La seconde Madame Carroll

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.

The Two Mrs. Carrolls is directed by Peter Godfrey and adapted to the screen by Thomas Job from the Martin Vale play. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith, Nigel Bruce, Ann Carter and Patrick O'Moore. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Peverell Marley.

Completed in 1945 but not released till 1947, The Two Mrs. Carrolls is one of those films that has an abundance of stories to match the abundance of divisive reviews. Various biographers and cinema writers tell a different story about stuff like what Bogart and Stanwyck thought of the movie, why they did it and so on. It's now hard to know exactly what the truth is anymore! So what about the film on its own terms then?

Undeniably the critics of the time were right to point out the similarity of The Two Mrs. Carrolls to such fine movies of the time like Gaslight, Suspicion and Rebecca, in fact the delayed release is thought to be because of Gaslight's success in 1944, while there's even a slice of Dorian Gray about it as well. Having these massively popular films as benchmarks has kind of crippled "Carrolls" reputation, because quite frankly it's not close to being in the same league. However, if one can judge it on its own terms, this is very good Gothic thriller entertainment.

Plot is essentially Sally Morton Carroll (Stanwyck) as a newly wedded wife who comes to realise her husband, Geoffrey (Bogart), is not the charming loving man she thought he was. He's the tortured artist type, who needs his muse to be kinked to produce his best work, thus the thriller conventions do proceed as Sally unearths dark truths and becomes a woman in peril. Various colourful characters are added to the mix; Smith's head turning sex bomb, Bruce's alcoholic doctor, Moore's lovelorn ex boyfriend and Carter's sprightly young daughter.

The Carroll house is filled with many Gothic textures, marking it out as place ripe for dark deeds and the unfurling of sinister secrets. Godfrey, though guilty of letting the pace sag all too often, does insert some great mood accentuating scenes. Episodes with the fearsome paintings strike a chilly chord, a raging storm unloading as the curtains billow has the requisite haunting feel, and Geoffrey finally going over the edge produces a superb crash – bang – wallop scene. Marley's photography is suitably shadowy via lighting techniques, and Waxman provides a typically genre compliant musical score.

On the acting front there's not a great deal to write home about, Stanwyck isn't stretched beyond being just professional, and as committed as Bogart is, he's an odd choice for this type of role. Bruce is typecast as another Dr. Watson character, while Smith is badly underused. The latter a shame as she leaves a favourable mark slinking about like a leopard, in fact it's probably no coincidence that she shows up late in the film wearing a leopard skin scarf! All told it's a little draggy in places and often shows its stage origins, but when it hits Gothic stride it's worthy of viewing investment. And yes, even if Bogart doing Bluebeard isn't the right fit. 7/10

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

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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.

First, this film is not Bogart's worst, by any means. If you don't believe me, go watch "Knock on Any Door". However, I will accept that Bogart is mis-cast as a passionate and successful painter. Too many other iconic roles for me to buy this one. But, he gives it the old college try, and it would have been OK, if you'd never seen him before. Barbara Stanwyck was beautiful and talented, and that showed here. Alexis Smith did steal the show in the scenes in which she appeared. And as far as Ann Carter as the daughter, well, I've known a lot of precocious children, in fact was one, and I do not see the fault in her role (The criticism was generally based on the writing, rather than her acting) Just because you never happen to see the character act childish, doesn't mean that she never did. Anyway this is a pretty good "old" movie, not classic, but entertaining.