SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Mikel3 We saw this last night on TCM. Overall it was very good thanks to Mr. Bogart at his evil best. Haven't seen him this sinister since 'The Return of Dr. X' a film I actually liked in spite of the criticisms. Yes, he had played many gangsters, none as psychotic as this character IMO. Barbara Stanwyck is always good, here I don't feel she was given much to do, it was really Bogart's film. Alexis Smith was also well cast as the femme fatale bad girl out to seduce and steal Mr. Carroll (Bogart) from his current life. Nigel Bruce was also in the cast acting pretty much the way he always does...like his bumbling absent minded Dr. Watson. He seems that way in just about every role, not that he doesn't do it well. Actress Ann Carter (The Curse of the Cat People) was also note worthy as Mr. Carroll's daughter who seemed to be 12 going on 40. The part the painting of his two wives played in the story was chilling as was their appearance. Haven't seen a scarier portrait since Dorian Gray's final look. The story reminded much of an earlier film 'Suspicion' with 'Gary Grant, especially the role a glass of milk played in the story. There is one line by Mr. Bogart that's reminiscent of another famous line he once said in 'Casablanca', "Geoffrey Carroll: Y'know, I have the strangest feeling that this is the beginning of a beautiful hatred". 'TTMC' had a Hitchcockian feel to the story..

Spikeopath 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

jarrodmcdonald-1 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.

Turfseer When it was released in 1947, one reviewer called 'The Two Mrs. Carrolls', a "dreadful adaptation of a derivative stage play." In part, that pretty much sums it up. It did very poorly at the box office despite starring Humphrey Bogart, who was totally miscast as an artist bent on doing in successive wives, a la Bluebeard. There were also hints of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', when he paints portraits of both wives as an 'Angel of Death' , before poisoning the first and almost poisoning a second. There is very little mystery here because it's established at the get go that Bogart as Geoffrey Carroll, the psychopathic artist, has already murdered his first wife and plans to do in his second, Sally, played rather perfunctorily by Barbara Stanwyck. The only thing we're waiting for is how Geoffrey intends to bump off Sally and how she manages to avoid becoming his victim. The biggest problem with the script is that Geoffrey is such an unsavory character and has no charm. Good thrillers have murderers with a human face. Here, perhaps because of when the original source material was written (as a play in 1935), often the bad guy intentionally is drawn as thoroughly detestable. Fortunately, in the 1930s, certain talented novelists began to buck that trend (such as Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain) and by the 40s, some superior noirs were produced ('Double Indemnity' for example, which featured the charming killer, Walter Neff, played by Fred MacMurray). Here, Bogart has little to do, except act surly through most of the narrative. A savvy killer will make ordinary folk feel comfortable, so they're unable to suspect he's up to no good. But good old Geoffrey can hardly contain his contempt when he's introduced to Sally's ex, 'Penny' and his friends, the Lathams, at the luncheon gathering. One just wonders what Geoffrey's 'problem' is overall. Is he a creepy misogynist or simply someone who is desperate to maintain his 'lap of luxury' lifestyle at any cost? One thing is for sure: he doesn't know how to handle himself very well, when dealing with blackmailers. How is it that control freak Geoffrey is unable to keep the weak chemist, Blagdon, in check? And then Mr. Carroll has to resort to murdering him, when I'm sure there's a whole paper trail, linking the mad artist, to the purchases of all that poison he's been pouring into his dear wife Sally's milk! Alexis Smith who plays the cold, steely Cecily, probably gives the best performance in the film. But what exactly does she see in the mega- creepy Geoffrey, that she wants to go to bed with him? (of course we never see that--but it's implied!). As for Sally--when she learns definitively that Geoffrey intends to do her in, after seeing her own 'Angel of Death' portrait, why does she dither around so much, that it gives Geoffrey time to get back home? It appears we're asked to accept the idea that Mrs. Carroll is so devastated by her husband's betrayal, that she becomes despondent and paralyzed, that she can't bring herself to get out of that house right away! During most of the film, Stanwyck plays Sally has a bland, goody two- shoes, who merely shows up as Bogie's proverbial punching back. More enigmatic is the child actress, Ann Carter, who is eerily good as the precocious daughter. Has she been corrupted by her demented father? In the end, I believe she ends up undamaged, despite what's she's been put through by the creepy father.'The Two Mrs. Carrolls' manages to remain only mildly interesting. There's an ordinary story here that chugs along, but there's virtually no suspense and Bogart is oh so wrong for the part. If you have nothing to do on a dreary, rainy Saturday, then by all means, take a look. But this shouldn't even be on your next hundred list, to break out of your DVD rack, or select from your almost filled DVR.