The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
starring Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck
supporting cast: Alexis Smith and Nigel Bruce
Why in the world are movies like Gaslight, Dial M for Murder, and Midnight Lace so insanely popular? I guess audiences just love to see men plotting to kill their wives, either out of some crazed need for control or simply because they are crazy.
In that vein, the plot for The Two Mrs. Carrolls is really nothing new.
Humphrey Bogart plays a starving artist type of character named Geoffrey Carroll whose wife always serves as his muse. At least until he tires of her, bumps her off kindly with poison, and marries the next in line. Talk about a vicious cycle, and who should get caught up in it but Barbara Stanwyck as the next wife in line, one Sally Morton Carroll. A charming, naive young woman, Sally adores her new husband and his little 10-year-old daughter. She supports Geoffrey in all he does, and things go along cheerfully for awhile in what is known as the honeymoon stage. That is until his inspiration starts to fade, his irritation peaks, and the gal down the street, Cecily Latham (played by Alexis Smith) insists he paint her portrait. Now Geoffrey has his eye on the next Mrs. Carroll and its time to bring out that old bottle of poison again. The bumbling town doctor played by none other than Nigel Bruce (wow, did he lose some weight!) thinks Sally's illness is just an attack of nerves, but pieces start to fall into place and Sally begins to see her beloved husband in a new, and far more suspicious, light. The question is, can she gain back her strength and energy before it's too late? Perhaps not ever her ex-fiance Charles Pennington (Patrick O'Moore), who she calls Penny, can get to her in time.