The Conspirators

Paul Henreid was stalwart and in earnest, but, let's face it. He's not Humphrey Bogart, despite his efforts to be a tough leading man and willingness to face danger unafraid. The rest of the cast is excellent, with several familiar faces in Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, and Hedy Lamarr is gorgeous. In fact, the story is a good one, as has been reiterated by other contributors. There is some tension and suspense at the end of the film, as they try to uncover the traitor in their midst. But Bogey's not there, with his signature snarling inflections and scowling face. Still, it's entertaining on it's own terms and holds the interest throughout.

7/10 - Website no longer prints my star rating.

A fine cast throughout. Lorre, Greenstreet, Lamarr, Heinreid. I had even heard of this film before I saw it on Turner Classic Movies. It is certainly not in the class of Casablanca, but it is an excellent WWII thriller. Yes, Lamarr shines in every scene she is in. In fact, she is the main reason to watch this film. She is never more beautiful than in this film, and she certainly is one of the film beauties of all time. But Heinreid is perfect for the lead. It is a bit melodramatic, but we should remember the times when this film was made. The plot is complicated, and this is not a film to "sample" -- the writing is fine, but with few memorable quotes. The black and white photography is excellent. All in all, an excellent film of its type. I recommend it.

You know that Warner Brothers - once they have their hands on a hot property, they slice it, dice it, and put it in the Mixmaster. Just look at the three versions of "The Maltese Falcon."

Now it's wartime, and that hot property is, of course "Casablanca." In "The Conspirators," part of that magnificent cast is reunited - Paul Henried, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre - in this story of a Dutch freedom fighter, Vincent Van der Lyn, in neutral Lisbon and having trouble figuring out who wants to help him and who wants to hurt him.

The suspects are Greenstreet, the head of a resistance group, Lorre, one of its members, and the exquisite Hedy Lamarr, married to a Nazi official.

The story is harder to follow and ultimately, the film is not as good as "Joan of Paris," another World War II film starring Henried, but it still has great atmosphere and is fairly intriguing.

There just isn't enough of Greenstreet or Lorre, one of the great screen teams. Paul Henried, a very useful actor during World War II while the stars were away, does a good job as Van der Lyn.

Lamarr is positively outrageously beautiful - no, she's not much of an actress - it's a face made for the closeup, and one can just look at her forever. What she brings is a certain enigmatic quality, probably by default, but who cares.

If this pops up on TCM, you won't be sorry you saw it, but you won't be swept away either.

Hedy Lamarr is never more beautiful and it is always a pleasure to see Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre together. The story line is fairly good for the era but the on-screen results disappoint. The movie is justifiably compared with the much much better Casablanca. Paul Henreid is escaping from the Nazis in neutral Lisbon. Hedy, Sydney, and Peter all offer help but there are complications. Conspirators abound -- who is to be trusted? All is revealed an a too predictable ending. See this film as an example of movie making during the war or to round out your viewing of its cast. On the other hand, my wife loved it! Go figure.

In order to counter the unbelievably negative previous review I shall first disagree with ALL of the "I spy" review.

Jean Negulesco (Humoresque) directs an all-star cast in "The Conspirators", a truly remarkable film, and a MUST SEE!! This film resembles "Casablanca" in that it has much of its feel--the cast, setting (WWII Portugal), romantic music, this film has it all! Strangely enough, this film bears some similarity to Hedy Lamarr's life in Germany before her escape. She worked extensively against the Nazi's. The fact that she was to be cast in Casablanca instead of Ingrid Bergman goes to show that the chemistry between Paul Henreid was definitely strong. Unfortunately, Lamarr was not able to take the role so it was given to Bergman.

Lamarr's enigma-like qualities is trademark of her style and adds to the film's appeal.

Henreid is in his own element here and the man he was hinted at being in Casablanca comes to life.

Sentimentality evidently fails to appeal to everyone. However, I will conclude with stating how much the messages this film carries appeal to me--the love story filled with strife, as well as fighting against all odds whatever the cost.