Guilty Conscience
Tags: suspenseful, murder

Plot synopsis:
Arthur, a wealthy attorney (Anthony Hopkins) is facing a costly divorce from his wife Louise (Blythe Danner). Arthur deals with the predicament by imagining numerous schemes in which he kills her. As a defense attorney, Arthur is familiar with both the courts and the minds of criminals, and he spends much of the film consulting an officious imaginary version of himself (a double played by Donegan Smith) as to the perfect scheme to rid himself of Lousie. Arthur plays each murder, or the subsequent trial, through in his mind, searching for problems, loopholes, and the elusive watertight alibi.
Eventually Arthur's mistress Jackie Willis (Swoosie Kurtz) confronts Louise in secret. The two concoct their own scheme to do away Arthur and make it look like suicide. The two confront Arthur at gunpoint, planning to stage his murder as a suicide. Unfazed, Arthur takes control of the situation, pointing out the flaws and poking holes in what was supposed to be a foolproof scheme. Arthur is revealed to have been cheating on Jackie, and while Louise was trying to murder him, he was being missed by a date, thus ruling out suicide.
Worse, Arthur reveals that he had been recording the entire episode on tape, with which he blackmails Louise. Louise, hysterical at the collapse of her plan, chases her husband with the gun. A brief struggle ensues, and she is shot dead. Ironically, Louise's accidental death implicates Arthur for murdering her. Arthur was only bluffing about the tape, leaving no evidence that the shooting was an accident other than the word of Jackie, his mistress. All of the evidence points to Arthur deliberately murdering his wife. Arthur now imagines himself in court, his imaginary self now his prosecutor.
At this point, the film shows Arthur back at home, again poking holes in the scheme, now revealed to be yet one more of his unrealized plans.
At this point Louise arrives home, shoots him dead, and phones Jackie to inform her that the deed is done. The film ends with Louise rearranging the living room to cover up evidence of murder.

Review: As my brother might say, "This has more twists than a bag of pretzels."I wasn't expecting much and came out with feeling of extreme satisfaction, for this film is great.
Thoroughly entertaining.Check this film out if you are looking for interesting mystery-drama; you won't regret it..
A treat for Mystery, Hopkins, Danner, Sleuth fans!.
Fans of Anthony Hopkins will delight in this carefully staged teleplay.
Fans of Blythe Danner will also be pleased to see a favorite character actress given more screen time than usual.Although the plot is fairly standard and the events mostly predictable, it comes off much better than say your average Perry Mason or Columbo Movie.
Hopkins, as a high-priced, high-power attorney, is delightful as he comically and and viciously destroys his own plans for his wife's murder.
Unlike most television mysteries where the audience is asked to ignore the plot holes and revel in the detective's brilliance at spotting the clue and solving the crime, this play takes pride in pointing out its own holes as it goes along.
As an audience participation spectacle, it is fun to play along, spotting the holes before the characters do.
But fans of the genre, or of Hopkins, will no doubt remain intrigued and find the ending quite satisfying.
The whole play comes off much like the great Olivier and Caine character study, "Sleuth" and those who have seen that longish masterpiece know what kind of a compliment that is, and will also appreciate that this is 34 minutes shorter.Mystery fans can do much worse for an evenings entertainment..
Quality of video and sound poor - movie good!.
This is a good movie, especially since I am a big Anthony Hopkins buff.
I also like Blythe Danner, who plays his loving?
It's a fun, quirky and clever mystery with twists and turns.
As Anthony Hopkiins makes plans for his future by planning the demise of his wife, he anticipates and participates, in his imagination, how he should perform in Court as he stands trial for murder.
I ordered a brand new, factory-sealed VHS by Quality Video and the sound and picture quality were dreadful and unwatchable!
It is hard to believe that it is not possible to get a good quality picture and sound for this TV film.
It's an interesting and clever movie!.
Great soliloquies from Hopkins!.
For a TV movie, this is awfully good.
Hopkins spends much of the movie playing out scenarios of how his murder trial would play out if he killed his wife, with a portrait of his father playing the judge.
He goes through different methods of killing her, and plays out the trial until he finds the mistake in his plan.
These one-man scenes are very funny, and Hopkins delivers them expertly, as one would expect..
Excellent murder mystery, horrid DVD transfer.
