Conflict

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Curtis Bernhardt directs. Merritt B. Gerstad behind the camera. Friedrich Hollaender scores. David Weisbart cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Made its money back 4.8× over at the box office.
• 481 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 5Directed by Curtis Bernhardt, shot by Merritt B. Gerstad. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Friedrich Hollaender. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor David Weisbart shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Humphrey Bogart and Alexis Smith and Sydney Greenstreet carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "SUSPENSE...SUSPICION...MAN-WOMAN DESIRES!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0037611 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Only 85 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 12Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Merritt B. Gerstad

Original score

Friedrich Hollaender

Editing

David Weisbart

Costume design

Orry-Kelly

Makeup / hair

Perc Westmore

Runtime

86 min · 1h 26m

Status

Released

Budget

$774,000

Box office

$3,707,000

Return

479% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Conflict (1945) ↗

Also by

Curtis Bernhardt

• 
  Stefanie in Rio

  1960 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Das letzte Fort

  1929 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Kisses for My President

  1964 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Night in December

  1941 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Gaby

  1956 · ★ 7.3
• 
  My Reputation

  1946 · ★ 7.3

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Conflict (1945) Official Trailer - Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith Movie HD

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2014-01-25
  ★ 7/10

  You see, Doctor Hamilton belongs to the Freudian school of psychology, he believes that love rather than money is the root of all evil. Conflict is directed by Curtis Bernhardt and collectively written by Arthur T. Horman, Dwight Taylor, Robert Siodmak and Alfred Neumann. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Rose Hobart, Charles Drake and Grant Mitchell. Music is by Frederick Hollander and cinematography by Merritt B. Gerstad. Still under exposed after all these years, Conflict is deserving of reappraisals by the film noir crowd. Plot has Richard Mason (Bogart) stuck in a loveless marriage to Kathryn (Hobart), with his misery further compounded by the fact he’s in love with his sister-in-law, Evelyn (Smith). Finally having enough, Richard murders his wife and intends to woo the younger Evelyn into his life. However, when Richard starts glimpsing his wife out in the city and little items of hers start turning up, Richard starts to doubt his own mind. In essence it’s a psychological thriller spiced with German Expressionism, perhaps unsurprising given that Bernhardt and Siodmak are key components of the production. The psychoanalysis angle played out would of course become a big feature in the film noir cycle, and here it makes for a most interesting story as Bernhardt and Gerstad dress it up in looming shadows, rain sodden streets and treacherous mountain roads. The pungent air of fatalism is evident throughout, the pace of the piece purposely sedate to marry up with the sombre tones as Richard Mason, a disturbed menace, him self becomes menaced. Ok, you don’t have to be an ace detective to figure out just exactly what is going on, so the reveal at film’s closure lacks a bit of a punch, but the atmospherically tinged journey is well worth undertaking regardless. Bernhardt’s camera is often like some peeping tom spying on the warped machinations of Mason, and all the while Hollander adds thematically compliant music to proceedings. Bogart was pretty much press ganged into making the picture, but come the final product it’s evident that even though he may have been unhappy initially, he ended up delivering one the most intriguing turns in his wonderful career. Greenstreet is his usual presence, here playing the psychiatrist family friend who delivers the telling lines whilst being ahead of the game. Unfortunately the two principal lady characters aren’t done any favours by the otherwise taut screenplay, especially Evelyn, who as the catalyst for the sinister shadings never gets chance to build a strong emotional bridge to Richard Mason’s psychological make-up. Still, when you got Bogart as an unhinged killer attired in trench-coat and fedora, and a director who knows how to place him in the right visual scenarios, the flaws can’t kill the film’s strengths. 7/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Warner Bros. Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerWilliam Jacobs
• Executive ProducerJack L. Warner
• Original StoryRobert Siodmak
• SoundOliver S. Garretson
• EditorDavid Weisbart
• Original StoryAlfred Neumann
• Music DirectorLeo F. Forbstein
• Costume DesignOrry-Kelly
• Set DecorationClarence Steensen
• Special EffectsRoy Davidson
• Music ArrangerJerome Moross
• Art DirectionTed Smith
• Makeup ArtistPerc Westmore
• Special EffectsHans F. Koenekamp

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• film noir
• murder

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1945-05-13· Barksdale Field, Louisiana
• Premiere1945-05-29· Sacramento, California
• Theatrical (limited)1945-06-15NR· New York City, New York
• Theatrical1945-06-30NR

Also known as

International titles

• Tatort SpringfieldDE
• KonfliktAT
• Conflitos d'AlmaBR
• RistiriitojaFI
• KonfliktDK
• La mort n'était pas au rendez-vousFR
• Θύελλα παθώνGR
• NebbieIT
• 追求JP
• La huella fatalMX
• Conflitos de AlmaPT
• КонфликтSU
• Retorno al abismoES
• KonfliktPL
• KonfliktSE