Double Exposure

Chester Morris stars with Nancy Kelly, Philip Terry, and Jane Farrar star in "Double Exposure" from 1944.

Chester Morris as Larry Burke works at a picture magazine called Flick, and he's not above faking a shot to get a good cover. The company needs photographers, so when his boss sees a plane crash photo done by one Pat Marvin, he has Larry hire him.

When Pat arrives, he's a she, and a very attractive one at that. Pat has left behind a boyfriend, Ben (Terry) to come to New York, except that he shows up. She tells Larry that Ben is her brother. Larry gives him a job as well.

Larry assigns Pat and Ben to a fictional murder mystery case that will involve photos. Pat has attracted a millionaire on his sixth wife or so who is going to Reno to divorce her - he gives Pat the keys to his apartment. So she and Ben set up the murder scene there.

To their surprise, there is a murder at the apartment later - and the pose is exactly like Pat's, face down on the divan. Naturally the police arrive. They believe Pat photographed the murdered woman after killing her, so she's indicted and is stuck in jail. Larry loves the publicity, but he realizes the murder has to be solved to get her out. So he goes to work.

Funny, fast-moving film with some wild characters, including the crazy boss who makes his employees do calisthenics and passes out carrots. Morris and Kelly have good chemistry.

I especially loved the photo faking which included a lot of cutting, pasting, and white-out. Just think, with Photoshop it would have been nothing.