''The Conspirators'' (or ''Give Me This Woman'') is a 1944 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarde ...

, World War II,

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode ha ...

, spy, and

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Jean Negulesco Jean Negulesco (born Ioan Negulescu; – 18 July 1993) was a Romanian-American film director and screenwriter.Oliver, Myrna"Jean Negulesco 1900–1993 ''The Los Angeles Times'', 22 July 1993. He first gained notice for his film noirs and later ...

. It stars

Hedy Lamarr Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actresse ...

and

Paul Henreid Paul Henreid (November 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992) was an Austrian-British- American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for two film roles; Victor Laszlo in ''Casablanca'' and Jerry Durrance in ''Now, Voyager'', ...

, features

Sydney Greenstreet Sydney Hughes Greenstreet (December 27, 1879 – January 18, 1954) was a British-American actor. While he did not begin his career in films until the age of 61, he had a run of significant motion pictures in a Hollywood career lasting throu ...

and

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movi ...

in supporting roles, and has a cameo of

Aurora Miranda Aurora Miranda da Cunha Richaid (20 April 1915 – 22 December 2005) was a Brazilian singer and actress. She began her career at the age of 18 in 1933. Miranda appeared in several films, including '' The Three Caballeros'', where she danced with ...

singing a

Fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

. ''The Conspirators'' reunites several performers who appeared in ''

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

'' (1942).

Plot

During World War II, a schoolteacher, Vincent Van Der Lyn (

), who becomes a Dutch resistance fighter, causes so much trouble for the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

that they place a

bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...

on his head. As a result, he is ordered by his superiors to travel to England via neutral

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. On Van Der Lyn's arrival, Police Captain Pereira (

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the British Transport ...

) notes that his passport has no exit stamp on it, indicating that he sneaked across the border, but reassures the traveler that all that matters is that the Portuguese visa is in order. The German agent Otto Lutzke ( Kurt Katch) becomes suspicious, informs his superiors and starts tailing the Dutchman. At a restaurant, Van Der Lyn is pleasantly surprised when a beautiful stranger, Irene Von Mohr (

), sits down at his table. Moments before, Irene had passed a card to a man in a nearby alley, only to see him shot in the back. She flees into the restaurant, but as the police arrive to search the place, she quickly sits down at Van Der Lyn's table to throw off suspicion. She describes herself to him as merely a frequent gambler at the

Casino Estoril The Estoril Casino ( pt, Casino do Estoril) is a casino in the Portuguese Riviera, in the municipality of Cascais, Portugal. Today, it is one of the biggest working casinos in Europe. History The first stone was laid on 16 January 1916 by then- ...

. She excuses herself, supposedly to make a telephone call, but never returns. The Dutchman goes to the aforementioned casino where he finds Irene. As she warns him to stay away from her, they are joined by Hugo Von Mohr (

Victor Francen Victor Francen (born Victor Franssens, 5 August 1888 – 18 November 1977) was a Belgian-born actor with a long career in French cinema and in Hollywood. Biography Francen was born in 1888 in Tienen, the son of a chief of police. According ...

), who is a high-ranking German diplomatic official, and Lutzke. The Germans soon identify Van Der Lyn as the saboteur nicknamed the "Flying Dutchman." Van Der Lyn meets his contact, Ricardo Quintanilla (

), who introduces him to other members of his resistance group: the Pole Jan Bernazsky (

), the Norwegian Anton Wynat (an uncredited

Gregory Gaye Gregory Gaye (born Grigoriy Grigoryevich Ge; October 10, 1900 – August 23, 1993) was a Russian-American character actor. The son of an actor, he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the uncle of actor George Gaynes. He was a cade ...

), and the Frenchman Paulo Leiris. Quintanilla asks him to brief Jennings (an uncredited

Monte Blue Gerard Montgomery Blue (January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was an American film actor who began his career as a romantic lead in the silent era; and for decades after the advent of sound, he continued to perform as a supporting player ...

