Conflict (1945)

Director:

Curtis Bernhardt

Writers:

Arthur T. Horman (writer)
Alfred Neumann (story)

Release Date:

15 June 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

SUSPENSE...SUSPICION...MAN-WOMAN DESIRES! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Richard Mason is slightly injured in a car accident but pretends greater hurt so that he cannot accompany his wife Kathryn on a trip to the mountains...

Plot Keywords:

Guilt | Police | Psychiatrist | Police Detective | Psycho Thriller

Cast

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 (as Pat O'Moore)
Ann Shoemaker	...	Nora Grant
Edwin Stanley	...	Phillips (as Ed Stanley)

Also Known As:

The Pentacle (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When Richard sees his wife disappear into an empty apartment, the owner tells him that the place has "redone floors and all new wallpaper", yet every wall is plain paint.

Quotes:

Kathryn Mason: You're in love with her aren't you? I thought so. Well what're you going to do about it?
Richard Mason: How can I do anything about it? I haven't said anything to her and I don't intend to. When I married you, your sister was jusjt a kid. Now she's grown up and I happen to find myself in love with her. Just one of those things that can't be helped.
Kathryn Mason: I suppose you'd like me to step out of the picture, well I'll never do that.
Richard Mason: I know that.
Kathryn Mason: As though you should try to leave me because she'd never marry you anyway, she's too loyal.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Cosby Show: Elvin Pays for Dinner (#6.13)" (1990)

"The Subject Was Roses"?

Sidney Greenstreet was only in motion pictures for nine years, but he left a mark as large as his physical presence. He was lucky to be taken through his initial appearance in films (he was past 60)by one of the great modern film directors (John Huston). And after THE MALTESE FALCON he was lucky enough to appear in a second film by Huston (ACROSS THE PACIFIC) co-starring his "Maltese Falcon" friends Bogart and Mary Astor. With that build-up he was set. Unfortunately, he also had been set in the role of villain, and for as long as he was connected to Warners Brothers (which was most of his whole career) he was usually playing villains. There would be exceptions: He was in comedies like CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT, THE HUCKSTERS, PILLOW TO POST. But most of his films were dramatic, with him playing the villains. Sometimes his villains were sympathetic, or the type the audience secretly cheered on (his Superintendent Grodman avenges himself and a wrongly hanged man in the course of the film THE VERDICT). Sometimes he destroyed a truly evil figure (usually Zachary Scott), like in THE MASK OF DEMETRIOS.

Because of THE MALTESE FALCON and the Warner Brothers connection, Greenstreet and Bogart found themselves teamed together, frequently with Peter Lorre or Mary Astor in these films as well. In most of them Greenstreet played a villain or a semi-sinister figure (his role in Casablanca is not a total villain in the film). But CONFLICT is a real exception. It was the only time Greenstreet and Bogart were in a film together and Bogart is the villain, while Greenstreet is the man who solves the murder. It is good reverse casting (reminding us that Bogart's period as a supporting actor in the 1930s was one where he played villains against Edward G. Robinson or James Cagney). Greenstreet is excellent as the the man who uses psychological warfare to crack the killer's conscience. And it is so subtly done we never know what was the cause of Greenstreet's discovery of the truth - it all comes down to an issue of horticulture...so to speak.