Undercurrent (1946)

Undescribable Perfection

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

In Robert Taylor's first film since he fought in WWII, he stars as the handsome, charming scientist with a past and a secret. He falls in love with and marries Katharine Hepburn, but when she starts prying, the romantic film becomes a noir thriller! All three leads play against type, and even though I'm not a Robert Taylor fan, his stylized brand of acting doesn't really detract from the film. In a 40s noir, it's pretty normal for actors to over-act. Taylor strays from his pretty-boy image and plays a tormented man who's one word away from losing his temper. Hepburn doesn't display her usual strength; in a role that might have gone to Barbara Stanwyck, she's trusting and fearful. Robert Mitchum, the year after wowing audiences in The Story of G.I. Joe, plays a sensitive, thoughtful soul.If you like any of the actors, you'll want to rent this entertaining drama on a rainy afternoon. I would have preferred a replacement to Robert Taylor, but Hepburn and Mitchum more than made up for it. If you like mysteries like Laura or The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, this will become one of your favorites!

Pure melodrama (not noir) and not very good at that. Looks great, not satisfying cinematically. I'm shaking my head at all the people saying Mitchum was cast against type. This early in his career, he didn't really have a type.Totally not believable that Hepner's character goes from professional, competent and self-assured to the frightened, clingy female the plot requires of her.It drags, it's predictable, and it's bloated and boring. Bleah! With this cast, I was wondering why I'd never heard of it before. Now I know. Save yourself!

Mild thriller with Katharine Hepburn miscast in the lead. Story of a somewhat sheltered young woman, attractive but with no particular personal style. She's swept off her feet by the dashing Taylor who remakes her in the image of a chic sophisticate that suits his position as an important personality. Everything seems fine until she starts to notice small cracks in the persona he shows to the world until he reveals himself a psychotic nut job with brother issues.It's all a bit lurid with Minnelli, in a departure from musicals, a bit off in his pacing. The big surprise though is that Robert Taylor is better in the film than Kate. It's not that she's bad just the wrong actress for the weak sister she's playing, Joan Fontaine, Anne Baxter or Geraldine Fitzgerald would all have been better suited to the part. Taylor on the other hand, while never a great actor, handles the suave heel with the dangerous edge very well. Another glaring mismatch is Hepburn and Mitchum. He was just starting out and the two clashed off screen, with her dressing him down and he as usual not caring what she thought. They share zero chemistry on screen, you can actually sense their mutual distaste for each other in the film. A major flaw since he's supposed to be her dream man. An okay movie but a minor film for all.

The casting (and direction) in Undercurrent is more insipid than inspired in this noir clunker that fails from the outset to get off the ground. Robert Taylor's wooden style poses a roadblock almost immediately for the highly affected Kate Hepburn and it's bad chemistry from the outset.Naive and innocent Ann Hamilton (Hepburn) falls for handsome airplane manufacturer Alan Garroway (Taylor) and rushes to the altar with him. She soon finds out there is a lot she does not know about him. As Alan becomes more remote she delves further into the murky past and Ann soon finds herself living a nightmare instead of the American dream.Undercurrent resembles a few Hitchcock plots but Vincent Minnelli rapidly establishes he is no master of suspense. Hepburn is no shrinking violet and she is a hard sell for a character more suited to the reticent styles of Teresa Wright or Joan Fontaine. Minnelli never really succeeds in getting Kate to defer in desperate fashion to Taylor's limited abilities as an actor. Her attempts come across as silent Gish while Taylor's wide descent into madness takes on restrained Bela Lugosi. Robert Mitchum completes the miscasting as the sensitive brother. Talk about piling on.Cinematographer Karl Freund provides some highly stylized noir interiors but Minnelli and cast utilize the atmospherics meekly and the tension remains tepid. With Minnelli far from his forte (musicals) and Hepburn's victim role fitting her like a bad suit Undercurrent drowns all involved.