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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Conspirator (1949)

On her first trip to Englanda young 18 year old girl (Elizabeth Taylor) has a whirlwind romance and marries a dashing Army officer (Robert Taylor). What begins as a blissful happy marriage turns dark when she discovers to her horror that her husband is actually a Communist spy working for the Soviets. Based on the novel by Humphrey Slater and directed by Victor Saville (GREEN DOLPHIN STREET). It's a surprisingly well doneif dated cold war spy thriller. The screws get tightened as the husband realizes that he may have to kill her to shut her up. There's more than a little Hitchcock influence going on here. There's even a scene of Robert Taylor going up the stairs with a drink in his hand a la Cary Grant in SUSPICION.  Howeverunlike that compromised filmCONSPIRATOR continues to its inevitable downbeat conclusion. While Robert Taylor can't quite bring the conflict the role requires to the foreElizabeth Taylor is perfect as the naive young bride forced to grow up in a hurry. With Honor BlackmanWilfrid Hyde WhiteThora HirdRobert FlemyngKarel Stepanek and Helen Haye.

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