Mrs. Winterbourne

Mrs. Winterbourne is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake, and Brendan Fraser. It is loosely based on Cornell Woolrich's novel I Married a Dead Man, which had already been filmed in Hollywood as No Man of Her Own (1950) starring Barbara Stanwyck, in Hindi as Kati Patang (1970) starring Asha Parekh, and in French as J'ai épousé une ombre (1983). The film was shot on location in and around Toronto, Ontario including Eaton Hall in King City, Ontario. It was the final production of A&M Films. Plot On her 18th birthday, Connie Doyle meets lowlife Steve DeCunzo. She moves in with him and winds up pregnant. He kicks her out when she won't abort the baby, denying responsibility. Months later, a destitute Connie gets inadvertently swept aboard a train at Grand Central Terminal. With no ticket and no money, Connie is rescued by Hugh Winterbourne, who takes her to his private compartment. She meets his wife, Patricia, who is also pregnant. Patricia and Connie bond, and Patricia shows Connie her wedding band, which has the couple's names engraved on the inside. Patricia encourages Connie to try the ring on. When the train suddenly crashes, Patricia is thrown outside, leaving Connie the only one in the private compartment. Eight days later, Connie wakes up in the hospital to discover she has given birth to a baby boy. Connie was found in the Winterbourne's sleeper car wearing the wedding band, and has been mistaken for Patricia. She also learns "the other pregnant woman on the train" (Patricia, mistaken for Connie) and Hugh both died in the crash. She tries to explain, but is prevented from doing so by the hospital staff, who believe her to be hysterical. Hugh's mother, Grace, who has a bad heart, had never met Patricia before, and so assumes Connie is Patricia. Grace calls asking Connie to come to the Winterbourne estate. With nowhere else to go, Connie accepts the offer and is driven there by Paco, the loyal chauffeur. There, Connie meets Bill, Hugh's identical twin brother. When the shock of seeing the twin of the man she is claiming as her deceased husband wears off, she nervously begins her new life. She names her newborn son Hughie, after his supposed father. Her new life is very different, and she finds it difficult to adjust.