''A Double Life'' or ''Double Destiny'' (French: ''Double destin'', German: ''Das zweite Leben'') is a 1954 French-West German

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

based upon the play by

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work ...

, directed by

Victor Vicas Victor Vicas (25 March 1918 – 9 December 1985) was a Russian-born French film director and screenwriter. His film ''The Wayward Bus'' was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. Between 1974 and 1983 he directed all thirty ...

and starring

Michel Auclair Michel Auclair (born Vladimir Vujović, sr-cyr, Владимир Вујовић; 14 September 1922 – 7 January 1988) was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema. Auclair was born to a Serbian fathe ...

Simone Simon Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1910 or 1911 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931. Early life Born in Marseille, France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Clair Simon, a French J ...

and

Barbara Rütting Barbara Rütting (21 November 1927 – 28 March 2020)Wiesbaden Studios Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

and on location around

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Kiedrich Kiedrich is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Geography Kiedrich lies in the Rheingau on the south slope of the Taunus, approximately 2 km north from the town of Eltvil ...

in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art directors Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of what ...

Alfred Bütow Alfred Bütow (1902 – 1986) was a German art director. Originally he worked on scenic design in the theatre before switching to the film industry.Giesen p.236-37 He worked on the set design of over fifty films during his career. Selected filmo ...

and

Ernst Schomer Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975- ...

Cast

as Jacques Frontenac *

as Françoise Dunoyer *

Barbara Rütting Barbara Rütting (21 November 1927 – 28 March 2020)Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian actor and film director. Life and career Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as art history, history and German literature. In 1938, he transferred to the d ...

as Rainer von Hohenburg *

Yves Brainville Yves Brainville (8 March 1914 – 16 November 1993) was a French film and television actor.Hayward p.245 Selected filmography * ''Entrée des artistes'' (1938) - Sylvestre * ''Accord final'' (1938) - Chenal - l'ami de Georges * ''Eduardo VII'' ...

as Garreau *

Gert Fröbe Karl Gerhart "Gert" Fröbe (; 25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988) was a German actor. He was best known in English-speaking countries for his work as Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film '' Goldfinger'', as Peachum in ''The Threepenny Oper ...

as Mittelmeier *

Rolf von Nauckhoff Rolf von Nauckhoff (1909–1968) was a Swedish film actor who worked mainly in Germany.World Filmography: 1967 p.152 Selected filmography * ''Johan Ulfstjerna'' (1936) - Student reading a poem (uncredited) * ''Shipwrecked Max'' (1936) - Waiter * ...

as Professeur Werner *

Walter Clemens Walter Carl Clemens, Jr. (born April 6, 1933) is an American political scientist best known for advancing complexity science as an approach to the study of international relations and comparative politics. He has been active in the analysis of comp ...

as L'Italien *

Georges Vitray Georges Vitray (1888–1960) was a French film actor.Crisp p.155 Biography Georges Victor Leporcher was born in Paris, France to Constant Leporcher and Victorine Victoire Bricier. Georges took the name Vitray as a stage name. Georges' mother ...

as Gervais *

Herbert von Boxberger Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

Otto Friebel Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

Marcel Rouzé Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian s ...

Yvonne Yma Yvonne Yma (1887–1959) was a French stage and film actress.Phillips p.212 Selected filmography * '' Take Care of Amelie'' (1932) * '' A Father Without Knowing It'' (1932) * ''Student's Hotel'' (1932) * ''The Barber of Seville'' (1933) * ''The Br ...

Elisabeth Scherer Elisabeth Scherer (30 July 1914 – 18 April 2013) was a German actress. She appeared in more than 30 films and television shows between 1942 and 2009. Selected filmography * ''Doctor Crippen'' (1942) * '' A Double Life'' (1954) * ' (2000) ...

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1954 films 1954 drama films French drama films German drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Victor Vicas Films about amnesia Films about fictional painters French films based on plays German black-and-white films French black-and-white films 1950s French films 1950s German films Films shot in Paris {{1950s-France-film-stub