Tension (1949) User Reviews

Trapped with his own identity

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 7 August 2018]

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.

TENSION (John Berry, 1949) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 18 July 2008]

To begin with, when I was in Hollywood in late 2005/early 2006, this was shown on TCM – along with THE BLACK BOOK (1949) – as part of a Richard Basehart double-bill; however, my hotel room’s TV reception was terrible that night and I had to miss out on both films (thankfully, with respect to the latter, I happened upon its Alpha DVD edition as soon as I got back to Malta…but, as for TENSION itself, it is only now that I managed to get to it)!

And it was worth the wait – as the film turned out to be yet another underrated noir gem: compelling (even original) plot-wise and quite stylish (given the solid production values typical of MGM). Incidentally, Basehart proved a genre fixture during this early phase of his career – also appearing in HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948), the afore-mentioned THE BLACK BOOK (really a costumer but the style deployed by two of the genre’s foremost experts, director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton, is unmistakable!), FOURTEEN HOURS and THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (both 1951) and, even later, THE STRANGER’S HAND, THE GOOD DIE YOUNG (both 1954) and THE INTIMATE STRANGER (1956)! Still, the same can be said of his leading lady – Audrey Totter – whose femme fatale here was perhaps the most significant role she ever played: interestingly, when I recently watched her in A BULLET FOR JOEY (1955), I had felt the actress was somewhat past her noir prime (though, having checked my review of that film just now, I realize that I failed to mention this fact!)…whereas she’s at the pinnacle of her sensuality, to say nothing of selfishness, in TENSION. Particularly memorable is the scene where Basehart enthusiastically takes Totter to a beach-house he intended to buy: however, she doesn’t even descend from the car to have a look – rather, when her hubby starts to talk about it, his visibly bored spouse takes the wheel, repeatedly honks the car horn to drown his voice out, flatly asks him whether he was coming with her or staying and, to add insult to injury, contemptuously hits the gas pedal to triumphantly throw fumes in Basehart’s face as he meekly gives in to her rejection!!

The narrative sees mild-mannered drugstore owner Basehart suffering in silence over his wife’s brazen philandering ways; he’s consoled by an underling at his work-place (Tom D’Andrea) while, at the same time, being induced to assert himself – intimating that the boss take drastic action. So, Basehart decides to confront Totter and her brawny, bullying lover (a rather hirsute Lloyd Gough) – but only ends up getting a humiliating beating in front of his wife for his efforts! An intelligent man, he starts thinking about revenge – which he does in an inordinately elaborate yet extremely clever way (this section actually owes quite a bit to Basehart’s earlier turn as a virtually unstoppable cop-killer in HE WALKED BY NIGHT): invent a whole new personality for himself so that he can then threaten Gough using this assumed name, while openly appearing to bear the man no grudge! Still, he loses his nerve at the culmination of his plan…only that Gough still turns up dead, with the evidence alarmingly pointing to Basehart himself!; the thing is that he hadn’t reckoned on meeting and falling for wholesome Cyd Charisse (a neighbor at the apartment house where his alter ego resides) – who, when the latter disappears, goes to the Police with a photo she, an amateur photographer, had taken of him!!

This gave Barry Sullivan, the rugged cop investigating the murder (aided by a burly William Conrad continually in search of food), just the break he needed – since no solid case against Basehart had been established up to that point, the latter’s ‘mysterious alter ego’ ruse having worked only too well! Needless to say, Totter works her charms on Sullivan as well – so that the revelation to Basehart of being wise to his game, in what is perhaps the film’s highlight, carries with it an undertone of perverted self-satisfaction on the cop’s part…and the blow is even harder on the hero since all of this occurs in the presence of Charisse! And yet the detective is not a complete dumb-bell – like Humphrey Bogart in THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), he would have been willing to play up to her under different circumstances…but since it’s evident that she was behind Gough’s death, he’s not about to let her get away with it.

Finally, it should be pointed out that director Berry was yet another victim of the House Un-American Activities Committee (this was a very sensitive time indeed for Hollywood): after a promising start that included a stint at the Mercury Theatre with Orson Welles, his career fizzled out due to his being blacklisted (though he did contrive to make one last good noir – HE RAN ALL THE WAY [1951] – which, sadly, proved to be the untimely swansong for actor and genre favorite John Garfield who was similarly hounded for his supposed Communist sympathies!) and Berry was forced to go to Europe…where he could only find work helming a variety of mostly unrewarding potboilers.

