Conflict (1945) Movie Review: The Movie that Changed Humphrey Bogart’s Career

Have you ever seen Humphrey Bogart play the villain in a film? Well, now you can, and this picture is important. Check out Conflict from 1945!

Directed by Curtis Bernhardt, Conflict starred Bogart, Alexis Smith, and the always charming Sydney Greenstreet. Conflict is a very important film in Humphrey Bogart’s career. He desperately did not want to play this part, as the plot is about a man who hates his wife and wants to be with her younger sister, and this was hitting a little too close to home for Bogie, as he and his wife, Mayo Methot, were constantly getting into booze-fueled brawls and were publicly known as the “Battling Bogarts.” Bogart even pleaded with Jack Warner, the head of Warner Brothers Studios, saying, "I'm sorry, Jack. I just can't do it. My stomach will not let me. I am an honest man and I have to be honest with myself in this manner. If you want to get tough with me ... I will feel that I have lost a friend." Warner was unmoved and threatened to take away other roles if Bogart didn’t take the part. Perhaps as a result of this, Bogart left Warner Brothers in 1948 and started his own independent production company, Santana Films. He also divorced Mayo Methot in February of 1945 and married Betty Joan Perske (You may know her as Lauren Bacall) in April of that year.

Despite all of these issues, Conflict is a fabulous film. The movie is strange, suspenseful, and even frightening at times. Bogart gives an eerily bizarre performance that will leave you unnerved, and it does feel like he’s bringing something earnest to the role.

Sydney Greenstreet played alongside Bogart in a few films, but this is the only one where Bogart is seemingly the villain, and the jolly Greenstreet, who often is cast as a corrupt fat cat, is the perceived hero.

This film was made in 1943 and would have come out early in the American film noir phase, but its release was delayed until 1945 over who had the rights to the story.

Let’s be honest. Can you ever really go wrong with Bogart? I don’t think so. So, next movie night, dive into a film that is devilishly dark, and watch Conflict from 1945!

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Дата на публикация: 8 юни, 2025
Категория: Трейлъри и анимация
Ключови думи: movie The That changed Review Career Conflict 1945 Humphrey Bogart’s