Guet-apens

Elizabeth Taylor is a lovely, vibrant American woman who falls in love with older Communist spy Robert Taylor in "Conspirator," a British film that was Elizabeth Taylor's entry into adult stardom.

She received her first screen kiss, in fact, from co-star Robert Taylor - not bad, but then, this is Elizabeth Taylor we're talking about.

The stars and supporting players (including a very young Honor Blackman) aren't the problem. For me the script and therefore the character actions are questionable.

Elizabeth is supposed to be passionately in love with her new husband, as well as insecure and naive. On learning Taylor, a British officer, is a Communist, she grows up fast. We're told. We really don't see it, nor are we given an idea of how much time has passed to give her an opportunity to reach this new maturity.

We're supposed to believe he was unable to stave her off with some tall story? Also, for a superficial young woman interested in redecorating her house, she certainly is suddenly a very committed patriot.

As for Robert Taylor, a man who's been involved with the party for so many years would certainly have known the trouble he'd be in for failing to carry out orders and how bad it would look to beg for help and make excuses. Come on.

There's nothing wrong with the acting, and Elizabeth Taylor is dazzlingly beautiful, though in my opinion, it will be a couple of more years before her beauty truly is at its height. But she certainly performs her adult role well.

Robert Taylor is appropriately dashing and menacing, with his widow's peak, something my mother always mentioned about him, in full prominence. They certainly made a beautiful couple. But in "Conspirator," alas, they're not meant to be.

In this Cold War suspense drama from MGM and director Victor Saville, Melinda (Elizabeth Taylor) falls in love at first sight with British military officer Major Michael Curragh (Robert Taylor). They are soon wed and she couldn't be happier, only Michael has a secret: he's a spy working with the Soviets to steal British military secrets. He struggles to keep his double life a secret, but Melinda is the inquisitive sort, and Michael's handlers aren't too happy with the situation.

This is one of the first post war movies to feature the Soviets as the villains, taking the place of the usual Nazis. I guess it's appropriate that staunch conservative Robert Taylor should star. He's not too awful, still stiff as a board as usual, but a little expressive at times. His style is reminiscent of the 1930's, with his super-slick hair and pencil mustache, which only adds to one issue with the movie: the age difference between he and Liz. Robert was 38 and Liz was all of 16 years old when this was filmed, although she has the poise of an older woman. I was surprised to see Honor Blackman, later of TV's The Avengers and James Bond fame. I wasn't really aware that she acted this far back, but she was older than I thought, too; she was 23 when this was filmed. As for the movie itself, it's not terrible, but not very memorable, either. An adequate time-waster.

Most of the anti-Communist films of the 1940s - 1950s are crap. No doubt about that. Thrown together they had preposterous plots emanating from the Kremlin to sap our national resources or strength. For example one film has Lee Marvin heading a major atomic spy ring outside a missile range from a hamburger/hash stand! The best films of the period dealing with communist threats were the science fiction films like THE THING or THEM wherein the monster was a symbol for the threat to Americans (from an "alien" source). Occasionally a semi-documentary might attract attention, but not much.

Oddly enough this early movie was somewhat above average. First it correctly looked at our wartime friend and partner England as a possible source of leakage. This turned out to be somewhat true (but the Rosenberg Case would soon show homegrown spy rings existed as well). Secondly it showed something usually ignored or rendered minor in most of these films. Here it is developed into the issue: who are you going to show greater loyalty to, the Communist Party or your naive spouse?

What I really like about CONSPIRATOR is that Robert Taylor plays the central figure - whom American and British audiences were to hiss at. He had tackled a few ambiguous characters before World War II, most notably William Bonney in BILLY THE KID (but that screenplay, like Darryl Zanuck's film of JESSIE JAMES, whitewashed a great deal of the bad out of the central character). But after the war MGM treated Taylor (now a seasoned leading star of theirs) to a wider variety of parts, including more villainous characters. Think of him in the somewhat earlier UNDERCURRENT with Kate Hepburn and Robert Mitchum. Both of these films could not have been made with Taylor in the 1930s.