This is very unfortunate because the movie is excellent, as far as murder mysteries go.
I am sure that there were other production values such as photography, sound, and production design, however I cannot evaluate those because of the poor video and audio quality.
Weirdly entertaining made-for-TV movie with excellent performances....
ANTHONY HOPKINS is the mentally agile lawyer who is continually thinking up ways to get rid of his wife, the fashionable and elegant BLYTHE DANNER.
Evidently, their stormy marriage is at a breaking point and he decides he must plot her demise rather than go through with a messy divorce.But what follows has enough plot turns to hold your interest, although the device of having Hopkins weigh all considerations against a trial lawyer (Hopkins in a dual role) gets a little tiresome after awhile.
Not that he isn't a compelling actor whether playing the lawyer or the prosecutor, and he does create sympathy for a very detestable man.The plot takes quite a surprising turn when SWOOSIE KURTZ shows up as his mistress, another very calculating character who has some surprises of her own to throw into the mix.It all has the feel of a poor man's DIAL M FOR MURDER, showing its TV origins within some narrow settings.
But you have to give credit to the writers who keep the tale spinning right until the sudden finish.The cat-and-mouse byplay between husband and wife is reminiscent of the sort of banter between Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine in SLEUTH, but the overall result is not quite as clever..
great TV movie from Levinson & Link.
Back in the '80s, Anthony Hopkins made a lot of TV movies, some which used his great talent to advantage, and others in which he was underused.
Here he is teamed with Blythe Danner and Swoosie Kurtz in a Levinson-Link concoction, "Guilty Conscience." Levinson and Link were really masters of suspense and mystery, responsible for Columbo, Murder, She Wrote, and many TV movies, both as producers and writers.In this movie, Anthony Hopkins is a prominent attorney who comes up with several ways to murder his wife (Blythe Danner) who has the goods on him and can expect a huge settlement in a divorce.
In his mind, he argues the merits of the different plots before a judge, a portrait of his wife's father, and undergoes questioning by the DA, who is Hopkins in spectacles.
Enter one of his dalliances, Swoosie Kurtz, and the fun begins.
And who's going to be murdered?
And who's going to be murdered?
This is a wonderful movie, and the kind you couldn't make today - there's lots of talk - in fact, entire monologues by Hopkins as he talks back and forth with and to himself - and not a ton of action.
Swoosie Kurtz is a riot as the offbeat mistress, and Blythe Danner appropriately elegant and thoughtful as Hopkins' wife.It's unfortunate that these kinds of TV movies are no longer made.
In the '80s, there were many of these mystery movies: Murder by Natural Causes, Rehearsal for Murder, Vanishing Act, The Guardian, etc., all very well cast.
Today it's all true crime, which would be great, if any of them were half as well written as anything by Richard Levinson, William Link, or Larry Cohen..
Hopkins always delivers his svelte, arrogant and yet intimidating and refreshing self to any performance.
Blythe Danner as his beleaguered wife, in an unhappy marriage.
Hopkins, an esteemed trial attorney, plays the Socratic "what if?" hypothesis game with himself, as he debates how to rid himself of his bothersome wife.Blythe Danner, however, is an equal match.
Swoosie Kurtz portrays a young sometime lover, Jackie, who at first seems to be in league with Hopkins.
She plays the damsel in distress, and Danner is intrigued.There is an interesting twist at the conclusion, which I will not spoil.
Suffice to say, well worth watching for murder and mayhem as only Anthony Hopkins can project on the screen.
A true sleeper, Guity Conscience is a bit talky, but delivers a deliciously tongue-in-cheek story of a prominent criminal attorney's (Anthony Hopkins) attempt to devise the perfect murder.
His intended victim is his wife (Blythe Danner).
Their marriage is anything but blissful, and their early interplay is civil yet icy.Into the mix comes Hopkins' ditsy girlfriend, wonderfully played by Swoozie Kurtz, who may be much smarter than she seems.
Soon the surprises start coming out of nowhere (or do they?) and the many clever plot twists along the way lead up to an equally unexpected finish.
A WARNING- Most DVD versions that I've seen of Guilty Conscience are very poor, both in sound and picture quality.
Hopkins and Danner are great as the opposing spouses.
His conversations with himself are fun to watch, as he tries to work out how to kill his wife.