), Van Der Lyn's replacement. In private, Quintanilla warns the newcomer that he suspects one of their group to be a traitor. The next day, when Irene gets into her automobile, Van Der Lyn invites himself along for the ride. At first annoyed, she gradually warms to him, and they spend the day together. He professes that he is in love with her. She tells him that she married Hugo after he rescued her from

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

concentration camp. When Van Der Lyn returns to his hotel room, he finds Jennings slumped over the desk. Jennings is able to give him a message regarding an "eagle" before he dies. Acting on a false tip, the police arrest him for the murder of Jennings. A distraught Irene tells Captain Pereira that the Dutchman was with her all that day but declines to testify in court. When she visits Van Der Lyn in jail, he accuses her of framing him. Van Der Lyn jumps a guard and manages to escape. Irene finds him and offers to take him to Quintanilla. She reveals that she is a resistance fighter as well. His suspicions towards Irene are softened after she gives him a gun. When they reach Quintanilla and the others, they charge him with being a traitor. Van Der Lyn himself concedes that they would be foolish if they did not kill him. However, when he mentions Jennings's dying message to Quintanilla, which warns that his killers have taken the "eagle," a rare coin that was to have been used to identify him, and something that Van Der Lyn had not been told, they know he must be telling the truth. Hugo is then revealed to be part of the underground group. Quintanilla decides to set a trap by informing the group that Jennings's replacement is in the casino hotel since he knows that the Germans will move to eliminate him to plant their own agent successfully. Pereira spots Van Der Lyn but is persuaded to trust him and wait a few minutes for the real murderer to be revealed. Fifteen minutes before the resistance group members are to meet the new man, when they are gathered at a

roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, th ...

table along with known Nazi agents, Quintanilla tells all in the group the new man's room number, 865. With time running out, Hugo places bets on 8, 6, and 5, revealing that he is the traitor. Quintanilla and the others escort him away, but he manages to escape from them fleeing the casino, where he is killed in a shootout with Van Der Lyn and Captain Pereira who have been pursuing him. Van Der Lyn finds the eagle in one of Hugo's pockets. Vincent Van Der Lyn decides to return to

occupied Europe German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

in Jennings's place. Irene promises to wait to learn of his safe passage across the border, and Vincent promises to come back to her.

Cast

as Irene Von Mohr *

as Vincent Van Der Lyn *

as Ricardo Quintanilla *

as Jan Bernazsky *

as Hugo Von Mohr *

as Police Captain Pereira * Carol Thurston as Rosa, Miguel's daughter *

Vladimir Sokoloff Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian-American character actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, ...

as Miguel, a Portuguese fisherman who helps Van Der Lyn * Edward Ciannelli as Police Colonel Almeida, Pereira's superior *

Steven Geray Steven Geray (born István Gyergyai, 10 November 190426 December 1973) was a Hungarian-born American film actor who appeared in over 100 films and dozens of television programs. Geray appeared in numerous famed A-pictures, including Alfred H ...

as Dr. Schmitt * Kurt Katch as Otto Lutzke :Note: Character names are not indicated in on-screen credits.

Production

Production on ''The Conspirators'' ran from late April to mid-May 1944. The film's working title was ''Give Me This Woman''. In

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts ...

, a number of actors were considered for roles in ''The Conspirators'', including

Joan Fontaine Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the " Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...

Helmut Dantine Helmut Dantine (7 October 1918 – 2 May 1982) was an Austrian-American actor who often played Nazis in thriller films of the 1940s. His best-known performances are perhaps the German pilot in '' Mrs. Miniver'' and the desperate refugee in '' ...

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Ins ...

, and

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films '' San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, '' Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cag ...

, before Hedy Lamarr was borrowed from MGM for the film to star in the lead female role."Notes: 'The Conspirators'."
''

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

''. Retrieved: November 8, 2022. Hal B. Wallis had asked

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

to help rewrite the love scenes in this film for the director,

; apparently, only a few of Rand's lines were retained in the film, and she is uncredited as having contributed anything to the script. See a review b
David Hayes

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, a film critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', called ''The Conspirators'' "a disappointing show. And, indeed, it would be quite as vexing if it came from a less able lot." Savaged by critics, ''The Conspirators'' was then reviewed by Frederic Prokosch, the author of the novel on which the film was based, who wrote a brusque critique of it in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

''.Arnold, Jeremy
"Articles: 'The Conspirators'."
''

''. Retrieved: October 15, 2022.

References

;Additional sources * Behlmer, Rudy, ed. ''Inside Warner Bros (1935-1951)''. Cambridge, Ontario, Canada: Fireside, 1987. .

External links