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Reasons Why Conflict 1945 Murder Mystery Movie Is Different And Unique?

Thursday, November 10, 2016
(*Warning for possible spoilers for Conflict, a 1945 black-and-white suspense film noir made by Warner Brothers)

Conflict (1945) (#ad) is a movie that belongs to the mystery genre. To be more precise, it’s a murder mystery. But what makes this film interesting, unique and original is how it differs from the formula of other mysteries out there.

Plot of a usual murder mystery

Usually, when you watch a mystery movie or read a mystery novel, a crime will happen, such as a murder, and the challenge is trying to figure out who the culprit is as we follow the story of the protagonist, such as a detective or police officer, tasked with solving the mystery.

conflict 1945, murder mystery movie, film, suspense, black-and-white noir, warner brothers
We see the main character looking for clues and trying to decipher them, interpret them and understand them.

He or she will consider all the suspects, looking for the motive for the crime, etc until we eventually find out who the culprit is.

How Conflict’s plot differs from the usual?

But in the Conflict movie, it’s different. We already know who the culprit is as we practically saw Richard Mason (played by Humphrey Bogart), one of the main characters, kill Kathryn Mason (played by Rose Hobart), his wife. So, now, the question is not who killed the victim and who the culprit is, but on what happens after the crime.


Questions Conflict makes us ask

Instead of having the audience try to figure out who the killer is from a list of possible suspects, we’re now left wondering what will happen after Richard killed his wife as we are presented with many other questions that need to be answered.

Will Richard get caught? Will people, the police, his friends, Kathryn’s sister, Evelyn Turner (played by Alexis Smith), find out what Richard did or can he actually get away with it?

Was Richard able to pull off a perfect crime? And what about the victim, Richard’s wife? Is she really dead?

Or could she have possibly, somehow, survived what Richard did to her? This is what makes said 1945 murder mystery movie interesting, different and unique.


*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent how Richard killed his own wife, Kathryn
- YouTube video features the Conflict (1945) movie trailer

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