Not so much a whodunit, as a who's going to do it, with a wonderful twist at the end.
Clever but - SWOOSIE KURTZ is the star here.
Lots of nice words about Hopkins and Danner in these reviews - which I both believe did a fantastic job in this play...but PLEASE....the quirky character played by SWOOSIE KURTZ is - by far - the most fascinating and her performance the most whimsically memorable in this wonderful murder mystery.Even if I know what's going to happen, I love to run into this fascinating movie and it becomes new every time..
A must for Hopkins fans.
Clever, restrained yarn with enough plot twists to please Hitchcock himself!
A *must* for Hopkins fans-- the film contains more extended close-ups of his face than any of his other films (I should know, I'm a fanatic)!
Writers Richard Levinson and William Link open this drama for CBS very unfairly: a smug, self-assured criminal attorney (Anthony Hopkins) gives a speech on the profitable business of murder to his amused colleagues just before slipping out unnoticed, breaking into his own house and shooting his wife (Blythe Danner).
But it turns out the entire opening is a rather elaborate ruse to get our attention; the remaining drama derives from the false-front marriage of this cheating husband--who has also been abusive--and his kissless spouse, both of whom have their reasons for wanting the other eliminated.
Stultifying exercise must have looked promising on paper--how else to explain the presence of Hopkins in a made-for-TV movie?--but Columbo would have reached these same conclusions in less than an hour..
Although it seems a little confusing this film (by "Columbo" Creators Levinson and Link) is extremely clever at watching the activities - for most of the film - of the active mind of the protagonist.
I've explained in reviewing one of the "Columbo" movies that the genesis of that type of mystery plot goes back to English writer R.
GUILTY CONSCIENCE (which I saw again on the FOX MOVIE CHANNEL yesterday) is the same type of plot taken one step further: no detective involved here, but rather a corrupt and cynical lawyer thinking of how to get rid of his wife.All of us have had evil thoughts at one time or another, and most of us never really carry them out because in thinking seriously about them we realize how they might be traced back to us and give us really major problems.
Arthur Jamison (Anthony Hopkins) is a great criminal trial lawyer, who sees nothing amiss in misappropriating client's property or breaking professional ethical standards and court rules to win cases.
His marriage to his wife Louise (Blythe Danner) is crumbling because of manifest infidelities.
She has long wanted a divorce, but she signed (upon marriage) an unfair Pre-nuptial agreement that prevents her from getting any of Jamison's substantial estate.
Then she uncovers several criminal acts by her husband that (if she reveals to the district attorney) will result in disbarment and criminal prosecution.
He blackens her eye (we never see this but we see the resulting shiner), and then goes to Houston for a trial he is working on.Hopkins has a break in the trial and returns to his home in San Francisco.
He is aware now (Louise has told him this) that her letter is in a sealed envelope addressed to the District Attorney in a safety deposit box.
So Hopkins is thinking of two things:1) Getting that letter back unread by anyone else in legal or police authority.2) Killing Louise.But he's a clever man, and we watch him go through several scenarios of how to kill her while giving himself an alibi or making it seem like robbers, or making it an accident.
Each time he does he confronts himself, his super-ego taking on the personality of Jamison the expert trial lawyer reviewing the crime and ("Columbo" or "Thorndyke" like) revealing all the little flaws that Jamison's imagination and id did not see clearly.
Little things like recommending the location of an alibi-establishing dinner to the committee person choosing the place for it (it is fifteen minutes from Jamison's house).
We soon learn that Jamison has a mistress, Jackie Willis (Swoozie Kurtz), an office temp.
She starts intruding into these scenarios when he starts seeing problems in his relation with her, both as motive for killing Louise and on it's own.
It seems that Jamison has met another woman (we know her as Gail, but we never see her), so he is two timing his wife and mistress.
Soon his scenario plays out in the nightmare situation of both the jilted ladies making peace with each other to get him.The wonders of this television film (which has enough twists and turnabouts until the conclusion) keeps our attention.
Hopkins is properly detestable as a heel, but his mental agility (captured by his wonderfully pinpoint pupil-ed eyes) and the joy of his skulduggery makes us like him.
Danner is properly lady-like, with her veneer slowly cracking under the strains of hating this heel she is stuck with.
