Chained For Life

2093. CHAINED FOR LIFE (1950-USA). With THE HILTON SISTERS, ALLEN JENKINS. You have never ever seen a film as bizarre and unusual as this one-of-a-kind exploitation drama. Guaranteed! That is because its stars are the Hilton Sisters, real-life Siamese twins: two distinctly different women whose bodies are bound together for life by cartilage and flesh. As the film opens the audience is addressed by an actor playing the role of a judge. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he says, “you came to be entertained and to forget your troublesÑEveryone thinks his or her problem is always the greater, but I think that after you hear this story you might change you mind and the things that appear grave to you now will diminish and fade away.” The judge is presiding over the murder trial of Vivian Hamilton, accused of wantonly killing the man who had been engaged to and had summarily jilted her sister Dorothy. Siamese twins Viv and Dottie had been singers on tour with a failing vaudeville company. To boost attendance the Twins’ manager concocted a romance between Dottie and a suave but manipulative fellow performer. The trouble started when Dottie began believing that this rake really loved her, resulting in a tangled web of mixed emotions and murder. The plotline aside, one can only wonder: Where one sister goes the other must follow. So what would be going through Viv’s mind on Dottie’s wedding night? There would be no way for her to avoid accompanying her sister and brother-in-law on the honeymoon. Furthermore, Viv admits to the crime. So any prison or death sentence would have to be shared by the innocent Dottie. It’s no wonder that the judge finds himself faced wilh quite a dilemma! 70 minutes. Exploitation