- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 19,958
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Curtis Bernhardt's relatively short (86 minutes) Bogart noir, Conflict, is an interesting film that seems to have been neglected over the decades.
When cinephiles think Bogart and detective or noir, they generally head to Spade or Marlowe.
But this Bogart, Greenstreet, Alexis Smith film is worth your attention.
Shot by Merritt Gerstad, a name with which most will be unfamiliar - he shot some great films in the silent era, inlcluding fan favorite London After Midnight -- Warner Archive has faithfully reproduced his work. The scans are almost entirely OCN, and they're beautiful. Conflict was his final film.
As a noir film, darkness is important here, and it works, along with a full gray scale.
The original story is credited to Robert Siodmak, which should tell you something.
For those who may be unaware of Mr. Bogart's work, he appeared in his first film in 1928, and was in ten or so films (mostly for Fox) until he arrived at First National and WB in 1932. In 1936, he made a name for himself in The Petrified Forest, and by the late '30s was appearing in a string of gangster films.
He made a major leap in 1941, playing private detective Sam Spade in a remake of The Maltese Falcon, and things seem to have taken off after that. He's worth checking out.
Aeons ago, I had a beautiful 16mm print of Conflict, the sole example I'd seen with a multi-area soundtrack, which had (as I recall) four or six impulses, as opposed to the normal one or two.
Image
Forensic - 8
NSD - 10
Audio – 10
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Worth your attention - 8
Slipcover rating - n/a
Highly Recommended
RAH
Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.
When cinephiles think Bogart and detective or noir, they generally head to Spade or Marlowe.
But this Bogart, Greenstreet, Alexis Smith film is worth your attention.
Shot by Merritt Gerstad, a name with which most will be unfamiliar - he shot some great films in the silent era, inlcluding fan favorite London After Midnight -- Warner Archive has faithfully reproduced his work. The scans are almost entirely OCN, and they're beautiful. Conflict was his final film.
As a noir film, darkness is important here, and it works, along with a full gray scale.
The original story is credited to Robert Siodmak, which should tell you something.
For those who may be unaware of Mr. Bogart's work, he appeared in his first film in 1928, and was in ten or so films (mostly for Fox) until he arrived at First National and WB in 1932. In 1936, he made a name for himself in The Petrified Forest, and by the late '30s was appearing in a string of gangster films.
He made a major leap in 1941, playing private detective Sam Spade in a remake of The Maltese Falcon, and things seem to have taken off after that. He's worth checking out.
Aeons ago, I had a beautiful 16mm print of Conflict, the sole example I'd seen with a multi-area soundtrack, which had (as I recall) four or six impulses, as opposed to the normal one or two.
Image
Forensic - 8
NSD - 10
Audio – 10
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Worth your attention - 8
Slipcover rating - n/a
Highly Recommended
RAH
Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.
Last edited by a moderator:
With that said, you want to talk about a big improvement audio and video presentation-wise. Wow! This morning was at least my fourth viewing of this underrated movie, and I must say that Warner again did their usual outstanding job with this 4K scan derived from the OCN. My last viewing was back in 2022, when TCM had it on their "Noir Alley" weekend show with Eddie Muller. This morning was like watching this movie for the very first time. However, this movie reminded me to what happen to Rose Hobart, who played Bogart's murdered wife in the movie. What happens to her character in this movie was the same thing that happened to her acting career in Hollywood. Yes, she was blacklisted like many other fine actors, writers and filmmakers. She had a board position in SAG and participated with the Actors Laboratory Theatre which earmarked her for being placed in the infamous Red Channels even though she was never a communist.
