Conflict (1945)

WOW! This is a great Humphrey film, no one has ever heard of. I see so many references to other films inside this one. A severely, strained marriage. A super slender, drop dead, gorgeous looking wife, with a penchant for ordering mutton. ok. ok. So, she has that twist of evil, silver streak in her thick, black hair. This silver hair streak, does NOT make her the Bride of Frankenstein, now does it? Bickering, quarrelsome, and super nasty to each other. She continuously orders Mutton. Husband hates mutton. The personal slights, the wry insults toward each other and then finally the truth comes out. Humphrey has fallen deeply in love with the wife's young, blonde, simperingly, sweet sister.(Reference to the great film, AGE OF INNOCENCE, embedded in here, as well). The younger sister, is charming, mild-mannered and deftly honest. The wife, hard to determine why she is so hard on Humphrey? Is she so bitter because of her husband's lost love or was she always bitter and vengeful from the outset of their marriage? The audience never gets a feel for their early marriage days, but in a sort of way it's hinted that Katherine was always resentful and bitter towards others. Katherine is certainly a trophy wife by 1940 's standards. Humphrey, the uber successful, Engineer husband. The coldness, that they heap upon each other in private is in stark contrast to the loving and joyful personas they show to the world. Sidney Greenstreet is his usual logical, wonderful self in this film. His smooth voice, his wit and sweetness make him a charming and great character in the film. The level of marriage toxicity between Katherine and Humphrey is pervasive and sinister. However, I'd crash the car too, if had to remain married to Katherine...without any chance of a divorce, separation or living apart. My sympathies lie with Humphrey, as they do also with Max De Winter of the film Rebecca. Another great film, with similar story lines. Conflict, is s bone chilling study on love gone wrong, jealousy, and a deep hatred of being served mutton, too many times. I cannot decide if both of these ruthless killers, are really ruthless killers or if they are just simple, honest (wealthy) men driven to distraction by super bitter, ornery wives? In both films, Conflict and Rebecca, both husbands make fatal decisions. Then act upon their decisions. By 1930's & 1940's standards, the audience support would be for the hard working, uber wealthy husbands. By today's standards, the audience support would lie with both long suffering wives. As a movie goer, we watch a destructive marriage with (2) very bitter partners, who will not give an inch to the other. Katherine's relentless hen pecking and chastising is nearly unbearable. She draws little compassion or support and provides her audience no reason to sympathize with her. Humphrey's unending palavering over the younger sister, is nauseating and creepy, asa Katherine so adroitly points out to Humphrey. In the end, both people pay a hard debt for their final freedoms. Well worth, watching.

A must-have for any Alexis Smith Fan Incredible presentation and high quality.

Anyone who likes "Bogie" will like this movie .

I like but do not love this movie, hence the four stars. Bogart is terrific in his role of the husband, love smitten of his wife's younger sister, who does not reciprocate. He, Alexis Smith, and the usually villainous Sydney Greenstreet are superb, but I found the plot too contrived. Its a good Noir story, well directed and filmed, but the plot is more B-movie for me, not worthy of the greatest movie star of his era, Humphrey Bogart. Watch for one-time entertainment, but don't confuse this film with The Maltese Falcon, the Big Sleep, or In A Lonely Place. Warner Brothers got the most value from their biggest star.

Humphrey Bogart stars as a married man who is in love with his wife's sister (Alexis Smith) He plots her murder and dumps her body in the car over a cliff. Now he is free to pursue his ambition of having the sister who has no idea of his feelings. But strange and mysterious things start to happen. Why does he smell his wife's perfume in the house? Why are items moved about the house when no one but him is there. More mysterious, is when he finds a pawn ticket in a drawer. Wondering what this is, he goes to the shop and finds that it is a heart shaped locket with pictures of him and his wife (Rose Hobart) inside which was pawned after her death. Going back with the police he finds a different person behind the counter who has no idea of seeing the locket. He then later on sees a woman dressed like his wife outside a shop window. With a lame leg he just about manages to follow her to a boarding house where she enters a room. When he gets no reply after knocking on the door the landlady appears at the bottom of the stairs saying that the room has been vacant for some time. Opening the door for him he finds no one inside. Is his wife still alive? Is she a ghostly apparition? Is someone trying to trick him? Or is he slowly loosing his mind? This is film noir at it's best.

One of my favorite Humphrey Bogart movies

I saw this advertised on Amazon and had never heard of this film. It's a great plot, with so many classic actors from that time - definitely one of Bogart's best roles. My only drawback - the DVD does not have chapter search. I would suggest for future releases of this film, that be added to the disc. Other than that - if you're a Bogart fan, B&W, suspense thriller fan - definitely check this out.

This is an absolute gem of a movie. I admit my favorites include Maltese Falcon, Treasure of Sierra Madre, Casablanca and the four Bogie & Bacall films. This one is slightly different since Bogie plays a guy haunted by the memory of his murdered wife. He keeps finding clues that imply maybe she is still alive and it causes him anxiety and turmoil. A dark and twisted story, yet refreshing since it is against the formula showing him usually as a hard nosed detective, a gangster with a heart of gold, or a down and out expat. Conflict often gets swept under the radar due to its title, many Bogie fans think of it as one of his lesser War pictures, that's totally wrong. If you're a fan of his best films, this one could easily join your list.

In this Warner Bros. film noir of rainy nights and mist shrouded locations, Humphrey Bogart takes on the role of Richard Mason, an ever so slightly deranged design engineer who imagines his overbearing wife's younger sister is in love with him, and he is certainly in love with her. He thinks all he has to do, for her to fall into his arms is get rid of his nagging wife, but she refuses to divorce him. One rainy evening, driving home from a dinner party Mason finds himself looking longingly at the sister in the car's rear view mirror instead of concentrating on the road, and consequently runs into an oncoming vehicle, luckily no one is injured except Mason himself, who suffers a broken leg. While recuperating, he devises what he thinks is a fool proof plan to murder his wife and give himself a water-tight alibi. (Bogart looks suitably sinister in his trench coat and trilby as he steps out of the shadows on a lonely mountain road in the murder scene.) Things don't go quite as smoothly as all that however, for one thing the sister tells him straight she doesn't love him, and he makes one very small slip in his report to the police that just one person picks up on. Soon after that, mysterious events start to occur that all point to the fact that his wife is not dead after all, but lurking somewhere in the background. This all plays on Mason's fragile mind until one day he sees his wife walking in the street! Although this is one of those films where you know who the murderer is from the start, it is still an intriguing story, full of mystery and even a bit spooky with a twist at the end when all is revealed. Alexis Smith plays a good part as the attractive sister Mason is infatuated with, and Sydney Greenstreet, you could say is cast against type as the good guy. A film well worth watching.

Great film. Product arrived in excellent shape and on time, as promised. Highly recommendable for those who love oldies and for Bogart afficionadoes!

Conflict is an interesting drama. The quality of the DVD was in good condition. However, I probably won't buy any more DVDs as the cost is prohibitive, especially considering the rate of exchange and the bank costs. Thank you.

Alles bestens

Goede Bogie movie met ok beeldkwaliteit