***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I like to call some movies (such as "Mirage"), "A Hitchcock movie not made by Hitchcock." "Conflict" reminds me more of one of his hour-long TV shows, although more intricate and finely wrought. It is done with the same sardonic approach to the horrors that result from entanglement in murder.
Richard (Humphrey Bogart) and Katherine (Rose Hobart) have the perfect marriage. At least, that's what all their friends think, including skeptical Freudian psychologist Dr. Mark Hamilton (Sydney Greenstreet), who tells Katherine he is amazed -- that five years ago, when they married, he wouldn't have given it the slightest chance.
But the story opens with Katherine accusing Richard of having fallen in love with her younger sister, Evelyn (Alexis Smith). He denies it, but Katherine has sensed the truth. She says she will never give Richard a divorce, and that Evelyn would laugh at him if she knew how he felt.
At their fifth anniversary party that night, Richard moons over Evelyn like a lovesick puppy. On their way home, Evelyn's announcement of her incipient departure causes Richard such emotional turmoil that he runs the car into something (we never see what). He awakes in the hospital, and his first words are, "How is Evelyn?" Only later does he ask about Katherine, and doesn't seem too happy to hear that she has escaped without a scratch.
Richard tries to make it up with Katherine, but she withers him with, "It's funny how virtuous a man can be when he's helpless." He uses the fact that his is bound to a wheel chair as the mechanism to enact a plan that he has obviously made, although we don't see him making it. He pretends he can't walk, even though he has recovered. He puts on a convincing show for the doctor, who tells him that his problem is mental now rather than physical.
Richard sets up a vacation at their lonely mountain cabin, ostensibly to aid in his recovery. At the last minute, he fakes a business emergency and tells Katherine to go to the cabin without him; he'll meet her there the next day. He drives ahead, intercepts her on a lonely, fog-bound mountain track, and kills her.
Dr. Mark, who has been a sort of second father to Katherine and Evelyn, is suspicious from the first. Evelyn returns, and Richard is consumed by desire for her. She submits to his attentions, and agrees to spend some time with him at the mountain cabin.
But things are far from perfect in this hellish paradise Richard has created for himself. Katherine's possessions keep turning up, as do people who claim they have seen a woman dressed exactly like Katherine was on the day of her death. Richard becomes increasingly convinced that she is still alive somehow. The uncertainty gnaws at him, and eventually causes him to make a fatal blunder.
Humphrey Bogart presages his role as Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny" here, portraying a madman not as a hair-tearing raver, but in a subtle, understated manner that is much more chilling. (If you like this kind of character, it was also played masterfully by Robert Mitchum in Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter.")
Alexis Smith is utterly fascinating, combining sirenish seductiveness with wholesome, girl-next-door qualities in a way that is rare, and difficult to pull off. It is easy to see why Bogart is so obsessed with her and dumps his shrewish wife for her.
Sydney Greenstreet is at his enigmatic best (although perhaps not quite as good as in "The Velvet Touch"), warm, jolly and seemingly innocuous on the outside, but coldly calculating, relentless and almost vicious on the inside.
Although the ending of the film is abrupt and a bit weak, the denouement is superbly brought off by Greenstreet. The acting is strong, and the lead-up to the climax is handled with suspense that will grab your interest and not let go.
Richard (Humphrey Bogart) and Katherine (Rose Hobart) have the perfect marriage. At least, that's what all their friends think, including skeptical Freudian psychologist Dr. Mark Hamilton (Sydney Greenstreet), who tells Katherine he is amazed -- that five years ago, when they married, he wouldn't have given it the slightest chance.
But the story opens with Katherine accusing Richard of having fallen in love with her younger sister, Evelyn (Alexis Smith). He denies it, but Katherine has sensed the truth. She says she will never give Richard a divorce, and that Evelyn would laugh at him if she knew how he felt.
At their fifth anniversary party that night, Richard moons over Evelyn like a lovesick puppy. On their way home, Evelyn's announcement of her incipient departure causes Richard such emotional turmoil that he runs the car into something (we never see what). He awakes in the hospital, and his first words are, "How is Evelyn?" Only later does he ask about Katherine, and doesn't seem too happy to hear that she has escaped without a scratch.
Richard tries to make it up with Katherine, but she withers him with, "It's funny how virtuous a man can be when he's helpless." He uses the fact that his is bound to a wheel chair as the mechanism to enact a plan that he has obviously made, although we don't see him making it. He pretends he can't walk, even though he has recovered. He puts on a convincing show for the doctor, who tells him that his problem is mental now rather than physical.
Richard sets up a vacation at their lonely mountain cabin, ostensibly to aid in his recovery. At the last minute, he fakes a business emergency and tells Katherine to go to the cabin without him; he'll meet her there the next day. He drives ahead, intercepts her on a lonely, fog-bound mountain track, and kills her.
Dr. Mark, who has been a sort of second father to Katherine and Evelyn, is suspicious from the first. Evelyn returns, and Richard is consumed by desire for her. She submits to his attentions, and agrees to spend some time with him at the mountain cabin.
But things are far from perfect in this hellish paradise Richard has created for himself. Katherine's possessions keep turning up, as do people who claim they have seen a woman dressed exactly like Katherine was on the day of her death. Richard becomes increasingly convinced that she is still alive somehow. The uncertainty gnaws at him, and eventually causes him to make a fatal blunder.
Humphrey Bogart presages his role as Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny" here, portraying a madman not as a hair-tearing raver, but in a subtle, understated manner that is much more chilling. (If you like this kind of character, it was also played masterfully by Robert Mitchum in Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter.")
Alexis Smith is utterly fascinating, combining sirenish seductiveness with wholesome, girl-next-door qualities in a way that is rare, and difficult to pull off. It is easy to see why Bogart is so obsessed with her and dumps his shrewish wife for her.
Sydney Greenstreet is at his enigmatic best (although perhaps not quite as good as in "The Velvet Touch"), warm, jolly and seemingly innocuous on the outside, but coldly calculating, relentless and almost vicious on the inside.
Although the ending of the film is abrupt and a bit weak, the denouement is superbly brought off by Greenstreet. The acting is strong, and the lead-up to the climax is handled with suspense that will grab your interest and not let go.