Conflict 1945 Movie Review: Why You Should Watch This Murder Mystery?

Conflict (1945) (#ad) is a black-and-white suspense film noir made by the Warner Brothers that tells the story of a man named Richard Mason, played by Humphrey Bogart, who kills his own wife.

Is it possible to commit the perfect crime?

One of the things that makes this movie interesting is how the audience already knows who the criminal is, but the rest of the characters still don’t know who committed the murder.

We are made to wonder if Richard Mason was able to commit the perfect crime or if he will actually be apprehended and caught, and, if so, how.

Surprises in Conflict

Conflict has many twists and turns and surprises in store for its viewers. There’s a lot of suspense as you keep trying to guess what will happen next.

Then, just when you think you’ve got the movie all figured out, events and scenes happen that prove you wrong and make you think yet again.

Plotholes in Conflict

But, while it’s a fun and suspense-filled film, it’s not without its imperfections and plot holes.

For example, you’ll have to wonder why the couple (Richard and Kathryn Mason (played by Rose Hobart)) got married in the first place if the man clearly didn’t love his wife enough to not kill her.

There were also some characters that haven’t been characterized properly and whose actions and feelings were too vague that they just ended up confusing the audience. For example, exactly who is one of the female characters (Evelyn Turner (played by Alexis Smith), Kathryn’s little sister) really in love with?

Why does it seem like she likes one man one moment and then another the next? Or why is it that one of the characters seems to believe that one of the female characters is really in love with him?

However, regardless of those confusing things, Conflict still manages to be a suspenseful, enjoyable and good murder mystery film that you’d surely be interested in watching especially if you like mysteries, noir, and black-and-white movies.


*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to symbolize how Richard killed his own wife, Kathryn
- First pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above
- YouTube video features the trailer for the Conflict film