The Two Mrs. Carrolls

The Two Mrs. Carrolls is a 1947 American mystery film noir directed by Peter Godfrey and starring Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Alexis Smith. It was produced by Mark Hellinger from a screenplay by Thomas Job, based on the 1935 play by Martin Vale. Plot While on vacation in Scotland, Sally Morton learns that her lover of only two weeks, the painter Geoffrey Carroll, is married to an invalid and ends their romance. Before returning home to his pre-teen daughter, Beatrice, and his ill wife, Geoffrey buys a package from chemist Horace Blagdon, giving a false name when he signs the register. Geoffrey is painting his wife's portrait, depicting her as an "angel of death." Two years pass and Geoffrey's first wife has died, leaving him free to marry Sally. They settle into her mansion (inherited from her father). Although Geoffrey's career is doing well, lately he has been unable to paint anything of quality. Sally, the new Mrs. Carroll, entertains her old boyfriend, Charles "Penny" Pennington, and some wealthy American guestswho include the icy but beautiful Cecily Latham. Geoffrey begins painting Cecily's portrait and becomes romantically involved with her. Sally begins to suspect her husband's illicit romance. Several weeks pass and Sally has fallen ill, recovered, and become ill again. The bumbling, alcoholic local physician, Dr. Tuttle, believes that she is recovering from what he misdiagnoses as "a case of nerves." Geoffrey goes out to call Horace, who has made a demand for money. As Beatrice packs to begin her journey to a boarding school, Sally leaves bed, surprised to discover that Beatrice is leaving. Beatrice reveals to Sally that the "first Mrs. Carroll" was not an invalid, but began to suffer from a series of illnesses very similar to her own immediately after Sally's trip to Scotland. Sally suspects that Geoffrey is gradually poisoning her via her nightly glasses of warm milk. Under the ruse of traveling to London regarding a potentially lucrative commission, Geoffrey visits Horace to make a blackmail payment but ends up beating the chemist to death. Meanwhile, Beatrice implores Sally to open the art studio so she can see Geoffrey's new portrait of Sally before she leaves for school. Sally is shocked to discover that the portrait depicts her as deathlike.