The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)

One of my all time favorites.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Others have described this movie pretty well, so I just wanted to add a few thoughts. This is a suspense drama released in 1947 starring Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck. The plot and actors are OK, but I thought the big winner here was Edith Head. Her gowns and even the lounge wear is stunning in this movie. There is an attempt to portray the good girl in white and the bad girl (Alexis Smith) in black. Hats off to the hair and lighting guys too, Barbara Stanwyck is beautiful throughout. Bogarts' sudden headaches get ridiculous after awhile. The plot point I had the most trouble with is that the daughter only seems to go to school when dad needs to off a wife, yet she talks like a Rhodes Scholar. This movie will hold your attention, it just doesn't completely satisfy.

Humphrey Bogart plays an artist who poisons his first wife to be with Barbara Stanwyck. But after pretty young Alexis Smith enters the picture he decides to bump off Barbara too. Not bad but not great thriller was filmed in 1945 and laid on the shelf for two years before release. That's never a good sign. Still, I enjoyed it for the most part. Stanwyck and Smith were fine. This is often cited as one of Bogart's worst starring roles. It's not what I would call one of his best but I really didn't think he was bad. A lot of the faults with the film can be attributed to director Peter Godfrey, who only got A-list projects due to his friendship with Stanwyck. His direction is mostly lifeless and he doesn't get the best performances from his actors. He's not suited to direct suspense pictures for sure.Bogart's daughter is one of those movie kids who speaks and acts like an adult. It's supposed to be endearing but I found it creepy and off-putting. She is played by Ann Carter, a young actress who impressed me in the great Val Lewton movie "The Curse of the Cat People." There is one scene where she breaks down crying after Stanwyck collapses that you see this was a talented young actress and the director is most likely to blame for her otherwise robotic performance.Another problem is the "other man" played by Patrick O'Moore. In movies like this where the leading lady married a scoundrel of some kind, there always had to be another man waiting in the wings who loved her. Usually it was a man who knew her first but she chose the new guy over him. He exists so that the audience will feel happy at the end knowing our heroine won't be alone. The problem is that O'Moore is very much a stuffy Brit character and is a poor consolation prize. I didn't care for his character or actually all of Stanwyck's hoity-toity rich friends. Best line is Bogie's play on his famous Casablanca line: "I have a feeling this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful hatred."

Vacationing in rainy Scotland, marriage-minded Barbara Stanwyck (as Sally Morton) enjoys her passionate two-week affair with painter Humphrey Bogart (as Geoffrey Carroll). When she accidentally discovers Mr. Bogart is a married man, Ms. Stanwyck is beside herself. Bogart claims his wife is an invalid, but Stanwyck ends the relationship. Back in London, Bogart sends cute blonde daughter Ann Carter (as Beatrice "Bea" Carroll) away to school and presides over his wife's untimely expiration...Two years later, the widower Bogart has married Stanwyck. She is happy. But, Bogart is grumpy because he has trouble painting. His mood improves when beautiful Alexis Smith (as Cecily Latham) enters the picture. Though Stanwyck and Bogart proved capable in distressed damsel and disturbed psycho roles, they seem to smart for the roles herein. Helping most are precocious young Carter (who is also much to intelligent for the script) and Nigel Bruce as an inept doctor with a fondness for alcohol.******* The Two Mrs. Carrolls (3/4/47) Peter Godfrey ~ Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Carter, Alexis Smith

There's been a lively debate here as to whether "The Two Mrs. Carrolls" qualifies as the worst movie Humphry Bogart ever made. I have to agree -- although I haven't seen Bogart's own choice, "Swing Your Lady." The tale of an artist-cum-homicidal maniac who keeps bumping off his wives whenever a new love comes along is a trove of clichés. The performances aren't bad -- Bogart is suitably nutty, Stanwyck is cloyingly sweet, Alexis Smith is icily elegant -- given the inane dialogue they're forced to utter. I was surprised that one contributor here voted for "The Return of Dr. X" as Bogart's worst performance. I couldn't disagree more. Bogart was saddled with that film as punishment for grappling verbally with Jack Warner and gave a brilliantly campy performance as a zombie medico. Made a B chiller well worth watching. But there was no way he could save "The Two Mrs. Carrols" and I'm not sure if he even he tried.