Tension (1949)

That was an excellent one.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the better film noirs. Great performances from all the principles: Audrey Totter, Richard Basehart, Cyd Charisse, and Barry Sullivan. Unlike some noir thrillers that get too clever to make sense, Tension is well-plotted. The pacing keeps Basehart and Totter twisting until the end.We've got the girl-next-door Mary (Charisse) and the tramp Claire (Totter) in and out of Warren's (Basehart's) respectable life. Warren and Deager (Lloyd Gough) are rivals, but the innocent Mary and the evil Claire are complete opposites. Deager is certainly a jerk, but he recognizes that Warren is a "nice little guy." Warren, on the other hand, planned to murder Deager; he pulls back at the last second, realizing that Deager has also been manipulated by Claire. They're in the same boat.In typical noir fashion, Warren outsmarts himself. His alter ego 'Paul' has the unintended side effect of attracting Mary's attention. That their relationship is great leads, nonetheless, to some agonizing scenes--especialy when the lieutenant throws them together in the drug store. They have to pretend to be strangers to fool him. The lieutenant already knows that Paul is Warren; but he has to act as though he doesn't know in hopes that one of them will snap.The lieutenant's role is very aptly played by Sullivan. He drives the plot after Deager's murder. Both Claire and Warren give shaky statements when he first interviews them, and Mary mucks things up for 'Paul.' But as soon as the Lieutenant sidles up to Claire she becomes vulnerable; she's shown that she can't resist men. His subsequent pretense that the case has gone nowhere, that Warren is free, and the murder weapon is the only red flag, simultaneously serves to relieve Claire and force her hand.The denouement in Paul/Warren's apartment is perfect. Yet another of the Lieutenant's deceptions reveals Claire's attempt to incriminate Warren. The mystery lies in how Claire will be caught; we know Warren's innocent. But we also know that he's set himself up by his history with Deager, especially with the elaborate revenge plan. Only a couple of bits in Tension ring false. Why would Claire kill Deager anyway? If she gets tired of him, why not just leave him? She has nothing to gain from killing him. For a while I thought that the killer might turn out to be someone else, but there weren't really any other characters crawling around waiting to murder anyone. Also, since the Lieutenant has such a commanding role; do we really need him narrating too? Still, Tension worked extremely well. I can't think of another noir of this caliber that maintained dramatic 'tension' with no car crashes, not much on-screen violence, no back alleys, gangsters, no strained rat-a-tat-tat dialogue, and not all that much time in the dark. Well-worth checking out a few times.

Tension is neat little noir thriller from MGM where some of their second line players get a chance to show their stuff without any of the big marquee names to take the audience's attention.Richard Basehart stars as a meek pharmacist whose wife Audrey Totter has been seeing loudmouthed liquor salesman Lloyd Gough and she's not even keeping it a secret. After Basehart gets slapped around he conceives of a plan to murder Gough involving hthe creation of a second identity. But then at the last minute Basehart can't go through with it. In my favorite scene in the film he tells Gough you can have the tramp, she's your problem now.But then Gough is killed and the cops Barry Sullivan and William Conrad go looking for the man who doesn't really exist. More I cannot say this one has more twists than your small intestine.Totter is one nasty slattern of a woman. In contrast to neighbor Cyd Charisse who Basehart has fallen for. But at the moment he and Totter are trapped by circumstances.Even the detectives aren't quite what they seem. Barry Sullivan has some unique investigative methods that I'm sure the LAPD would not approve of.You'll like how this one goes down. I'd check it out.

John Berry directed this underrated film noir that stars Richard Basehart as milquetoast husband Warren Quimby, who works as a pharmacist where his bored, philandering and beautiful wife(played by Audrey Totter) hangs out and carries on right under his nose! She then decides to leave him for another man named Barney(played by Lloyd Gough). Warren later confronts them on a beach, but is easily pushed aside by Barney, inspiring him to enact an elaborate scheme of revenge and murder by creating a new identity for himself, but someone murders Barney before he gets the chance, though of course he still gets the blame by police... Fine thriller with solid acting and direction, with a protagonist who is most sympathetic, and a leading lady who is not!

This late-40s film noir has all the right ingredients: murder, a sleazy and deadly female (Totter, with a wonderful gamut of facial expressions), a female with a heart of gold (Charisse), a possibly corrupt cop (who functions as narrator), location shooting, and a wonderful jazzy score by Andre Previn with possibly THE most perfect "femme fatale" theme ever written. (When that sax starts to wail you know that your heart is about to be stomped flat.)Of course, there are lots of films with these ingredients, but what really makes this one tick is a great script. The writers manipulate your feelings about the characters, especially Quimby (Richard Basehart). Is he a sappy milquetoast? Or a killer? Or an adulterer? And what about that cop? Whose side is he on, anyway? One great twist after another leads to a very satisfying conclusion.I had never heard of this film, but it popped up on TMC and I'm glad I took the time to watch. I think it stands with the best of the genre.