Lady in the Dark (Paramount 1944, Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland)

In Lady in the Dark Ginger Rogers has an intriguing role as a successful magazine editor-in-chief who is troubled by seemingly inexplicable symptoms, and unwillingly seeks the services of a psychoanalyst.

She explores a series of dreams, presented in delirious Technicolor, and the analysis takes her progressively further back into her unhappy childhood.

In the meantime, Rogers is beset by romantic troubles, losing interest in a recent divorce and a hunky movie star and doing battle with her handsome but stubborn coworker. Unsurprisingly, the lessons she learns in analysis resolve psychological distress and her romantic quandary at once.

A curious Hollywood treatment of the then-voguish interest in Freudian analysis and based on a Broadway musical.

The mink dress Rogers wears in the circus-themed dream sequence was created by Mitchell Leisen and was widely reported to have been the most expensive costume in film history at that time. It reputedly cost $35,000.

Academy Award Nominations: 3, including Best Cinematography; Best Score.

production details
Country: USA | Paramount | 100 minutes
Release Year: 1944

Director: Mitchell Leisen
Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Edward Chodorov,

cast
Ginger Rogers as Liza Elliott
Ray Milland as Charley Johnson
Warner Baxter as Kendall Nesbitt
Jon Hall as Randy Curtis
Barry Sullivan as Dr. Brooks
Mischa Auer as Russell Paxton
Phyllis Brooks as Allison DuBois
Mary Philips as Maggie Grant
Edward Fielding as Dr. Carlton
Don Loper as Adams
Mary Parker as Miss Parker
Catherine Craig as Miss Foster
Marietta Canty as Martha
Virginia Farmer as Miss Edwards
Fay Helm as Miss Bowers
Rand Brooks as Ben
Gail Russell as Barbara
Marjean Neville as Liza (as a child)
Harvey Stephens as Liza’s Father