Everyone knows Broadway's Anthony John played by Ronald Colman. And to make sure we know everyone knows him the movie opens with good old Ronald having a hard time navigating the sidewalks of New York City without bumping into someone he knows. And in these opening scenes Colman is every bit the Ronald Colman audiences have come to know and love: friendly, a bit melancholy, handsome, and engagingly confused. "So Double Life was to be just another Coleman outing to guarantee box office returns, huh?" Boy was I taken in and wonderfully so. Coleman's portrayal of an actor so always in character that fantasy and reality are indistinguishable is nothing short of brilliant. One wonders if anyone else could play the role. No less enigmatic is how his Oscar for best actor was one of only two garnered by the film for 1947, Miklos Rozsa's for Best Music being the other. A review of winners and losers that year is cringe-able. Best Original Screenplay went to Sidney Sheldon for "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer?" If ever there was reason to question the Oscars as a contest of popularity and politics, 1947 stands out like a sore thumb. No politics here; "A Double Life" is a great movie.