You could say that "Dragonwyck", "Secret Beyond the Door", and even Stanwyck's own "Sorry Wrong Number" all had elements of this film in them. Yes, I know Dragonwyck and Conflict were released before this film, but "Two Mrs Carrolls" was actually filmed in 1945 and just sat on the shelf at WB for two years.
Stanwyck plays Sally Morton, a woman who has a whirlwind courtship with artist Geoffrey Carroll (Humphrey Bogart), until she finds a letter from Mrs. Carroll. Geoffrey then tells her that though he and his wife have been married ten years that his wife has been an invalid since the birth of their daughter. But Sally will have nothing to do with busting up a home.
One great device of this film is that you never see the first Mrs. Carroll. You just see Bogey and the daughter coming in and out of her room. Geoffrey's mind turns to murder, and he is even painting his wife as "The Angel of Death". He signs for some dangerous chemicals at the pharmacist's and you see him going into his wife's room holding her milk, but looking like he is carrying a hand grenade.
Next thing you know it is two years later plus some time, because it is mentioned that the first Mrs. Carroll has been dead that long. Sally is now married to Geoffrey, who is complaining that he can no longer paint, that he is mentally blocked. And then he meets the wealthy Cecily Latham (Alexis Smith) who wants her portrait painted. She shamelessly flirts with Geoffrey, stealing him right out from under Sally's clueless nose. Geoffrey wants to leave Sally for Cecily - and her money - plus that chemist he bought the poison from years ago? He's hanging around and blackmailing Geoffrey, who is hardly wealthy.
The next thing you know, Sally isn't feeling too well, being told by her doctor to stay in bed. Then through casual conversation with Geoffrey's daughter - with whom she has a good relationship - some interesting facts about the first Mrs. Carroll come to light. When Sally convinces the daughter to let her into the locked room where Geoffrey is painting, what they find shocks them both.
Although the idea of Bogart playing an artist seems silly at first, you don't see him that much as an artist - although Jack Warner wanted him to wear a beret and a smock which Bogart had the power by that time to veto. Stanwyck is great as a woman who finds out her dream marriage is a nightmare and Bogart's slide into insanity is artfully done. I do have to ask Cecily - and all homewreckers for that matter - if you can get him to leave his wife this time, won't it be all the easier for some other woman to do it down the line? The bloom won't stay on your rose forever! And now I turn to the daughter. She really is a necessary character. Her interaction with Bogart all through the movie and their good relationship brings out the humanity in Bogart's character, and she innocently relays information to Stanwyck's character that she could not have easily gotten any other way. The only weird part is how she seems to be eternally eight. She does not age over the three year period that this film takes place.
In summary you have a great cast in a moody film set in a dark creepy English mansion. The housekeeper is a smart mouth from the word go, Nigel Bruce plays a doctor who is also a lush, and Patrick Moore as Stanwyck's old boyfriend has the patience of a saint. Unfortunately he has the sex appeal of one too. I'd recommend this one.
Stanwyck plays Sally Morton, a woman who has a whirlwind courtship with artist Geoffrey Carroll (Humphrey Bogart), until she finds a letter from Mrs. Carroll. Geoffrey then tells her that though he and his wife have been married ten years that his wife has been an invalid since the birth of their daughter. But Sally will have nothing to do with busting up a home.
One great device of this film is that you never see the first Mrs. Carroll. You just see Bogey and the daughter coming in and out of her room. Geoffrey's mind turns to murder, and he is even painting his wife as "The Angel of Death". He signs for some dangerous chemicals at the pharmacist's and you see him going into his wife's room holding her milk, but looking like he is carrying a hand grenade.
Next thing you know it is two years later plus some time, because it is mentioned that the first Mrs. Carroll has been dead that long. Sally is now married to Geoffrey, who is complaining that he can no longer paint, that he is mentally blocked. And then he meets the wealthy Cecily Latham (Alexis Smith) who wants her portrait painted. She shamelessly flirts with Geoffrey, stealing him right out from under Sally's clueless nose. Geoffrey wants to leave Sally for Cecily - and her money - plus that chemist he bought the poison from years ago? He's hanging around and blackmailing Geoffrey, who is hardly wealthy.
The next thing you know, Sally isn't feeling too well, being told by her doctor to stay in bed. Then through casual conversation with Geoffrey's daughter - with whom she has a good relationship - some interesting facts about the first Mrs. Carroll come to light. When Sally convinces the daughter to let her into the locked room where Geoffrey is painting, what they find shocks them both.
Although the idea of Bogart playing an artist seems silly at first, you don't see him that much as an artist - although Jack Warner wanted him to wear a beret and a smock which Bogart had the power by that time to veto. Stanwyck is great as a woman who finds out her dream marriage is a nightmare and Bogart's slide into insanity is artfully done. I do have to ask Cecily - and all homewreckers for that matter - if you can get him to leave his wife this time, won't it be all the easier for some other woman to do it down the line? The bloom won't stay on your rose forever! And now I turn to the daughter. She really is a necessary character. Her interaction with Bogart all through the movie and their good relationship brings out the humanity in Bogart's character, and she innocently relays information to Stanwyck's character that she could not have easily gotten any other way. The only weird part is how she seems to be eternally eight. She does not age over the three year period that this film takes place.
In summary you have a great cast in a moody film set in a dark creepy English mansion. The housekeeper is a smart mouth from the word go, Nigel Bruce plays a doctor who is also a lush, and Patrick Moore as Stanwyck's old boyfriend has the patience of a saint. Unfortunately he has the sex appeal of one too. I'd recommend this one.