THE TWO MRS CARROLLS
US, 1945, 99 minutes, Black and white.
Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Nigel Bruce, Isobel Elsom, Peter Godfrey.
Directed by Peter Godfrey.
The Two Mrs Carrolls is considered to be one of Humphrey Bogart's worst films. It was delayed in the mid?'40s in its commercial release. Bogart seems somewhat ill at ease as the central mad character, though he has played many variations on this character. Barbara Stanwyck is charming and harassed as his wife. Alexis Smith has an opportunity to be strong and seductive. There is an interesting supporting cast. Direction is by Peter Godfrey, director of a number of routine thrillers and comedies at Warner Brothers in the late '40s. Despite the Victorian melodrama plot and the British setting, and the fact that the film sometimes creaks, it is nevertheless an entertaining Bogart melodrama.
1. The popularity of this kind of murder and madness melodrama? Tgpically English? Popularity in the '40s (the Gaslight period)? Now? The popular ingredients of melodrama? The treatment? The critical attack on the film?
2. Warner Brothers production values: re-creation of English atmosphere, the city, the town and its atmosphere, homes? Black and white photography? Franz Waxman's atmospheric score?
3. The stars and their acting in an entertainment vehicle? Using their respective skills? Carrying the film? The focus on Humphrey Bogart's final gesture? his sending up what he had performed in perhaps?
4. The dialogue and its staginess, the British tone, the post Victorian tone? Sharp yet dated? The special characteristics of Victorian hothouse melodrama?
5. The opening romantic focus: Sally and Jeff, the lyric tone, the letter, the break in the atmosphere? The 'death of cold', the marriage?
6. The background of the first Mrs. Carroll, the marriage, the daughter, the portrait of the Angel of Death? Her being an invalid? Her death? The buying of the poison, the milk? Beatrice being sent off to school? Suspicious circumstances ? and echoes of Hitchcock's suspicion?
7. The transition to the second Mrs. Carroll? Sally and her vitality, love, support? The visits of Cecily and Mrs. Latham? Christine? Penny? Dr. Tuttle? Her becoming friends with Bea? Her illness, the phone calls? The discovery of the portrait? Her fears, self protection, the milk, the phone, the gun, the ending? Barbara Stanwyck's ability to carry this kind of character?
8. Humphrey Bogart's presence as Jeffrey? His background, in Scotland? Credibility as an artist?Indications of madness - the bells etc.? (Echoes of Van Gogh?) His painting of the Angel of Death? His wives giving him inspiration? His love for his daughter? Sending her to school? Killing his wife? His attitudes towards Cecily? The clashes? The affair? Moods? His marrying Sally, the seeming happiness? His turning against her? The blackmailer? The meeting at the races? Going to London? The lies, killing? The confrontation and the collapse? The oddball look of Humphrey Bogart at the end? his comment on the film and his performance?
9. Alexis Smith and her sultry style? Her mother? The rivalry with Sally? The meals? The trip? The femme fatale?
10. Penny as a type?
11. Mrs. Latham and her relationship with her daughter? The visits? Her pretensions?
12. The blackmailer and his contact with ieff, his threats. the race sequence? His death?
13. Bea and her relationship with her mother, father? Her siding with Sally? Her being sent off to school? Her adult insights?
14. The melodramatic atmosphere of the film? The popularity of this kind of melodrama - audiences accepting the stereotypes and the hothouse atmosphere and the larger than life events?
