THE CONSPIRATORS (1944)

Remember the refugees in WWII Casablanca (the town), desperate to reach neutral Lisbon from where England or even the USA was possible?  Well, two years on from CASABLANCA (the film), we’ve arrived.  And what a convoluted mess of spies, counterspies, stonewalling bureaucrats, bumpy romance, swanky eateries, coastal smugglers & international intrigue awaits!  And such a collection of warring Euro-accents in Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, Vladimir Sokoloff, Eduardo Ciannelli, Steven Geray.  Everything but a Portuguese accent.  Plus Hedy Lamarr, gorgeous, disinterested, post M-G-M contract, dropping in at Henreid’s table to hide from the cops after her contact gets murdered in the street.  Good choice, he’s a heroic Holland saboteur hoping to reach England; she’s an agent . . . but for whom?  The rest of the film has these two running dangerous errands for various resistance groups: his led by Sydney Greenstreet & the Allies; hers under some sort of Nazi insider coordinator.   Designed originally as an A-list feature with lots of returning CASABLANCA talent, producer Hal Wallis bailed after Jack Warner ‘stole’ his Best Pic Oscar on that classic and the package was reworked and handed to Jean Negulesco with a B+ budget.  And while Negulesco can’t make the action or relationships add up, he gives it such an entertaining buzz, you often can’t tell or don’t mind.  Just don’t expect it to stick with you.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID³: ONE: Lamarr turns out to have a Dachau Concentration Camp past and flinches visibly at the prospect of returning with her husband to Germany.  Perhaps the only time Hollywood made even an oblique reference to her Jewish background & flight from Europe.  TWO: Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bit of behavioral acting brilliance from Peter Lorre when he thinks Henreid’s a Nazi spy and his hand suddenly begins to spasm.  THREE: A rare use of Henreid's heroic height (6'3") to aid characterization.  Very effective!

DOUBLE-BILL: Negulesco had better luck right before this with script & perfectly pitched production on THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS/’44, his dandy second feature that led to this troubled pic.