''Double Exposure'' is a 1944 American

crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

William Berke William A. Berke (born October 3, 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – died February 15, 1958 in Los Angeles, California) was an American film director, producer, actor and screenwriter. He wrote, directed, and/or produced some 200 films over a ...

, and starring

Chester Morris John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television, and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and received an Academy Awards, Academy Award nomination ...

and

Nancy Kelly Nancy Kelly (March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress in film, theater and television. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member of CBS Radio's ''The March of Time'' and appeared in several films in the late 1 ...

Plot

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, James R. Tarlock (Richard Gaines), a fitness fanatic and publisher of the picture magazine ''Flick'', tells his editor, Larry Burke (Chester Morris), to hire Pat Marvin (Nancy Kelly), a small town Iowa photographer, based on a great photograph of a crashing airplane. After Tarlock leaves, Larry fires a photographer for faking a picture. It turns out that Pat's boyfriend, Ben Scribner (Phillip Terry), faked her airplane picture. Pat is very excited about the job offer. Ben is less enthused about her leaving for the big city, but supports her decision to take the job. Larry is pleased to discover that his new employee is an attractive woman and takes her out to dinner. Pat seizes an opportunity by taking photographs of Dolores Tucker (Jane Farrar), the wife of much-married millionaire Sonny Tucker (Charles Arnt), lying on the floor of the restaurant's ladies' room after a suicide attempt. For a follow-up, Pat disguises herself as a

chorus girl A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms su ...

to gain entrance to Sonny's apartment. Dolores walks in shortly afterward and becomes very jealous. Pat has to knock her out with a punch to get away, taking pictures of Dolores and Sonny before and after. Pat invents a brother named Ben to fend off Larry's amorous advances. To Pat's surprise, the real Ben follows her to New York. When Larry walks in on them, Pat introduces her "brother". Ben reluctantly goes along with the deception. He decides to stay in New York, and talks Larry into giving him a job. Meanwhile, Sonny asks Pat to marry him, after he divorces Dolores. Dolores makes a scene when she finds them together at a nightclub. Larry finally finds out about Ben and does not believe Pat when she says she was going to tell him. In anger, he sends Ben on an assignment, one that (unbeknownst to him) puts him aboard a ship bound for Russia. Meanwhile, Tarlock assigns Pat to take a series of photographs of a fake murder for the magazine's readers to try to solve. However, the photo of Pat, as the "victim", looks just like a real police photo of the dead Dolores, slumped face down on a couch. Pat is indicted for murder. Larry tries to get Ben back to corroborate Pat's story, but learns that Ben was not among the survivors when his ship was torpedoed. Larry proves that Dolores was killed by Sonny. Afterward, Larry breaks up with Pat, guilt-ridden over Ben's death. Then Ben shows up and punches him. It turns out Ben spent 20 days on a raft with another woman and married her.

Cast

as Larry Burke *

as Patricia "Pat" Marvin *

Phillip Terry Phillip Terry (born Frederick Henry Kormann, March 7, 1909 – February 23, 1993) was an American actor. Early years Terry was born in San Francisco, California, the only child of German Americans, Frederick Andrew Kormann and Ida Ruth Voll. Hi ...

as Ben Scribner * Jane Farrar as Dolores Tucker *

Richard Gaines Richard Houston Gaines (July 23, 1904 – July 20, 1975) was an American actor. He appeared in over 75 film and television productions between 1940 and 1962. Early years Gaines was born in Indian Territory and grew up in Texas, learning "to h ...

as James R. Tarlock *

Charles Arnt Charles E. Arnt (August 20, 1906 – August 6, 1990) was an American film actor from 1933 to 1962. Arnt appeared as a character actor in more than 200 films. Arnt was born in Michigan City, Indiana, the son of a banker. He graduated from ...

as Sonny Tucker * Claire Rochelle as Smitty *Roma Aldrich as Mavis

Reception

Pine Thomas announced a sequel, ''Over Exposed'' with

William Gargan William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Double Exposure 1944 films American crime comedy films 1944 romantic comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films American romantic comedy films Films about photojournalists Films directed by William A. Berke Films set in New York City 1940s crime comedy films 1940s American films