Die zwei Mrs. Carrolls

The 1947 mystery-thriller,"The Two Mrs.Carrolls"is considered by many critics to be a tepid,unrealistic film and one of Humphrey Bogart's lesser works. This couldn't be more false. The film contains brilliant performances by Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck,a great deal of eerie suspense,and delicious bits of English humor. The plot of the film is similar to that of Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" and "Suspicion",but has a uniqueness all it's own. It tells the story of Geoffrey Carroll(Bogart),a struggling artist who marries a wealthy woman,Sally(Stanwyck), after his supposed invalid wife dies. Life is normal for them,until Sally begins to feel ill and restless quite often.A doctor says she's suffering from nothing more than a nerve condition,and she believes that's all it is. She is, unfortunately, in for a big surprise.She learns from Geoffrey's precocious,young daughter,Bea(Ann Carter),some things about his previous wife.For starters,she was not an invalid and only got sick the last few weeks of her life.Geoffrey gave her milk at night to make her feel relaxed.This is exactly what he does for Sally.She also learns that a painting of his former wife,called "The Angel of Death",was done while she was sick. Hearing this,Sally comes to the realization that she is Geoffrey's next victim of a well-planned crime.Stanwyck has never been better as a panic-stricken wife,trying to survive her husband's evil doings.Bogart gives a highly underrated performance as a psychopath,who gets brutal when his murder plot doesn't go according to plan.His presence on screen is often frightening.The ending is wonderfully witty and comical.While not in the same league as "The Maltese Falcon"or "Key Largo",this is still a highly entertaining Bogart film,that will not disappoint. I give it a strong 8 1/2 out of 10.

Whoever claimed "The Two Mrs Carrolls" was Bogie at his worst in terms of movie making is nuts; Bogie's worst film is either "Swing Your Lady" or "The Return of Doctor X." Them films were horrid and I can barely sit through them.. I found "Carrolls" quite interesting and somewhat freaky...

I do admit, as far as explaining Bogie's character (Geofrey Carroll) with being mentally ill, the story is vague there... Their really is no reason or explanation as to why he tires of his wife / wives and decides to kill them off one by one after painting a morbid portrait of them....

Anyway, regardless of what critics think of this film effort from 1947, I think Bogie, Stanwyck, Alexis Smith and Nigel Bruce made a good cast and crew... Even the young Ann Carter was good as Bogie's daughter 'Beatrice' in the movie....

I have noticed that the excellent network TCM rarely ever shows this picture...... I myself had to wait for over a year to finally record and obtain it for my collection here recently.... I rate the film a 7 out of a possible 10 points...... I never hand out 10s, either..... 9 is usually my top digit number given..... Cheerio....

MR.BILL Raleigh

This noir thriller has two of the biggest names in Hollywood in the 1940s and they are paired here in an interesting, if not too exciting, film. Humphrey Bogart, for all of the heroic roles during this stage of his career, is cast against type, and Barbara Stanwyck, always the femme fatale, is now a damsel in distress as matters spiral beyond her control as grave danger closes in on her. The role-reversals of the stars works well and the byplay between them is good. They are supported by Alexis Smith, quite stunning as the other woman who comes along to complicate matters for artist Bogart, who is, of course, hopelessly smitten with her. The remaining cast is good, as is Franz Waxman's somber music accompaniment. The camera work is also first-rate.

This is a rather enjoyable movie that is nothing too impressive but is a good watch nevertheless.

The movie begins slow and dull because it's mostly just so formulaic. From the beginning on it isn't clear which approach the movie picks and what the movie is all about. Really no thriller elements in the first halve, just some formulaic drama and romance. Only halve way through the movie the movie starts to become interesting when the thriller elements of the movie start to appear in to the story. The movie is more thriller than it's film-noir really, which might be a surprising thing, considering the time the year was made in. So yes, in a way the movie is quite original, despite being formulaic. It has a typical thriller build up that builds up that leads to the unavoidable ending. The movie has some good genre moments, which mostly works out due to the fine cast and suitable atmosphere of the movie.

How often do we get to see Humphrey Bogart in the role of a psycho really? That is quite awesome! The supporting cast is also one to die for. Barbara Stanwyck was one of THE leading ladies at the time and Alexis Smith was also quite popular. Nigel Bruce, who everyone knows as THE Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone, also plays a quite amusing small role in the movie.

Despite its genre clichés, this is still a rather well made movie. It's effectively directed and the story flows well, despite being quite silly at times. It's an above average movie due to how professionally it's made and how well the actors handle the script and its more silly (clichés) and unbelievable moments.

Perfectly watchable movie, especially for the Bogart fans, who want to see him in a role that is different.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This is one of my favorite bad movies, so bad it's good. A great cast seems to have pulled this baby together in about two days and it's a scream. All of the stars must have owed Warners a film or succumbed to blackmail. It's too bad because it's actually a very neat suspense story starring Humphrey Bogart - without giving anything away, let's just say when he gets a headache, he touches his hand to his head. That's how you know he has a headache. About as organic as a hothouse tomato. Totally worth seeing but not anyone's best work. Watch for the continuity goof with the milk. I can't agree with another poster - I thought Alexis Smith was gorgeous.