-Thomas who did the B films for Paramount. It moves at a nice clip and abruptly changes from comedy to murder mystery as Kelly is arrested for the murder of Jane Farrar the latest in a long line of wives for playboy Charles Arnt. Arnt's been giving Kelly the three times over and wouldn't mind adding her as yet another trophy wife.

The editor part fits Morris well and it was a break though not much of one from Boston Blackie. Farrar until she turned up dead was one hot tempered wife who was not in a mood for explanations. It's part of what gets her killed. Gaines is also memorable as the boss who makes all his employees take part in his physical fitness regimen.

Not a bad film as a second feature, probably to some Crosby or Hope film Paramount was featuring in 1944.

A nice surprise

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 6 February 2011]

Larry (Chester Morris) hires photographer Pat (Nancy Kelly) for his magazine. They fall in love but there is a problem - her boyfriend Ben (Phillip Terry) back home. At first, as an excuse to fend off any advance from Larry, Pat pretends that Ben is her brother and that he is staying with her. The situation is made worse when Ben actually turns up and is forced to go along with the charade for the sake of Pat's job. This makes for a good comedy scene at a nightclub where Ben is given another date, Mavis (Roma Aldrich) to whom he shows absolutely no interest. Larry discovers the deceit just as a murder is committed and Pat is to stand trial for the crime. It's all in Larry's hands.....

This is a quick moving comedy that throws us a mystery towards the end. There are many good scenes and the dialogue is funny. The whole cast perform well in this enjoyable, tongue-in-cheek story and it is worth keeping onto to watch again. One criticism is the quality of the film. It's a story about the publishing business and it's no surprise to learn that photos were being faked to sell newspapers in those days just as they are today (especially on the fashion pages!). In this instance, they are even faked to solve a crime.

The Dollar Bills Earn Their Money

[boblipton · 6/10 · 15 July 2017]

William Pine and William Thomas -- Paramount's B producers who took sturdy projects and turned out decent movies on modest budgets, earning them the appellation of "The Dollar bills" -- have a fine one-hour flick in this movie. Nancy Kelly gets a photography gig at a New York magazine, with wolfish Chester Morris as her boss; she totes along would-be fiancé Philip Terry, claiming he is her brother, to stand off Morris. She's smart, hard-working and they gradually fall in love, with many a quip, when a murdered woman pops up -- and it looks exactly like the picture of Miss Kelly that she posed for the magazine; her alibi is Mr. Terry, but he's been shipped out on a convoy to Russia and lost at sea.

Richard Gaines is along as the health-nut publisher, and there are a lot of good gags for the first three-quarters of the picture, until the murder mystery takes over. Dewey Robinson as a cab driver also has a few good lines.

Nancy Kelly really shines

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 28 June 2021]

How many films from the 1940s start with the misunderstanding caused by a name that could belong to either a man or a woman? That's how Double Exposure begins. Magazine editor Larry Burke (Chester Morris) hires a photographer he's never met named "Pat" (Nancy Kelly). Of course "Pat" ends up being a woman, setting the stage for a few laughs and a predictable romance. Things get complicated, however, when: (a) Pat's old beau shows up, and (b) Pat is accused of murder.

Double Exposure isn't anything deep, but it is a decent little film that I found reasonably entertaining. For me, the comedy bits (especially those involving the health-nut magazine owner) far outweighed the mystery elements. The killer's real identity was way too easy to guess. The film is also helped along by some snappy direction and pacing. Director William Berke really keeps things moving. The film's highlight (at least for me) has to be Nancy Kelly's performance. Delightful, charming, and funny would be a few of the adjectives I'd use to describe Kelly in Double Exposure. Her performance raises the film's enjoyment in my eyes to a notch slightly above average. Overall, if you go into Double Exposure without a ton of expectations, you might discover a nice little movie worth watching.

Finally, another bit I liked was the storyline given to ex-boyfriend, Ben. I won't spoil it, but his final scene actually surprised me. Well done.

6/10.

A pleasant little B romantic-comedy.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 12 January 2010]

One thing about this film I found rather interesting. The photographer, Pat (Nancy Kelly), was hired sight unseen. When they find out she is NOT a man, this is accepted pretty quickly--without the usual sexist drivel such as "this is no job for a woman" and the like. Perhaps this was because during the war years, more and more women were in the workplace and it was not so unusual to see lady cabbies or salespeople or even factory workers. So, seeing a lady photographer wasn't so terribly unusual.