Great Film-Noir

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 17 January 2017]

The timid pharmacist Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart) works hard in the night shift of a drugstore to give a good life to his promiscuous wife Claire Quimby (Audrey Totter). When Claire leaves him to live with her lover, the liquor salesman Barney Deager (Lloyd Gough), Warren plots a scheme to kill Barney. He creates a new identity of a man called Paul Sothern and moves during the weekends to an apartment, telling that he is a traveling salesman to explain the absence along the week. He creates evidences that Paul Sothern wants to get rid off Barney, but soon he falls in love with his next door neighbor Mary Chanler (Cyd Charisse). One night, he goes to the Barney's house by Malibu beach but he gives up killing him; instead he tells Barney that he will divorce Claire. He goes home to move to Mary's apartment but out of the blue, Claire returns and tells that Barney was murdered. When Lieutenants Collier Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan) and Edgar Gonsales (William Conrad) come to his apartment, Warren provides alibi to Claire. However the smart Lieutenant Bonnabel proceeds his investigation and finds that Warren Quimby and Paul Sothern are the same man and Warren is arrested. Will Bonnabel finds the truth?

"Tension" is a great film-noir, with an excellent story of a meek cuckold that is humiliated when his unfaithful wife moves to the house of her lover and plots an intelligent revenge plan to kill his competitor. Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter are perfect in their roles with excellent performances. He calls off his scheme but the man is killed anyway and he is forced by his wife to provide alibi to her. The "modus operandi" of the cynical detective Collier Bonnabel building tension among the suspects and his final action telling to Claire that the furniture in Paul's apartment had been replaced is unique. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Tensão" ("Tension")

Like a Rubber band, People Will Finally Snap

[BaronBl00d · 7/10 · 12 June 2006]

Underrated, somewhat obscure B mystery/noir film about a mousy drugstore manager married to a beautiful woman who uses him and plays the field while he works nights. Things heat up as the woman leaves her husband for another man, he goes to get her, gets beat up by the hulk of a guy she is with, and then he decides he will invent a whole new identity on the weekends and kill him. Richard Basehart does a really good job playing the mild-mannered Warren and then the more realistic Paul Southern. Basehart just doesn't stereotype either role but gives life to each. The director John Berry creates many suspenseful scenes and does all those film noir things we come to expect from a good noir thriller: lots of odd camera angles, excellent use of lighting and shadows, a narrator telling us information after the fact, and a group of players of dubious character. Audrey Totter plays Warren's playful wife to perfection - she really gives the role some depth despite it being so outwardly two-dimensional. The rest of the cast is very effective with Barry Sullivan pulling extra duty as policeman and film narrator doing a very credible job, William Conrad adding humour as his partner, Tom D'Andrea being a voice of reason, and lovely Cyd Charisse as Paul's object of affection. Tension is one of those diamonds in the rough you find when you least expect it. The film doesn't boast a huge budget or marquee stars, but it can hold its weight with many of the films of similar subject matter in its era. Another great plus is the terrific score used throughout by Andre Previn. It almost assumes the role of another character with its ubiquitous presence shadowing the proceedings throughout. If you like good old-fashioned mysteries, then you should not be at all be disappointed with Tension.

Major noir classic with a spectacular Audrey Totter performance

[robert-temple-1 · 9/10 · 22 December 2007]

This is in a category of its own. The central role of a bad, bad girl is played by Audrey Totter with such spectacular power and intensity that you would think it would break the projectors in the cinema. She was like an earthquake on screen. She was also well supported by superb performances from Richard Baseheart as her husband, Barry Sullivan as a sardonic detective, and the elegant Cyd Charisse who exerts her powerful charms in a non-dancing role. This film does not conform to any strict formulae of noir construction, is almost quirky, but is a genuine classic of the genre by breaking so many of the rules. There is no murder for absolutely ages, but we forget that we are waiting for it, so mesmerised are we by Totter. The balance of attention shifts from character to character, and there is a lot of misdirection of attention to keep the audience guessing. This is absolutely not a film about a murder, which in itself is incidental. This is a powerful psychological study of extreme character types. There are absolutely superb minor touches of direction throughout, and John Berry, the director, would have had a future as one of the top directors in Hollywood after this if he had not been blacklisted. William Conrad (later 'Cannon' on TV for 102 episodes) was just as fat a cop then, and Barry Sullivan actually pulls a bag of popcorn out of his hand, gives it to a passing stranger, and pats Conrad on his bulging stomach to admonish him. The film is full of little things like that which are creative embellishments added by a director with his imagination and his eye both in top gear. The best touch of all is the stretching of a rubber band throughout the film by Barry Sullivan, who says 'everybody has his breaking point', and snaps the band. In the scenes with the greatest tension, the band comes out and gets stretched and stretched. In one amazing scene, Sullivan and Totter even stretch the rubber band together with their fingers both entwined in it absentmindedly, while the psychological tension builds. This use of the rubber band throughout the film as a motif actually works, because it is done so well and with such extraordinary subtlety. All the suspects are under tension bigtime, hence the title. There are many good lines, such as Sullivan saying to Totter: 'I've got a file on you going back as far as you can remember and into the future as far as you dare imagine.' They end up kissing. This film positively reeks of classic noir elements, while being put together in an original manner. We have irrational passion, greed, amorality, lust, love, betrayal, selfless devotion, murder, as well as an inability to kill despite wanting to. It's all there. Just add DVD and stir.

