The dual personality as personified in identical twins was a favorite theme of forties psychoanalytic films, such as Dark Mirror with Olivia de Havilland. In A Stolen Life, Bette Davis (who also produced the film) portrays two sisters, one sweet but mousy, the other glamorous but nasty. Both are in love with the same man (Glenn Ford); the drowning death of one sister means victory for the other. Set in the world of East Coast avant-garde artists, the film is delightfully full of cultural pretensions. But this highly psychological and cultural bent is balanced by a vibrant New England summer setting (painstakingly recreated in California). Charles Higham and Joel Greenberg (Hollywood in the Forties) note the film's “exhilaratingly alive and dynamic physical presentation. The setting is the rocks and mists of Maine, home and passion of Bette Davis herself for many years.... The effervescent score of Max Steiner...(and) the direction of Curtis Bernhardt create a strong maritime flavor that pervades the whole production. It is a work of ebullient American energy and zest....”