Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #48 - The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1948) - Hollywood likes to portray artists in movies, but they rarely get them right. But I can't help it, I'm a sucker for any movie about an artist. The Two Mrs. Carrolls is a mash-up of Gaslight and Suspicion, with a healthy dose of the Bluebeard fairy tale thrown in. Humphrey Bogart plays an artist who falls in love with women, and then ultimately tires of them, in a homicidal way — after he finishes a grand portrait of them. Barbara Stanwyck is his latest bride and victim, and she suffers marvelously, outfitted by Edith Head. Certainly not the best of either of their pictures, but there is something about this film, from their early romance, which seems charming enough, to Bogart's later Captain Queeg-Like behavior that makes it quite enjoyable to watch. And the paintings (done by studio painter John Decker) are a sight to behold.
Bogie sketches Stanwyck in an idyllic setting
Mr. Carroll considers a Mrs. Carroll #3 (Alexis Smith)
An amazing creation by Edith Head
The first Mrs. Carroll as the angel of death
Mr. Carroll loves his daughter (Ann Carter) — hopefully he'll never paint her
She finally finds what he has been working on behind the locked studio door
Shades of Suspicion ...
Related:
Dark Gallery - art in film
