Review of Crack in the Mirror

I will not crack any important secret by noting that the most significant aspect of Crack in the Mirror is that its three main stars, Orson Welles, Juliette Greco and Bradford Dillman, each play two central roles, essentially representing similar but different characters of two parallel love triangles. In one story, where a crime of passion is committed early on, the three actors portray somewhat scruffy, French lower-class characters, while in the other, they wash and dress up to play "la creme de la creme" of French society. While the two plots soon join to form a rather bizarre drama, only the viewer can spot the physical sameness of the characters concerned, as they are clearly not meant to look identical in the story. This unusual double role-playing is somewhat intriguing and does evidently brings home the theme that rich or poor, educated or not, human beings are ultimately driven by the same base passions and ambitions, and are equally capable of crime and deception. However, it seems to me that in order for such an approach to fully work, the film must either be a comedy (a la Dr. Strangelove for example) or a compelling drama where the double roles somehow help to explore and reveal deep philosophical themes. Otherwise, having each star play two roles can just come off as gimmicky and pretentious. In the case of Crack in Mirror, I fear that the result is closer to the latter, though I would not dismiss it as simply gimmicky. The point that it makes is rather obvious and could have been made equally well without this doubling of roles, but the approach did contribute to the strange mood of the film, and it was interesting to watch the different portrayals of Welles, Greco, and Dillman, who each gave two, mostly good performances (I assume for the price of one). The plot had some originality to it, and while it lingered at times, it generally maintained interest. Welles' final statement as a defense lawyer was particularly well acted and meaningful, helping to redeem what was becoming an unexciting courtroom drama. On the other hand, setting the film in France when all the actors spoke English with their usual accents (and most except Juliette Greco are English speakers) seemed artificial and served no purpose (unless in 1960 Americans believed that only the French were capable of such crimes of passion). Overall, Crack in the Mirror comes off as a rather above average melodrama with an interesting casting experiment that ultimately does not quite fulfill the effect intended. Though largely forgotten, it could be worth searching out for.