Rate Points :3.0
Binding :VHS Tape
Label :MGM (Warner)
Manufacturer :MGM (Warner)
ProductGroup :Video
Studio :MGM (Warner)
Publisher :MGM (Warner)
UPC :027616252432
EAN :9786302375817
Price :$19.98USD
Lowest Price :$49.99USD
Customer ReviewsA Guilty Conscience
Rating Point :3 Helpful Point :3
Humphrey Bogart stars as an engineer who has fallen in love with the younger sister of his shrewish wife. Having recovered from a car accident faster than anyone suspects (his wife didnt receive a scratch), the seemingly incapacitated engineer kills his wife on a mountain road while everyone else thinks hes home in a wheelchair. But funny thing is, he starts finding clues that she might not be dead, despite the obvious evidence. Tricks of a guilty mind, or something else ...? Hmmmm. Bogart is pretty good as the wife killer, or at least good enough that you almost feel sorry for him. Alexis Smith is alright as the younger sister, while Rose Hobart is appropriately grating as the late(?) wife. The formidable Sydney Greenstreet is fun as the family friend/psychiatrist. The idea behind the story is a good one, although it is highly improbable. But the dialogue isnt nearly as sharp as it could have been and the characters played by Bogart, Smith, and Hobart arent likeable or developed enough to be interesting. Its a good premise with a satisfactory climax, but it could have been better.
Classy crime thriller that really keeps you guessing
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :6
"Conflict", starring the always excellent Humphrey Bogart is often dismissed as minor league noir and a fairly ordinary entry in Bogarts sterling collection of film performances. On the contrary Ive always found it terrific entertainment that really keeps you guessing and asking questions right up to the final frame. It is a most handsome production with all of Warner Bros. expertise on show in the overall look and feel of the piece and in the excellent performances by the male and female cast members in this story of murder, deceit and mystery.
The film begins with the fifth wedding anniversary for affluent married couple engineer Richard Mason and his wife Katherine (Humphrey Bogart and Rose Habart). To the outside world they appear to be the perfect married couple with everything in life, however in reality Richard is most unhappy with his critical demanding wife and is secretly in love with her alluring younger sister Evelyn (Alexis Smith),who also has strong feelings for Richard. Resulting from a car accident the night of the party where Richard breaks a leg but from which Katherine walks away without a scratch, Richard has time to consider his unsatisfying marital situation and hatches an elaborate plan to do away with his shrewish wife and replace her with her younger sister. Pretending to be confined to a wheelchair when in actual fact he is now able to walk with the aid of a cane, Richard executes a supposedly fool proof murder plan. He pretends to plan a trip away with Katherine to a remote mountain resort and at the last minute on the pretext of work has her go on ahead. He then drives via a shorter route to a mountain pass and there waits for and then murders Katherine, pushing her car over the side of the mountain. He then quickly returns home and resumes the role of the chair bound invalid. What was supposedly the perfect crime soon becomes a living nightmare as strange things begin to happen that seem to indicate that perhaps Katherine is not dead at all. Her perfume is smelt in the house, jewelry she wore the night of the murder begins to turn up, a pawn ticket signed by Katherine is mailed to him and Richard thinks he sees Katherine walking in the street and then disappearing without trace into a strange house. Richard begins to question his sanity and eventualy his uncertainity about whether his murder plan was successful drives him back to the scene of the crime where all is revealed and the truth comes out!
Directed with suitable flair by veteran director Curtis Bernhardt and based on a short story by Robert Siodmak and Alfred Neumann, "Conflict", is a riverting little murder mystery that benefits greatly from the writing and four lead performances. Bogart is excellent as Richard Mason in a rather unlikeable role and is particulary good in the scenes where he sets up the deception and where the strange return of his wife seemingly from the grave begins to unhinge his tortured guilt ridden mind. This film reunites him with his "Maltese Falcon" costar the superb Sydney Greenstreet in a great performance as family friend Dr. Mark Hamilton who is the one who discovers the clue as to what actually happened on the night of the murder. Rose Hobart in a rare 1940s role is excellent in the small but telling part of murder victim Katherine Mason who might or might not be dead. Hers is not a likeable character and her few scenes with Bogart reveal her as a grating and demanding person responsible for always belittling Richard while of course still not deserving the fate she endures. Alexis Smith provides her usual glamourous presence to the role of Evelyn Turner, Katherines younger sister who finds herself embroiled in the family complications. But as always in his films Bogart is the life and soul of the production. Menacing while showing a certain vulnerability and uneasiness with what he has done, he turns an unlikeable character into someone you do find yourself caring for. That is the sign of a truly great actor.
"Conflict", may not be in the top draw of Bogie classics but it is a very enjoyable little murder mystery that stays in the mind long after seeing it. Warners spared no expense in bringing it to the screen and what we have is 80 minutes of terrific entertainment with character work as could only be done with such finesse in Hollywoods golden age. Enjoy the murderous marital goings on in Warner Bros. noir classic "Conflict".
Rating Point :2 Helpful Point :4
this is really just a remake of GASLIGHT with sidney greenstreet driving rich man Bogart into confessing his crime of murder. slow moving by todays standard. Bogart argued with Jack Warner for release from making this film but was threaten with suspension. The flim never sparkles with life.
Very minor league film noir
Rating Point :2 Helpful Point :3
This 1945 offering has Bogey knocking off his wife because he prefers her sister, commiting (he thinks) the perfect crime but.... Mundane dialogue, occasional excursions into soap opera, and bits of dime-store psychology all weigh this opus down. Bogart does the best he can with what he has to work with. This was released after Double Indemnity and near the same time as Murder, My Sweet and Woman in the Window but it is not in the same league with any of them.
Bogey cant survive a guilty conscience
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :6
Well to do engineer Richard Mason played by the venerable Humphrey Bogart has a perplexing problem in the rather average film noir "Conflict". He is desperately in love with Evelyn Turner played by the fetching Alexis Smith. Unfortunately hes married to her older sister Katherine played by Rose Hobart.
So desperate is Bogey that while recovering from an auto accident suffered when returning home from an anniversary party thrown for him by family friend, psychologist Dr. Mark Hamilton played by a slightly less corpulent Sydney Greenstreet, he plots his wifes murder. Bogey tricks his wife into driving alone to the mountain lodge they frequent through some treacherous mountain passes. He beats her there and waylays her, plunging her car over a cliff with her in it. Unfortunately Bogeys plans go awry. Smith, while caring for Bogey cant allow herself to succumb to his charms owing to the memory of her sister.
Although Bogey hasnt been implicated, Greenstreet is suspicious. In a carefully orchestrated ruse conducted by the police with Greenstreets help, they create the illusion that Bogeys wife Katherine hadnt been killed and was still alive. They are hoping to pray on his conscience hoping hell slip up.
Even the considerable talents of Bogey and frequent supporting actor Greenstreet cant save this flick from being run of the mill. An extra star was given solely because of Bogarts involvement.
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