Cheap Conflict (Video) (Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith) (Curtis Bernhardt) Price

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Customer Reviews of Conflict

Classy crime thriller that really keeps you guessing
"Conflict", starring the always excellent Humphrey Bogart is often dismissed as minor league noir and a fairly ordinary entry in Bogart's sterling collection of film performances. On the contrary I've 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 1940's role is excellent in the small but telling part of murder victim Katherine Mason who might or might not be dead. Her's 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, Katherine's 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 Hollywood's golden age. Enjoy the murderous marital goings on in Warner Bros. noir classic "Conflict".

A Guilty Conscience
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 didn't receive a scratch), the seemingly incapacitated engineer kills his wife on a mountain road while everyone else thinks he's 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 isn't nearly as sharp as it could have been and the characters played by Bogart, Smith, and Hobart aren't likeable or developed enough to be interesting. It's a good premise with a satisfactory climax, but it could have been better.