Kurtz varies between comic bits (she seems scatterbrained, especially with her business finding things in her pocketbook) with a serious - deadly serious - side to her nature that Hopkins can't control.It is a film that works pretty well.
Oddly enough, one scenario is never tried by Hopkins.
He never imagines Louise and Jackie having a confrontation and killing each other.
***SPOILERS*** Clever made for TV movie involving a top defense attorney Arthur Jamison, Anthony Hopkins, trying to figure a way in "off" his annoying and blackmailing wife Louise, Blythe Danner, and make it look like either an accident or break-in murder.
We get to see the well laid plans of Arthur in action at the beginning of the film as he set up his alibi and then goes through with murdering his wife Louise in their San Francisco mansion.It's then that we see that Authur was only doing all this, murdering Louise, in his mind as he together with his alter ego or double, Donegan Smith, debate how to plug all the gaps in his murder plan.
It's later that a new ingredient is added to the mix, or movie, with Jackie Willis, Swoosie Kurtz, who shows up unexpectedly at the Jamison Mansion!
Jackie wants to know if the Jamisons have the key to their next door neighbors, the Starks, home.
Jackie was to water the Starks, who are away on vacation, plants and lost the key to their house.As the movie starts to unfold it becomes apparent that Jackie isn't just an innocent bystander in this bizarre murder plot but one of the main characters in it!
In fact she's both Arthur's mistress as well as Louise's co-conspirator in a murder plot to "off" her unsuspecting husband!Even though the movie goes in and out of sub-plots in how both Arthur and his wife Louise plan to murder each other it's Jackie who holds the key to how the crime will be both committed and covered up.
Playing both sides to her advantage Jackie knows, by the skillful cover-up of her relationship with the Jaminsons, that in the end no matter who of the two wannabe murders succeed she'll alway have an alibi in not being connected at the murder scene.There's also Arthur's double, or conscience, who gives him, as well as in the audience, a free lesson in the workings of law that even the very best law schools, costing as much as $25,000.00 a semester in tuition, will have a hard to to match.
You learn so much about the in's and out's of criminal law in the conversations between Arthur and his double, as well as with Louise and Jackie, that you'll easily be able to pass the bar exam without as much as a sweat!****SPOILERS**** The movie ends as it began but with the opposite results which shows that the smartest and most thought out plans to murder someone don't always work out!.
Not having a clue as to what to expect with this movie, we took a chance when it showed on cable recently.
From the start, the film had a look that said "Movie of the Week".
The only thing missing was: "Inspired on a true story".
The strong cast assembled for the movie is the best thing it has going for itself.
The direction by David Greene with its many twists and plots, doesn't quite make it, but we realize there will be viewers that might enjoy "Guilty Conscience".Anthony Hopkins makes a sly Arthur Jamison, the man who wants to do away with his wife.
Blythe Danner makes an elegant Louise Jamison, the woman who had a scheme of her own.
The fabulous Swoozie Kurtz makes a valuable contribution as Jackie, Arthur's mistress..
One more strange film as a man and wife plot ways to murder one another, each using the hubby's mistress to their advantage.
I can't help but wonder if the ending was a fantasy event or if the victim really died: then again maybe it was the only way the writer could figure to end the movie.
For fans of Anthony Hopkins.
Arthur Jamison (Anthony Hopkins) is a confident and successful attorney who enjoys a good battle of wits.
He decides to off his wife (Blythe Danner) in favor of the latest in a long line of mistresses, and as he pictures various methods, he debates the pros and cons with himself.This 1985 made-for-TV movie is all talk; it's witty and clever but also quite devoid of emotion and gets old after a while.
Hopkins is very good in dual roles as Arthur and the devil's advocate with whom he discusses the merits of his plans.
Danner plays the wealthy, somewhat scatter-brained matron well, but hers is an unsympathetic role.
Swoozie Kurtz is the streetwise, off-beat mistress, an odd choice because she lacks any appeal or chemistry with Hopkins.The movie is almost too clever for it's own good, being one long, somewhat tedious exercise in courtoom "What if?
The legal language would certainly be of interest to attorneys and law students, however.It should be noted that this DVD is an extremely poor transfer.
It looks like a taped-at-home video.
Neither the box nor the movie credits list the production company.
If you're a Hopkins fan, it might be worth a look, but expect to be disappointed in the audio-visual quality.