Conflict (film)

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this is an article about the 1945 film. See Conflict (2006 film) for the movie starring Elisha Cuthbert.


Conflict

Conflict 1945 movie poster
Directed by Curtis Bernhardt
Produced by William Jacobs
Written by Alfred Neumann (story)
Robert Siodmak (story)
Arthur T. Horman
Dwight Taylor
Starring Humphrey Bogart
Alexis Smith
Sydney Greenstreet
Music by Frederick Hollander
Cinematography Merritt B. Gerstad
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) June 15, 1945 (U.S. release)
Running time 86 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

Conflict is a 1945 black-and-white suspense film made by Warner Bros.. It was directed by Curtis Bernhardt, produced by William Jacobs with Jack L. Warner as executive producer from a screenplay by Arthur T. Horman and Dwight Taylor, based on the story The Pentacle by Alfred Neumann and Robert Siodmak. It starred Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith and Sydney Greenstreet.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Richard and Evelyn Mason appear to be a happily married couple. But in truth, Richard secretly loves his wife's younger sister. When his wife confronts him with it, and says divorce is out of the question, forces Richard to desperate action.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Richard, a wealthy architect pretending to be wheel-chair bound, coldly calculates a plan to murder his wife on a car trip to a mountain resort, where he's to receive therapy. At the last minute, Richard stays home to finish a work project and has Evelyn go on alone. He surprisingly appears out of the shadows and blocks the deserted road with his car. After strangling her and pushing her car off the road, Richard returns home to use his employees as an alibi. But when Katherine is reported missing, family friend psychologist Dr. Mark Hamilton suspects Richard of a crime when he slips by saying in his description to detectives that Katherine was wearing a rose. Hamilton gave Katherine the rose after she left her husband, something he couldn't possibly know. The doctor then works with police to plant clues for Richard to find that may make him think that his wife might actually be alive.

[edit] Reaction

Film historians Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward comment "The film is particularly memorable for the use of the song "Tango of Love" as leitmotif to indicate the putative reappearance of Katherine, with the background strings translating the scent of perfume; the opening trucking shot through the rain-soaked night up to the window of the Mason house, which allows the audience to eavesdrop on the dinner party; and the sinister appearance of Bogart as he steps out of the shadows to murder his wife." [1]

[edit] Featured cast

Actor Role
Humphrey Bogart Richard Mason
Alexis Smith Evelyn Turner
Sydney Greenstreet Dr. Mark Hamilton
Rose Hobart Kathryn Mason
Charles Drake Prof. Norman Holsworth
Grant Mitchell Dr. Grant
Patrick O'Moore Det. Lt. Egan
Ann Shoemaker Nora Grant
Edwin Stanley Phillips

[edit] References

  1.  Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward (1992). Film Noir An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.