| The Man Who Lost Himself | |
| Director: | Edward Ludwig |
| Producer: | Lawrence W. Fox, Jr. |
| Starring: | Brian Aherne Kay Francis Nils Asther |
| Cinematography: | Victor Milner |
| Editing: | Milton Carruth |
| Studio: | Universal Pictures |
| Distributor: | Universal Pictures |
| Runtime: | 72 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Man Who Lost Himself is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Brian Aherne, Kay Francis and Nils Asther.[1] Aherne plays a man who encounters his exact double and is later mistaken for the other man who is now dead. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Henry De Vere Stacpoole.[2] The novel was also previously adapted to film in 1920. The new version shifts the setting from London of the original to New York, although it features several British actors.
Department store mogul Malcolm Scott escapes from a mental institution. At a bar, he encounters lookalike John Evans and they get drunk together.
John wakes up in Malcolm's home, where butler Paul and others mistakenly believe him to be Malcolm. As he attempts to persuade them otherwise, the real Malcolm is killed in a subway accident. Malcolm's estranged wife Adrienne has been romantically involved with Peter Ransome, while it appears Malcolm had been seeing a Mrs. Van Avery while also embezzling from his store with a man named Mulhausen who now wants to buy it from Adrienne.
John foils the scheme, and when a grateful Adrienne finally realizes who he really is, she decides she would like to marry her dead husband's dead ringer.