With the signing of Hedy Lamarr, borrowed from MGM, "The Conspirators" started shooting in February, 1944. A studio release noted that Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, "who recently were teamed in both Passage to Marseille and The Mask of Dimitrios" were also "joining the cast." Although the cast was not as much like Casablanca's as originally intended, publicity for The Conspirators played on the same theme of topicality: "That Warner Bros bring to the screen those spots on the map where things are popping loudest, is a fact long acknowledged by moviegoers. Moscow (Mission to Moscow), Casablanca (Casablanca), Marseille (Passage to Marseille) are but a few of such cities. The most recent case is The Conspirators..." That last facile statement is prominently emblazoned in the Warner Bros press book. But the critics were neither seduced not impressed! The Conspirators was consistently panned from New York to Oshkosh. The film emerged as a sumptuous production with a commanding cast, attractive art direction, and noirish photography; however the direction (by Jean Negulesco, who had just completed The Mask of Dimitrios, and staged it superbly well) seemed both impersonal yet surrealistic — a quality that rendered the implausible story line all the more unbelievable.That the motion picture bore little resemblance to its source novel was pointed out by every critic who had read the book. Adding insult to injury, the novel's author was credited on all the Warner publicity material, as well as in the film's actual titles with his first name misspelled! A letter appearing in The New Republic on 13 November 1944, stated, "I have just been to see my first film after a year and a half abroad... It was called The Conspirators... All I felt when I rose to go was weariness, intense boredom and a certain amazement. Weariness and boredom, after the preposterous rubbish I had been observing; amazement at the mentality which can concoct such nonsense with a straight face; amazement also at the mentality which is willing to pay to see such tedious stuff... I suppose there are plenty of others just as bad; I just happened to see this one." The letter was signed by Frederic Prokosch, the author of The Conspirators.

OK, if you want Casablanca then watch Casablanca!. I could never completely understand the fuss people make over that film. Yes, I know it has many very good qualities, but some shaky ones as well (alright, perhaps it's time I looked at it again). As for this particular movies attempt to capitalise on the success of the earlier film (Hollywood has always followed the proved formula method - and even more so now) so it might also be said, if this film had come along before Casablanca, it may just have received all the accolades. I'm assuming 'Conspirators' would have been given the bigger budget (it has a more expensive look about it) and as it seems Casablanca was not anticipated to be the hit it turned out, so Warner's would then have hoped to follow up with another winner.Arthur Edeson's standout Cinematography is mesmerizing. The knockout classic lighting coupled with the great Direction of Jean Negulesco (others have called him insensitive and pedestrian - how unobservant they show themselves to be! best look again is all I can say to them) The strong Max Seiner music score is quite unique to many of his other works ~ with the masterful Orchestrations of veteran arranger Leonid Raab giving the score a potent sound that's perfect for this story. If anything, the post production alterations would have contributed to the movies hard to follow moments and contrivances, but this was typical with many films from this otherwise spot on studio. That said, let's face it, Hedy and Paul do make the most of their exhausted and very scared characters...theirs were strained times to be living through.Look at it on it's own entertainment merits, the script may have some unevenness and some characters a little familiar, but overall this is not nearly as bad as some might have us believe. Some will, some won't.......KenR

Jean Negulesco's "The Conspirators" sounded intriguing when the trailer was shown at TCM. It appeared as though it was well worth a look because of the cast alone. Well, it was a big disappointment!The story is convoluted, it is hardly plausible what the hero, Vincent, is able to pull, let alone, be allowed to enter Lisbon, at the crucial time when he arrives. The character of Irene remains an enigma throughout the film and finally, there is not enough to make this movie enjoyable.Paul Henried was a lucky man being in Hollywood while a lot of the American stars were away fighting in WWII. In this film he tries, but there's something about his Vincent that doesn't quite make it. Hedy Lamarr's presence in the movie is pretext to present her in different costumes. Henreid and Lamarr had not enough chemistry to make the film, at least, a nice love story.Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre are completely wasted and the rest of the players were not interesting enough to keep the viewer's attention at all times. Instead, one feels bored by the proceedings. At least Vincent and Irene, by the magic of the movies, will always have Lisbon!

This was a solid movie with two of the greatest supporting players,Greenstreet & Lorre, in one of the seven films they made together.I love both of them, & wish they had more shared movies & biggerparts. They were both outstanding actors, but due to their looks(one big & obese, the other very short with unique features) weren'tup to the standards of what Hollywood wanted it's leading men tolook like, therefore their roles were limited to supporting parts. I'mnot a big fan of Paul Henreid, I often have trouble recalling just whohe is, so I could do with less of him in this film. And Hedy, well,she's sure great to look at, but her range is limited. More ofGreenstreet & Lorre would have made this a better film. I rate it7/10.