Half of a Good Noir

[dougdoepke · 25 September 2009]

Putting glasses on the very versatile Richard Basehart and sticking him with a drugstore and a faithless trophy wife (Totter) is almost inspired. His Warren Quimby is such a timid, dependent little guy, and when wife Claire thrusts out her ample chest at any well-dressed man who walks by, we feel for the put-upon pharmacist. He's working day and night trying to please her, but she could care less, especially when she hooks up with the flashy Barney Deager (Gough) and rubs Warren's nose in it. Or rather it's Deager who does the nose-rubbing in the sands of his Malibu beach house. Now Warren may be no Clark Kent, but he's finally had enough humiliation, and there is an alter-ego waiting to break out of that timid soul. The alter-ego is named Paul Southern. He doesn't wear a red cape, but he does sport a very unWarren-like checked jacket and no glasses. More importantly, he's got a plan, a nifty plan for revenge on his two tormentors. In the meantime, he's picked up a new girl (Charisse) who admires the forceful Southern style. So now Quimby-Southern is ready for a new life with his new girl once his nifty revenge plan succeeds.

I just wish the second half succeeded as well as this riveting first half. But the focus shifts abruptly over to wise-guy cop Bonnabel (Sullivan) and we lose the compelling thread of humiliation and revenge. It's almost like the script didn't know what to do with Basehart following the Malibu showdown. The remainder of the film plays out in kind of fuzzy, not very believable fashion. It's like a screenplay in two very unequal chapters. The movie is another of Dore Schary's attempts to bring sunny MGM into the post-war world of noir. Like many of the others, the effort here only partially succeeds. There's some good location photography and an excellent cast. However, director Berry adds little to the erratic script, and I'm tempted to say that neither he nor the studio had a feel for this kind of RKO material. Nonetheless, that compelling first half remains.

Little tension, terrific stars though

[tomsview · 6/10 · 23 November 2013]

"Tension" is an offbeat film noir with a far-fetched story. However, it's still worth a look today if only for it's two fascinating stars, Richard Basehart and Cyd Charisse.

The story is told from the point of view of Police Lt. Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan). He tells how Warren Quimby, played by Richard Basehart, the night manager of a drug store, is unhappily married to his wife, Claire Quimby (Audrey Totter). Although he is devoted to her, she has blatant affairs with other men who offer the excitement straight-laced Warren can't. She leaves him for Barney Deager, a liquor salesman who owns a house on the beach.

Richard Basehart never gave a bad performance. With that leonine head and great voice he was an arresting presence, and he makes believable his milquetoast character who eventually grows in stature.

When Warren goes to the beach to get Claire back, Barney beats him up and leaves him lying in the sand. Rather than take the Charles Atlas bodybuilding course after having sand kicked in his face, Warren plans to kill Barney. In order not to be caught, he assumes another identity – Paul Sothern. He rents an apartment under his new name, and finds enormous power in replacing his spectacles with contact lenses.

At his new apartment complex, he meets Mary Chanler played by Cyd Charisse. When I first saw this film on TV, I missed the titles and didn't recognise the striking actress who first appeared at Paul Sothern's apartment astride the stairs with her camera. In fact, this was Cyd Charisse's first dramatic, non-singing, non-dancing role. Cinematographer, Harry Stradling, went to town on her in "Tension", using the great chiaroscuro lighting effects of that era to highlight her features. The costume department also seemed inspired, dressing her in understated, but elegant designs that enhanced her natural grace and style. Although she played it low-key, "Tension" revealed how beautiful she was even when she sat still.

