From 1941 to 1945, Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet worked together in five films. For their final joint effort, we go to 1945’s Conflict.

Richard Mason (Bogart) finds himself stuck in an unhappy marriage to his overly critical wife Katheryn (Rose Hobart). To make matters worse, he falls in love with her much more positive and pleasant sister Evelyn (Alexis Smith).

Desperate to alter his miserable life, Richard kills Kathryn – or so he thinks. The reality may differ and Richard goes down a rabbit hole.

The first two Bogart/Greenstreet movies were 1941’s Maltese Falcon and 1942’s Casablanca. You’d be hard-pressed to find two classics more noted than those, so they set up high expectations for subsequent Bogart/Greenstreet efforts.

Unfortunately, Conflict fails to live up to those hopes. Indeed, it doesn’t even come close, as the movie becomes a predictable tale that consistently disappoints.

Apparently Bogart didn’t want to make Conflict and only agreed to do so when studio head Jack Warner imperiled 1944’s Passage to Marseille if Bogey didn’t play ball. Score one for Humphrey, as his instinct to avoid this flick hit the nail on the head.

This doesn’t mean I think Conflict turns into a bad movie. On the positive side, director Curtis Bernhardt imbues the film with an appealing Expressionist cinematic style.

And I find nothing wrong with the basic premise of Conflict. The execution becomes the problem.

For one, Bogart feels miscast. We need to see Richard as hen-pecked and beaten down by Kathryn’s persistent negativity.

Bogart just can’t play “emasculated sad sack” well. He never manages to convey the dispirited attitude the character needs.

On the other side, Kathryn never seems as shrewish as she should. She actually comes across as practical and Richard kind of feels like a dope so we understand why she nags him.

Like 1945’s Spellbound, Conflict gets bogged down in Freudian psychoanalytical elements. These date the film and feel contrived.

Worst of all, Conflict just tends to meander and come with little tension. As we watch Richard crack up, we find ourselves largely disinterested.

Some of that stems from the predictable nature of the plot, but the basic execution falters as well. The movie never proceeds in a suspenseful manner, so we end up impatient to get to the film’s inevitable conclusion.

Eventually we find ourselves stuck more with a dreary romantic triangle that involves Richard, dreary Evelyn and dreary Charles Drake (Norman Holsworth). All of this leaves us with a dreary stab at a thriller.

Conflict appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a highly satisfying presentation.

Overall sharpness worked well, with only a smidgen of softness in a few shots. Most of the film boasted fine delineation and accuracy.

Neither jaggies nor moiré effects impacted the proceedings, and the presence of light grain meant it seemed unlikely that digital noise reduction came into play. Edge haloes remained absent and I saw no print flaws.

Blacks seemed deep and rich, while contrast gave the movie a fine silvery sheen. Low-light shots brought us nice smoothness and clarity. This turned into a more than satisfactory image.

I felt the same about the high-quality DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, as it held up nicely for its age. Music and effects didn’t boast great range or punch, but both came across accurate enough and they lacked distortion or problems.

As usual for older recordings, speech came across as a little tinny, but the lines remained fairly concise and only a few spots of edginess occurred. The mix lacked hiss, noise or other problems. This turned into a more than acceptable mix for its era.

As we shift to extras, we find two circa 1945 animated shorts: Life with Feathers (7:42) and Trap Happy Porky (6:52). In Feathers, a despondent lovebird tries to get Sylvester to eat him, whereas in Happy, Porky deals with noisy and invasive mice.

Both work fine, though Feathers becomes the more clever of the two, mainly due to the unusual sight of a Sylvester who tries not to eat a bird. Happy seems more conventional but still entertains.

Two live-action shorts ensue: Peeks at Hollywood (8:56) and Are Animals Actors? (14:11). In Peeks, two aspiring starlets use a telescope to spy various local sights, while Animals showcases non-human thespians.

Outside of Errol Flynn, Peeks doesn’t feature anyone well-remembered, though Jane Withers enjoyed a good career. It all seems contrived but vaguely charming.

I hoped Animals would shed some light on training techniques, but it mostly simply demonstrates various critters at work. Some are pretty cute but the short lacks much overall value.

In addition to the films trailer, we get a radio broadcast version of Conflict. Aired September 11, 1945, this adaptation runs 24 minutes, 50 seconds.

Humphrey Bogart reprises his starring role alongside a variety of unnamed co-stars. Given the program’s brevity, obviously it pares the story to its bare bones.

Which actually works reasonably well because the film tends to ramble. The radio Conflict offers a moderately engaging little version of the tale.

With a miscast Humphrey Bogart in the lead and a muddled story, Conflict becomes a less than enthralling thriller. While it still manages occasional charms, too much of it feels predictable and bogged down in unnecessary elements. The Blu-ray brings very good picture, appropriate audio and a handful of bonus features. Expect a lackluster drama.