I also sort of enjoy the idea that Taylor, a friendly, but sincere witness for the H.U.A.C subcommittee against Communist infiltration into the movie industry actually did this film. It is his only chance to show what he thought of a Communist agent, and his interpretation (and the screenplay's) show he saw them as naive fools.

Also it is the first time in his career that Taylor starred with the only female star of his rank (or higher) with the same last name: Elizabeth Taylor. Just leaving such films as NATIONAL VELVET, LITTLE WOMEN, and LIFE WITH FATHER, she finally came of age here as a young bride. In some ways I have always felt that Ms Taylor's glorious beauty was at a pristine height in films of the early 1950s like this one or FATHER OF THE BRIDE. Here she is in love with her dashing wartime hero husband, whom she gradually realizes is not as heroic (for England) as she thought (though he would disagree - witness his scene telling her about how he has joined one of the great causes of all time!).

The film follows their courtship, their marriage, and the discovery of his treason by her. The issue of course is whether or not he will be turned in by her, or will he love her enough to withstand pressure by his Kremlin bosses to (errr)...eradicate his error totally.

The film (as mentioned in another recent review) is above average. Taylor does play this English "Col. Redl" (of an earlier war, in a different country - but serving another Russia) as a man torn apart, but refusing to acknowledge his error of judgment. In fact his final decision puts to stop to any type of acknowledgment. The one flaw in this film is similar to the later, wretched ROGUE'S MARCH with Peter Lawford and Leo G. Carroll. The omnipotence of the British Secret Service in ferreting out traitors is shown at the tale-end. I may add that in 1949 that Secret Service (MR5) contained such "patriots" as Burgess, McClean, and Philby. Yeah they really would have been watching Taylor closely!

Robert Taylor was always considered a handsome actor and not a great actor. In fact he was fascinating to watch in the few color Westerns and costume dramas that he did towards the end of his career.

"Conspirator" is an exceptional film that allowed him to be a dashing villain--somewhat like his roles in "Undercurrent" and as the anti-hero in "Ride, Vaquero". What was interesting to note some 53 years after the film was made was the undeniable fact that Robert Taylor stole the scenes from Elizabeth Taylor, who undeniably proved to be a great actress in later films in her Burton years.

The Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde format of the story allowed Taylor to give a glimpse of what he could do on screen even when the story of a bumbling spy who was a senior army officer insults the average moviegoers' intelligence.

I hate the word "dated", because it can only sensibly apply to a work in which the characters or plot don't reflect the era.

So, actually, what most of the internet educated IMDb users claim to be "dated" are often the only films not "dated". "Dated" means watching a movie about Wyatt Earp, and getting the feeling he has played video games instead of thinking about local events.

Here, we have a film that is definitely not dated. It deals with a handsome Communist spy who has to work his dealings around his personal life.

Robert Taylor's character is very credible, and multi dimensional. If this movie was made by one of the beavis and buttheads of today, he'd simply kill everyone who coughed when he told a lie. Yes, you're right. This would mean the world population would be zero humans within a month, and it makes no sense.

Here, in "Conspirator", he is a real person, and so is his wife, who is onto him. In dramatic style, they still want to work their relationship, and honestly, this is what people do, when they find something out about each other. Real people don't murder each other each time they find out a secret about each other.

We're shown early that the pace of the film skips over minor details, which modern writers deem so important. In one sense, some would say that "dates" this film, since it is more plot oriented, more Shakespeare than Tennessee Williams. Intricacies aren't explored as much. We're given the story line and the story, and the length of the movie allows for that.

Is it completely perfect? I don't think so. However, the characters are more credible for the time than people today can handle, so it probably isn't safe to show friends. People will have a problem with the iconoclastic attitude towards today's "everyone is a psychotic killer" philosophy.