Of course, Warren hits it off with Mary straight away, and changes his mind about killing Barney. However, someone else murders him, and suspicion falls on Paul Sothern. When his wife wants to return to him, Warren rejects her; seeing a better life for himself with Mary.

Using some unorthodox police procedures, Lt. Bonnabel wines, dines and smoozes the real perpetrator of the crime and solves the mystery. Finally, Warren squares things with the ever-tolerant Mary before the fadeout.

Like many film noirs, the characters are impulsive – after obsessive pursuit of his wife for the first half of the movie, Barney switches allegiance to Cyd Charisse's character almost as soon as he meets her. Despite some wild plotting, the film benefits from being shot on location, and has two stars, Cyd Charisse and Richard Basehart, that give it a definite touch of class.

"Got a Ouiji Board?"

[davidcarniglia · 9/10 · 8 August 2018]

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--especially 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. 9/10.

Hit hard with a vengeance

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 5 January 2022]

The cast was my main reason in seeing 'Tension'. Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse, William Conrad and Barry Sullivan were all actors of considerable talent and all did fine work in other films of theirs. 'Tension' is also another film that had a very interesting sounding story, and also watched it due to loving mystery and noir-ish films and due to loving classic film. Having seen some very well done films recently in the same genre and similar, there was a lot of high expectations.

High expectations that were mostly met if not exceeded. 'Tension' has a lot to recommend and it is another recently seen film that is rather under-valued. It is though uneven and one half is better than the other, something that has already been picked up to a few. There are better films in the mystery and noir genres, but also worse and in no way should 'Tension' be compared to Hitchcock. Not a fair comparison and something that it was not striving to be.

Am going to begin with the good. Generally, 'Tension' looks good. Particularly the moody and smooth photography and eerie lighting. A young Andre Previn provides a score that gels beautifully with the atmosphere and even enhances it, sounding very ominous and unsettling. While the direction is not exceptional it is at least competent, especially in the first half. The script is intelligent and tightly paced.

On the whole the story absorbs, though it is not consistent. The first half is great, very intriguing and atmospheric without taking too long to set up. The best thing about 'Tension' is the acting, Basehart contrasts his two roles beautifully and with ease and Totter is a smouldering knockout and steals the film. Conrad injects his role with a lot of juice and Charisse is charming despite her character being on the one-dimensional side.

With all that being said, 'Tension' isn't perfect. The second half is not as strong. The tone shift is abrupt and jarring and the storytelling in the second is not as focused or as riveting, could have done with more tension and surprises. The conclusion and the truth are not hard to figure out at all.

For my tastes, Sullivan is on the bland side. Will agree too that some of the rear projection is distractingly fake.

Concluding, pretty impressive. Rough around the edges, but with more than enough to earn a recommendation. 7/10.

great film with some fine acting and script in forgotten film noir gem

[jescue · 10/10 · 22 February 2006]

cyd charrise in a non dancing role. she is a total babe and takes a medium size part and delivers the goods as a girl that believes in her man. the cast in this movie is superb. the plot is well written and contains some nice twists. besides excellent performances by all of the main cast the supporting staff are also perfect especially the lead detective. if you want to see cyd looking radiant and innocent, this is a great pic.

lloyd gough has a key but small part in this movie, fans of the green hornet will remember him as being on the newspaper staff for bret reed's newspaper.

audrey totter, a joliet, illinois gal is tough as nails, just like the "steel city" she hails from. does a great job in her role. she was a powerful and convincing actress.

Nice little film noir

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 16 August 2016]

Film noir isn't is my most favorite film genre, but every once in a while I'll stumble on one which tickles my fancy...like this one.

Milquetoast husband/druggist's wife runs away with another man, who then beats the milquetoast up. He decides to murder the "other man", and develops an alternate persona who will take the blame for the murder. Meanwhile he falls in love, and just as he is about to commit the murder he realizes he'd only be throwing his life away for an unfaithful wife. Then the "other man" ends up murdered, and the milquetoast, who is looking forward to his new life with his new girlfriend, gets blamed...but it's not proved yet. In come the detectives who suspect the milquetoast, but persevere when things lead in a very different direction.

Richard Basehart, whom I always thought was an underrated actor, is excellent as the milquetoast/druggist.

I have to give credit here to Audrey Totter, an actress it's rather difficult to like as she usually played rather slimy characters...as she does here. But she's excellent.

I had mixed feelings about the performance of Cyd Charisse as the new girlfriend; I'd say the performance was "okay". Barry Sullivan did well as the lead police detective. It was nice seeing Tom D'Andrea (later the best pal in "The Life Of Riley") as a worker in the drug store. And William Conrad, big as life (so to speak) is good as the junior police detective.

