Tonight's Movie: The Conspirators (1944)

THE CONSPIRATORS is a murky yet stylish tale of WWII intrigue set in Lisbon. The film, which reunites some of the cast of CASABLANCA (1942), is clumsily plotted yet still mildly entertaining, thanks to its cast and Warner Bros. production values.

Vincent Van Der Lyn (Paul Henreid) is a Dutch resistance fighter who must escape to neutral Lisbon, where he joins an underground anti-Nazi group led by Ricardo Quintanilla (Sydney Greenstreet). Van Der Lyn helps Quintanilla identify a traitor in their midst, while also finding time to romance beautiful Irene (Hedy Lamarr).

Henreid is a fairly bland leading man, but I've always enjoyed Hedy Lamarr.  A fine supporting cast, including Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Joseph Calleia, keeps things fairly interesting. After a while I gave up on following the convoluted plot closely and simply enjoyed the look and feel of wartime Warner Bros. The film builds to a strong conclusion, with all the main characters gathered tensely around a roulette table where the traitor will be revealed.

Hedy Lamarr was nearing the end of her MGM years when she was lent to Warner Bros. to make this film. She doesn't have a great deal to do -- there's virtually no setup for her romance with Henreid -- but she is beautifully photographed in black and white by Arthur Edeson. Her gowns are by Leah Rhodes.

Joseph Calleia is particularly good as a twisty character who could be friend or foe. Calleia excelled in this type of part; I especially liked him in a similarly ambiguous role in the Western FOUR FACES WEST (1948).

THE CONSPIRATORS was directed by Jean Negulesco. It runs 101 minutes.

This film is not available on DVD or VHS. It can be seen as part of the library on Turner Classic Movies.

The trailer is here.

Update: This film is now available on DVD from the Warner Archive.