CONFLICT (1945)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Minutes 5 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Rose Hobartm, Charles Drake
Conflict (1945), directed by Curtis Bernhardt (Possessed), is a suspense film with noir elements that tells the tale of a love triangle that leads to a haunting murder-melodrama. We have married couple Richard Mason (Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon) and Kathryn (Rose Hobartm, Tower of London) who are celebrating the fifth anniversary, but who are clearly quite unhappy together. How could they not be when Richard confirms his wife’s suspicion that he no longer loves her and has fallen in love with her younger sister Evelyn (Alexis Smith, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane), who is visiting with them on the occasion of their anniversary. Evelyn is not aware of the marital difficulties nor of Richard's illicit affection for her, and that night while driving home from their anniversary party Kathryn suggests that Ellen should return home to care for their lonely mother, Richard who is driving becomes so distracted by the suggestion that he crashes the car, breaking his leg.
While convalescing Richard hatches a plan to murder his wife, making it seem as though he is reliant on a wheelchair even though his leg has healed, later ducking out of a planned trip to a mountain resort at the last minute, and insisting that his wife continue on alone without him. While travelling up a dark and desolate mountain Kathryn encounters a car blocking the single lane road, and is even more surprised when a trenchcoat wearing Richard who emerges from the fog, killing her, sending her body down the steep mountain terrain inside the car, the wreckage covered by logs that the car dislodges along the way.
When Kathryn does not arrive at her destination Richard reports her missing, having established an alibi. As her vehicle has not yet been discovered it seems that the calculating Richard may have gotten away with murder. Ellen stays on with Richard while the search for her sister continues, they grow closer, but he is none to pleased when her persistent suitor Prof. Norman Holsworth (Charles Drake, It Came from Outer Space) proposes to her, causing him to lose his cool a bit, and to play his hand a bit sooner than planned, which is a miscalculation on his part. Also adding to the tension and suspense of the film are that it seems that perhaps Kathryn is not actually dead, with the wreckage and her body still not found, there are small clues left about that seems to indicate she's alive and slyly tormenting her would-be killer. At home Richard catches a whiff of his wife's distinct perfume, and jewelry and a key she had in her possession during the murder show up, and there's a mysterious phone call from a woman and a letter in her handwriting that turn up, which gives the film a ghostly quality. We also have psychoanalyst Dr. Mark Hamilton (Sydney Greenstreet, Casablanca), a mutual friend of Richard and Kathryn's who is ever-present, always there to lend an ear to Richard, engaging in conversations about what goes on in the mind of a killer and such.
This was a rare villainous role for Bogart, and he plays it so well, perhaps too well, even managing to garner some sympathy, which is quite a feat considering he's a wife-killer. The way he is sort of haunted by his wife and becomes quite paranoid is well-done. The film looks gorgeous, particularly two key set-pieces; the car accident is very stylized and look terrific, and then we get Ellen driving up the deserted fog-shrouded mountain road, to her death, which happens offscreen, but the aftermath of sending her car careening down the steep mountain slope is quite a stunning visual feat.
Audio/Video: Conflict (1945) looks terrific on Blu-ray from Warner Archive, framed in the original 1.37:1 fullscreen presentation, presented in 1080p HD. The transfer is very pleasing with excellent contrast, grayscale look solid, black levels are strong. The moody film has plenty of atmospheric noir styling and that translates quite well here. We get English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono for the sole audio option, it's clean and well-balanced, age related wear is not an issue, dialogue exchanges and atmospherics sounds natural and period accurate.
Extras include a pair of classic 1945 WB Cartoons by way of the 8-min Life with Feathers and 7-min Trap Happy Porky, both in HD, plus a pair of vintage WB 1945 Shorts, the 9-min Peeks at Hollywood, and the 14-min Are Animal Actors?, also both in HD. Additionally we get the 25-min audio-only
Conflict Radio Broadcast, which originally aired September 11th 1945, starring Humphrey Bogart, plus the Original Theatrical Trailer. I love it when Warner Archive includes these bonus shorts and radio broadcasts that are of the era, it really sets a time and place, which is terrific, knowing that some of these shorts could have screened before the film back in 1945. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided wrap featuring the illustrated movie poster artwork.
Special Features:
- Classic 1945 WB Cartoons: Life with Feathers (7:42) HD, Trap Happy Porky (6:52) HD
- WB 1945 Shorts: Peeks at Hollywood (8:56) HD, Are Animal Actors? (14:11) HD
- Audio-only: Conflict radio broadcast (9/11/1945) starring Humphrey Bogart (24:50)
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Conflict is quite a haunting and suspenseful thriller, the cast is terrific, the stylized visuals are moody, and the seemingly ghostly elements come together quite nicely to deliver a thrilling noir-ish murder melodrama that I would easily recommend. Warner Archive's Blu-ray looks phenomenal, and the era-specific extras add a lot of value tot he package,
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