Wow! Such a good movie.

The greatest movie ever!

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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

Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck excel in THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS. The plot is clichéd and has been done to greater effect in REBECCA (the idea of a tormented second wife); in SUSPICION (the poisoned milk); and in DRAGONWYCK (the drawn out death of a wife). But there is enough variation here to keep it interesting. And the acting of both stars keeps it entertaining, right up till the end. But there are a few problems with the film. In the beginning, Stanwyck's lack of screen time is a drawback. After the racetrack sequence, she gets to repeat herself in one scene after another while her character is bedridden. But we do know that Stanwyck would not take a part if the script didn't call for something truly exciting to perform. And the last thirty or forty minutes, the show picks up considerable speed when the character she plays starts to realize a sweet-faced husband (Bogart) may very well be trying to kill her. Watch for the scene where she throws the milk out the window.

This is, first of all, a well made, well mounted, and well cast film. It even has Franz Waxman's music, which is fine indeed.I found difficulty enjoying this film however because none of the characters are sympathetic except the surly housekeeper who is endearing because she IS insolent. Very odd.Bogart's character, Geoffrey Carroll, comes off as a cad from the get-go which wouldn't necessarily have been so bad if it weren't also clear from the start of the film that he was hell-bent on murdering his first wife. He wasn't suffering in the marriage, he was evidently just a rotten person. Hard to find any sympathy there.Daughter Bea is devoted to her father in a way that seems very unnatural; she is indeed a peculiar child. Perhaps we should have seen more of the first Mrs Carroll's marriage (relationship) so we could have better understood Bea. I dunno... She seems one step away from being The Bad Seed, IMHO. No sympathy there...The supporting characters, with the exception of the aforementioned housekeeper, are either dull as dishwater (Penny), despicable (Cecily), snobbish (Cecily's mother) or incompetent (the Doctor).The chemist who blackmails Carroll is decidedly heinous and, while entertaining, is also highly unlikable. But he's supposed to be.Finally, Sally, Carroll's second wife, doesn't have much to recommend herself and there is little reason to care whether she lives or dies. Oh sure, she showed some spine when she initially rejects Carroll when she finds out he's already married, but the film skips what should have been key scenes between Carroll and Sally where they reconcile after the death of Carroll's first wife. I'd have liked to see him sweet talk Sally into marriage now that the first wife was so conveniently out of the picture...In addition, Sally is pretty dumb. It's clear to us, the audience, that Cecily and Carroll have a spark between them from their initial introduction (there's a fine line between love and contempt!). But Sally chooses to ignore Cecily's rather obvious plays for her man (irresponsible) and even keeps her former fiancé Penny around all the time as a family friend (sorry, that doesn't work too well in real life).Despite good breeding, Sally shows bad judgment and appears to be boringly complacent. She doesn't have much personality; I mean, what does she DO with her days? She's a character that is sketched pretty poorly and I don't fault Stanwyck at all; I fault the writing. Sally isn't the least bit sympathetic (except for her predicament and that's purely mechanical; a sheer function of the narrative).In a good Noir, the characters have flaws & fall prey to circumstances that get out of control often due to their own personal failings. These people aren't just flawed, however, they are damned annoying.Finally, the motivation for Carroll's murderous tendencies are never made very clear. Sure, some people are just *born* bad, and that's a fact of life. However, it would have made the film better if we, the audience, had been given a bit more background on Carroll and what drove him to commit murder in the first place. What's his philosophy? All we get is one scene between Carroll & Cecily where she lures him with a new, carefree life with her in sunny South America and him stroking his brow like a simmering maniac (the bells! the bells!) saying that "this was what he always wanted..." Verrrry shallow.Or is a commentary about artists in general? That they're selfish, immoral, lazy? Looking for hand-outs from rich patrons? Willing to trade up (even through murder) when a better opportunity comes along? What RUBBISH! Enjoy this movie for what it is, but don't expect it to compare with Hitchcock's "Suspicion" which also deals with a (potentially) murderous spouse & deadly glasses of warm milk.

Gothic atmosphere and mood highlight this ultimately mediocre and tepid try at suspense and terror. The two stars are competent, although Bogart is miscast and seems to be forcing it and is especially unbelievable during the finale.The wonderful little girl softens the beast within, but that contrasted with the psychotic painter is to subtle and unbelievable to be truly effective. Some of the contrivances are incoherent and not fully consistent enough to sustain the suspenseful mood. The last act is the most disappointing and seems to rush things along rather than build the required terror and trepidation. The final few lines of dialog are ridiculous and tacked on for viewer closure.Watchable and offbeat enough to recommend, just not up to the standards of the participants.