The Conspirators (1944)

Vincent Van Der Lyn, a Dutch freedom fighter in WWII, is forced to neutral Lisbon to escape the Nazis. There he meets a small band of underground conspirators. The group's leader, Ricardo ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Frederic Prokosch (novel), Vladimir Pozner (screenplay),

Stars:

Hedy Lamarr, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hedy Lamarr	...	Irene Von Mohr
Paul Henreid	...	Vincent Van Der Lyn
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Ricardo Quintanilla
Peter Lorre	...	Jan Bernazsky
Victor Francen	...	Hugo Von Mohr
Joseph Calleia	...	Police Captain Pereira
Carol Thurston	...	Rosa
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Miguel
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Police Colonel Almeida (as Edward Ciannelli)
Steven Geray	...	Dr. Schmitt
Kurt Katch	...	Otto Lutzke

Storyline

Vincent Van Der Lyn, a Dutch freedom fighter in WWII, is forced to neutral Lisbon to escape the Nazis. There he meets a small band of underground conspirators. The group's leader, Ricardo Quintanilla, knows that one of their number is spying for the Nazis, and needs Van Der Lyn to help identify the traitor.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | gunfire | airplane | netherlands | fisherman | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

24 October 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Almas de fuego

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A modern source lists Marcel Dalio in the role of "Croupier," but the only croupier seen in the movie was Alphonse Martell.

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Goofs

When Vincent van Der Lyn leaves the airport in Lisbon, walking, he is already in Sintra - a different council, some 50 km away.

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Quotes

Ricardo Quintanilla: This may seem to you melodramatic, but indulge me, please, I like melodrama.

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Connections

Spoofed in Top Secret! (1984)

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Soundtracks

"The Blue Danube Waltz, Opus 314"
(1867) (uncredited)
Written by Johann Strauß
Played in the German Legation

User Reviews

Another wartime film from Warner Brothers

You know that Warner Brothers - once they have their hands on a hot property, they slice it, dice it, and put it in the Mixmaster. Just look at the three versions of "The Maltese Falcon." Now it's wartime, and that hot property is, of course "Casablanca." In "The Conspirators," part of that magnificent cast is reunited - Paul Henried, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre - in this story of a Dutch freedom fighter, Vincent Van der Lyn, in neutral Lisbon and having trouble figuring out who wants to help him and who wants to hurt him. The suspects are Greenstreet, the head of a resistance group, Lorre, one of its members, and the exquisite Hedy Lamarr, married to a Nazi official.

The story is harder to follow and ultimately, the film is not as good as "Joan of Paris," another World War II film starring Henried, but it still has great atmosphere and is fairly intriguing. There just isn't enough of Greenstreet or Lorre, one of the great screen teams. Paul Henried, a very useful actor during World War II while the stars were away, does a good job as Van der Lyn. Lamarr is positively outrageously beautiful - no, she's not much of an actress - it's a face made for the closeup, and one can just look at her forever. What she brings is a certain enigmatic quality, probably by default, but who cares.

If this pops up on TCM, you won't be sorry you saw it, but you won't be swept away either.