So, as I've already said, Pat is hired when the film begins. The job is for a magazine run by a health fanatic, though the magazine is of a more mundane nature. Her job is to get sensational photos that aren't faked--a problem they had with the last photographer. It's obvious from the start that although Pat has a boyfriend, she is absolutely destined to be with her new boss, Larry, by the end of the film. That's because Larry was played by popular B-actor Chester Morris who was a very hot commodity during this era. He was the leading man, so you know he had to get the leading lady eventually.

However, Larry and Pat have a complication. For some bizarre reason, Pat pretends that her brother is living with her. I think it's to keep Larry from trying to come in her apartment. And, when Pat's old boyfriend from back home arrives on the scene, Larry assumes this is her brother. So far so good. But, later, when Larry realizes he's falling for her, he also feels betrayed because he then finds out that this man is NOT her brother. What's Larry to do? See the film and find out for yourself--it's worth it and where it goes next is NOT at all where you'd expect.

As usual, Chester Morris does a nice job--just the sort of effortless performance he so often gave in his B-films--though this time it's for Pine-Thomas Productions, not his usual studio (Columbia Pictures). And, while the plot has a few holes, it is an enjoyable and breezy little comedy.

Pre Photoshop

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 3 September 2021]

Chester Morris stars with Nancy Kelly, Philip Terry, and Jane Farrar star in "Double Exposure" from 1944.

Chester Morris as Larry Burke works at a picture magazine called Flick, and he's not above faking a shot to get a good cover. The company needs photographers, so when his boss sees a plane crash photo done by one Pat Marvin, he has Larry hire him.

When Pat arrives, he's a she, and a very attractive one at that. Pat has left behind a boyfriend, Ben (Terry) to come to New York, except that he shows up. She tells Larry that Ben is her brother. Larry gives him a job as well.

Larry assigns Pat and Ben to a fictional murder mystery case that will involve photos. Pat has attracted a millionaire on his sixth wife or so who is going to Reno to divorce her - he gives Pat the keys to his apartment. So she and Ben set up the murder scene there.

To their surprise, there is a murder at the apartment later - and the pose is exactly like Pat's, face down on the divan. Naturally the police arrive. They believe Pat photographed the murdered woman after killing her, so she's indicted and is stuck in jail. Larry loves the publicity, but he realizes the murder has to be solved to get her out. So he goes to work.

Funny, fast-moving film with some wild characters, including the crazy boss who makes his employees do calisthenics and passes out carrots. Morris and Kelly have good chemistry.

I especially loved the photo faking which included a lot of cutting, pasting, and white-out. Just think, with Photoshop it would have been nothing.

Patricia From Iowa Falls For Another and Patricia is a girls name is still in love with Ben, who has followed her to NY.

[dutskenhousen · 7/10 · 13 February 2008]

A Real Charmer From The old Days. I thought of this movie as a classic Comedy/Romance and Very good looking for it as well. A well Casted Ballot Filled With Entandrable Roles Filled With Funny Lines and Fine Arrangements. Really A Good Looking Movie Being From Its Era It Stands up Nicely With The Times. Although A Bit Short Of Script With A Run time: 1:02:24 It Appropriates With The Era. What I Most Remember About This Movie Was The Dialog Was Short And Sweet. I think It Moved The story Along Quite NIcely. The Productin company was Production Company: Pine-Thomas Productions an Ample Comany to Take On A Project Like This. A Remake Might Be In store For This One?!

The Picture Snatcher Stops the Presses!

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 18 September 2014]

This really is the story of a prank blowing up in the prankster's face, in this case, a press photographer (Nancy Kelly) who seems to be obsessed with the marital issues of a much married man (Charles Arnt) and his most recent wife (Jane Farrar), a hot-tempered harpy with whom he has many public battles over his flirtations with other younger women. Having just been hired by the amorous Chester Morris, Kelly gets jailed on a murder rap, and the only testimony that could save her comes from her fiancée (Phillip Terry) whom Morris initially thought to be her brother and has sent him off on a mission where he is believed to be killed.

This is one of those newspaper comedies where you can just hear the writer laughing to himself as he puts the script down on paper. It is intelligently written and amusing, but the aspect of the plot just gets a bit out of control and ultimately unbelievable with the plot going through so many twists and turns that it makes a pretzel look like a strand of spaghetti before it has been boiled. While this will never be the classic of "The Front Page", its sexually reversed remake "His Girl Friday" or the brilliant "Five Star Final" standards, it is a pleasant look at how the deadly sin of jealousy can create a lot of havoc for everybody involved.

