Product Details

• Actors: Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford, Philip Carey, Jean Hagen
• Directors: Paul Henreid
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen, Dolby, Black & White
• Language: English (Mono), French (Dolby Digital 1.0), French (Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed: French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: August 10, 2004
• Run Time: 116 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00027JYLM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,205 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Dead Ringer" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Hot on the heels of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Bette Davis slipped neatly into another juicy thriller. This time, instead of co-starring with Joan Crawford, she got to play opposite... herself. Dead Ringer casts Davis as a wealthy (and nasty) widow, and also as her slatternly (but good) twin sister, long estranged. When the poor sister discovers the depths of her sib's evil, she takes a dramatic step that will test her skills as a thespian. Davis's old leading man, Paul Henreid, directs this material at a leaden pace, but Davis gives such a brazen performance, she pulls it through. Plus, the moments of high trash (a red-hot poker rammed into a hand, a lethal dog attack) are easily savored. Peter Lawford's seedy playboy and Karl Malden's stolid cop fill out the key supporting roles--not that anybody else matters. This is Bette Davis's world; everybody else is just visiting. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford. In this labyrinthine tale of deception and revenge, Davis plays good and evil twins, both bearing a longtime grudge over the same deceased man. Directed by Paul Henreid. 1964/b&w/115 min/NR/widescreen.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Old Fashioned Pot Boiler Fun December 8, 2001

By Gary F. Taylor HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

Bette Davis plays Bette Davis not once but twice in this over-the-top story of a sister who kills and then replaces her twin. The result is a thoroughly far-fetched and yet somewhat predictable thriller that succeeds in being a tremendous amount of fun.

Karl Malden and Peter Lawford fill out the cast, but the film belongs to Davis, and she clearly relishes the film's every excess, owning the script like a tailor-made gown. Indeed, much of the pleasure in watching DEAD RINGERS is the fun of seeing Davis play with such little restraint, and the movie makes use of every Davis mannerism imaginable.

This movie will never make any critic's short list, and over her long career Davis certainly made a great many finer films and gave a great many more artful performances. But as a late-night popcorn fest for Bette Davis fans, DEAD RINGERS is hard to beat.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth watching for Bette, as always... May 11, 2003

By Schuyler V. Johnson VINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

This is the second time Bette co-starred with herself; the first time was in "A Stolen Life"; however, do not look for that sort of quality here...the poor sister of the rich sister, Bette kills off her richer sibling and adopts her persona, and moves from her tawdry digs into the magnificent mansion in Beverly Hills. (The old Doheny estate, and the location for "Cinderfella" and "The Loved One.")
I enjoy Peter Lawford in anything, a truly underappreciated actor and a really nice man. He is enjoyably slimy in this role, and adds the right note for the jaded, rather tired boyfriend. Karl Malden is sad, and you feel sorry for him;; he was so devoted to the poor sister...the star of the show is Ms. Davis, and the fabulous house and grounds. Don't look for high, quality drama here, but rather, an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday night.
(NOTE: The Doheny estate, built in the early 1920s, is specatacular, and boasts several streets with signs for it's 25 acres of grounds, and it has a children's playhouse with fireplace and kitchen, etc., that rivals anything I've ever seen...and three guest houses, larger and more magnificent than most mansions! Also a bowling alley, a real movie theatre and over 30 bedrooms in the servants quarters. There was murder there, around 1929, the father caught his son with the butler, and shot and killed him; the son was put away in an asylum. Quite a history, and quite a setting...)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Two Bette's Are Better Than One!' March 27, 2009

By Terry Richard TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

I have to admit I am an ardent Bette Davis fan. The first film of hers I ever saw was "Whatever Happened To baby Jane?" on late-night TV years ago, and I fell in love with her. I can't say I admire her like I do Joan Crawford, but Bette comes pretty close.
I've been lucky to pretty much see all her films over the years, but I really like her 1960's stuff the best; perhaps its watching how Miss Davis tears up the scenery, as well as her co-stars that makes me such a Bette fan, but I do believe a lot of her later motion pictures are underated and often ignored. These films, often known by some critics as "hag-films", are true classics. Bette, along with Joan, had one of the longest careers in pictures, and how they managed to survive, in an industry that swallows careers and actresses at whim, is a testament to how good they were at their profession.
"Dead Ringer" is well acted, directed, and superbly cast. In it we see Bette playing twin sisters, one good, one bad. One sister steals the identity of the other in order to live her ellegant lifestyle to the fullest. There are many plot twists and turns to satisfy the most ardent viewer, and the film flys by fast. Karl Malden has a secondary role as one of Bette's boyfriends, and Peter Lawford plays one of the best villins in '60s films.
Sit back and enjoy a good Bette Davis potboiler.
The film is beautifully restored and the DVD features an informative documentary on the movie. Author Boze Hadleigh is interviewed and offers some insightful info on "Dead Ringer" and Bette Davis. If you think Bette was good in "Baby Jane" wait until you see her in this one!