Conflict
Warner Bros. / First National (1945) Dir. Curtis Bernhardt
Blu-ray: Warner Archive $21.99
Humphrey Bogart and Rose Hobart are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary, although “celebrating” is probably not the right word since Rosie has just discovered that Bogie is actually carrying a torch for his sister-in-law, Alexis Smith, and she’s quite content to allow the marriage to continue inasmuch as he’s so miserable. Bogart realizes he has only two options: suffer in silence or murder his wife, and frankly, he’s never been one to suffer in silence. Once the deed is done, though, and the unfortunate wife disappears down a mountain crevice, strange things begin to happen and she, her doppelganger, her ghost, or his conscience is the new star of the picture. His buddy, psychologist Sydney Greenstreet, will try to help him sort it out, except Sydney casually remarks that he’s only ever seen one other psychosis like this one: many years ago, studying a man who’d murdered his wife.
A film with rather a mixed reputation, Conflict is frequently remembered and discussed as a movie Bogart fought hard (and lost) not to make, thinking the part of a wife killer was wrong for him. He was probably correct in that assessment, but casting him so far against his mid-1940s type actually is part of the reason the film – which is rather talky and overdrawn and suffers in comparison to films with similar themes, including Vertigo – is pulled off nicely. The other reason is superb cinematography by Merritt B. Gerstad, who paints with a sterling B&W palette that looks like quintessential noir. Director Bernstadt, a fugitive from Nazi Germany, gives the film a nice impressionistic feel as well.
It’s always fun, of course, to see Bogart and Greenstreet together, and I think this is the only film in which their usual good guy / shady guy roles are reversed. Miss Hobart’s part is thankless, and Alexis Smith – who had provided a very similar role recently with Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck in The Two Mrs. Carrolls – is terrific. As with every Warner Archive release of the past several years, the restoration (in 4K from an original negative) is superb. We very much enjoyed the bonuses, including two cartoons (Sylvester in Up with Feathers and Porky Pig in Trap Happy Porky, plus the live-action shorts Are Animals Actors? (a reel and a half of various trained dogs, seals, and monkeys at work) and the one-reeler Peeks at Hollywood, which purports to give us real-life glimpses of "famous movie stars" but instead hands us Arthur Lake, Hal Perry, Jane Weidler, and other B-listers (although one bona fide big star comes by to hawk his latest Warner Bros. picture). An original trailer and a nicely done half-hour radio adaptation of the film (with Bogart) round out the impressive package.
This beautiful presentation is likely to lead to a greater appreciation of this moody, atmospheric thriller/noir and unique, wonderful Bogart characterization. It's a nice one to add to your noir collection.