"A trick chick from Flick"

[SimonJack · 6/10 · 9 February 2014]

What starts off looking fairly formulaic for movies of the period, turns into an interesting flick with some different twists. I won't say more because much of the enjoyment is seeing the twists unfold. While Paramount was part producer and distributor of this film, it's obviously of a lesser grade – B or something else. The cast doesn't have any big names. The technical quality is low-grade, and the writing and directing could have been much better.

But, the acting is mostly quite good with a plot that soon develops beyond the usual fare. So, I'm surprised that Paramount couldn't build this one up a bit more. Still, it was the middle of World War II and many of the top actors, writers and technicians were off at war. There was a lot of interest about this time in stories about the war, so the studios can be excused for not putting their all in many of their smaller films.

I do think that labeling this a comedy as well as a crime film is misleading. The comedy is so little and quickly overshadowed by the mystery. But, it's fine as a drama and crime or mystery flick. The quote in my heading is a line from the film.

Top-notch B quickie featuring bizarre comic touches

[csteidler · 8/10 · 15 November 2011]

Chester Morris is Larry Burke, fast-talking editor of Flick, the picture magazine "that's always there when it happens." Short on energetic staff photographers, he recruits and hires Pat Marvin, a photographer from way out in Iowa, on the strength of a syndicated newspaper photo that appears to capture a crashing plane right as it hits the ground! Larry is somewhat taken aback, when Pat arrives in his office, to discover that Pat is a female—but decides to give her a shot. Has she got glub?

–Thus begins a wacky tale in which we encounter a jealous boyfriend posing as a brother; an amorous millionaire who casually ditches old wives and selects new ones; the magazine's health nut owner, who comes into the office every morning handing out carrots and leading calisthenics; and a fairly neat little murder mystery thrown in for good measure. --Oh, and Chester explaining that "glub" is an acronym representing four things you've got to have to get ahead in the business—you must be a Go getter, Lucky, Up and at 'em, and a Bunko artist at heart. G,L,U,B. "No woman could possibly have it," he explains to Pat—who naturally (and to Chester's delight) sets about proving him wrong.

Nancy Kelly is Pat, the girl from Iowa looking for a big break. The back-and-forth between her and Morris is excellent—snappy, affectionate, sometimes silly—and their relationship is the center of the picture. Morris is at his frantic best; Kelly is a match for his quickness, while her character's earnestness counters his flipness.

Among other bizarre moments, the picture features more than one shot where a character pauses on the way out of a scene and speaks an aside right to the camera—including the loser boyfriend who hilariously turns to the audience to complain about getting kissed on the cheek again.

Good dialog keeps things moving; a couple of truly surprising plot twists charm and delight as well.

Funniest exchange—magazine owner Richard Gaines explaining to editor Morris how to solve a murder: "First you question the suspects." Morris: "What suspects? Pat's the only one." Owner: "Well, find some!"

Bright Entertainment!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 4 October 2013]

By the humble standards of the Two Dollar Bills (i.e. producers Bill Pine and Bill Thomas), this is a really entertaining little offering in which an able cast led by Chester Morris (the magazine editor), Nancy Kelly (the freelance photographer), Richard Gaines (the exercise-conscious publisher), Philip Terry (the freelance's boyfriend) and Charles Arnt (a millionaire of the marrying kind) mix comedy, romance and a murder mystery with most entertaining results. The bright screenplay by Winston Miller and Maxwell Shane only takes one wrong turn that is a bit hard to swallow. Fortunately, it occurs near the end of the movie. If it disturbs them at all, most viewers will regard it as nothing more than a momentary lapse. The direction by William Berke consistently rates far above his usual pedestrian standard. The pace and timing of his players – particularly in the comedy scenes with Richard Gaines – are especially effective. Some viewers may feel that the murder mystery plot has been short-changed in the interests of comedy and romance, but I felt that aside from the overly dramatic plot twist I mentioned earlier, the movie offered consistently bright entertainment. Available on many DVDs. Alpha's print is excellent.

Not the best from director William Berke

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7 August 2023]

First, I did not know that director William berke worked for Paramount Studios. Second, I did not know that Chester Morris also worked for Paramount. Now that said, this comedy is quite enjoyable, fast paced, but also quite forgettable. More comedy than supposed more or less crime scheme, I don't advise it to crime flicks lovers, because it has nothing to do with any suspense nor thrill provider of any kind. I would be unable to summarize it. Totally uninteresting, except for comedy lovers from this period. I agree that the atmosphere is pretty agreeable, because destined to audiences who seeked to forget the horrors of war; don't forget it was made in 1944. Studios avoided gloomy, downbeat topics. You can guess why.