Two Mrs. Carrolls, The (1947)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A psychotic husband (Humphrey Bogart) murders his wife so that he can run off with his new squeeze (Barbara Stanwyck) but a few years later he sets his eyes on a new woman (Alexis Smith) so he has another woman to get rid of first. This is a pretty interesting film that was made in 1945, the same year that Bogart made CONFLICT, which was a fine where he killed his wife to try and get her sister who just happened to be played by Smith. Both films are very much alike so it's no shock that Warner decided to keep this movie on the shelf for two years. This here is certainly the lesser of the two films for a couple reasons. For starters, both Stanwyck and Bogart seem to be out of their comfort zone as I never really bought either one in their roles. Both have prove to be great actors but I couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed because neither come off overly well. Bogart does the better of the two as he at least manages to play the psychotic part well but he doesn't come off overly well as the brilliant painter. Not for a second did I buy him as this painter and I also didn't buy Stanwyck in her role. Perhaps this type of character was just too soft for her. Smith, on the other hand, nearly steals the film with her good performance and we get Nigel Bruce playing a drunken doctor and this role will certainly remind you of Watson. I think the biggest problem with the film is its screenplay, which is all over the place. The movie runs 99-minutes but we never really get to know any of the characters or the reasons that Bogart is so crazy. We never meet his first wife, we never really see his relationship build with Stanwyck and there's no good reason for him to want to kill her for this new woman. Everything just seems to happen but without reason. The ending is quite effective as the film turns pure horror and manages to get a few good sequences. The final bit coming down the stairs, which I won't ruin, is pure gold with the line said. I really wanted to like this movie a lot more than I actually did but in the end the screenplay just isn't good enough to make it a winner. CONFLICT, while flawed, was much better and pretty much dealt with the same story.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A psychotic husband (Humphrey Bogart) murders his wife so that he can run off with his new squeeze (Barbara Stanwyck) but a few years later he sets his eyes on a new woman (Alexis Smith) so he has another woman to get rid of first. This is a pretty interesting film that was made in 1945, the same year that Bogart made CONFLICT, which was a fine where he killed his wife to try and get her sister who just happened to be played by Smith. Both films are very much alike so it's no shock that Warner decided to keep this movie on the shelf for two years. This here is certainly the lesser of the two films for a couple reasons. For starters, both Stanwyck and Bogart seem to be out of their comfort zone as I never really bought either one in their roles. Both have prove to be great actors but I couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed because neither come off overly well. Bogart does the better of the two as he at least manages to play the psychotic part well but he doesn't come off overly well as the brilliant painter. Not for a second did I buy him as this painter and I also didn't buy Stanwyck in her role. Perhaps this type of character was just too soft for her. Smith, on the other hand, nearly steals the film with her good performance and we get Nigel Bruce playing a drunken doctor and this role will certainly remind you of Watson. I think the biggest problem with the film is its screenplay, which is all over the place. The movie runs 99-minutes but we never really get to know any of the characters or the reasons that Bogart is so crazy. We never meet his first wife, we never really see his relationship build with Stanwyck and there's no good reason for him to want to kill her for this new woman. Everything just seems to happen but without reason. The ending is quite effective as the film turns pure horror and manages to get a few good sequences. The final bit coming down the stairs, which I won't ruin, is pure gold with the line said. I really wanted to like this movie a lot more than I actually did but in the end the screenplay just isn't good enough to make it a winner. CONFLICT, while flawed, was much better and pretty much dealt with the same story.