Although I enjoyed it, there are problems with this film. The biggest being -- did police detectives really develop sexual relationships with witnesses just to solve murders? Why does it take the detectives so long to realize that both men played by Richard Basehart are the same man? After all, the only difference is a pair of glasses? Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable little detective story. Recommended.

An intense suspenseful murder yarn

[krorie · 8/10 · 21 January 2006]

Though there are a few ridiculous elements to the story, standout performances, good direction and fine camera work make this one a winner. The epitome of a slut/bitch is found in the character of Claire Quimby with all the blank spots filled in by what should have been an award-winning portrayal by Audrey Totter. Almost matching her is Richard Basehart as her doting husband Warren Quimby and his alter ego Paul Sothern. It's also fun to see the talented Tom D'Andrea (the beloved Gillis in "The Life of Riley") as an "I told you so" employee friend Freddie and William Conrad ("Cannon" and radio's Marshal Dillon)as Police Lt. Edgar 'Blackie' Gonsales. Both add a degree of humor and lightness needed for a movie filled with tension.

Take away the sappy Clark Kent glasses incognito and the not only unorthodox but also highly unethical, maybe downright illegal even in 1950, method used by Police Lt. Collier Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan) to trap Claire Quimby and you have a truly intense suspenseful murder flick in the film noir tradition.

MGM Film Noir

[johno-21 · 7/10 · 11 June 2006]

MGM's Film Noir's may not have been up to par with RKO's during this time period but this is a pretty good film that doesn't actually become a Film Noir until well into the film but it has the look of a Film Noir throughout. Cinematographer Harry Stradling Sr. had a 50 year career in films beginning in the 20's as a young man and up until he died in 1970. Before this he had photographed such films as The Picture of Dorian Gray, Till The Clouds Roll By and had worked on the classic Intermezzo among his many films. He would go on to do A Streetcar Named Desire, Johnny Guitar, Gus & Dolls, My Fair Lady, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly and The Owl & The Pussycat. Director John Berry had made some dramas in the 40's and was really moving into Film Noir with this film. Unfortunately had also just completed a documentary about the blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers that got himself blacklisted and went to Europe to make films before returning to the USA and making some mediocre films. This is the story about a meek and mild mannered night manager of a 24 hour pharmacy/diner who toils 12 hour shifts to save money to make a comfortable life for his gold-digging, fast and loose wife. They are a mismatch who married while he was in the service because she thought he looked cute in his uniform but their life with living above the pharmacy is something she would like to ditch and she finally does. Audrey Totter is your classic femme fatal bad girl in a bullet bra. Richard Basehart is the pharmacist husband with a plan to seek a new identity. Cyd Charise is his new interest and Lloyd Gough is Totter's. Barry Sullivan and William Conrad are the detectives and Tom D'Andrea is the sympathetic late night counter guy. A story by John D. Klorer and screenplay by Allen Rivkin. 21 year old André Previn before he became a noted composer and conductor provides the film's score. I would give this a 7.0 out of 10.

Tension - Without Any!

[jpdoherty · 3/10 · 1 July 2009]

Another double noir on one disc from Warner Home Video and by far the better of the two movies is RKO's marvellous 1950 thriller "Where Danger Loves". This is a memorable classic with a great cast in Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue and Claude Rains. Crisply photographed in Black & White by Nicholas Musuraca it was tightly directed by John Farrow. "Where Danger Lives" is a prime example of the noir style of picture making and will always be remembered for its stylish craftsmanship that was Hollywood's past - (See my full review).

Unfortunately, none of the above praise can be applied to the second movie on the disc, the abysmal MGM 1949 stinker TENSION! Poorly written (Allen Rivkin) and directed by John Berry this movie is full of ludicrous characterisations and unlikely situations. The inconceivable relationship between a mild mannered and wimpish pharmacist - blandly played by Richard Baseheart - and his overtly floozy wife (a risible Audrey Totter) is totally implausible and unconvincing (how on earth they ever got together in the first place is anybody's guess). Then when she "surprisingly" ditches him for one of her playmates (Lloyd Gough) our timid pharmacist, instead of being euphoric and over the moon with his new found good fortune, plots revenge and attempts to kill Gough but at the last minute chickens out. The guy gets murdered anyway and our pharmacist is immediately suspected by Homicide detective Barry Sullivan (another bland performance). So who did kill him? Well, at this stage of the movie you really couldn't care less since it is all so badly executed and rendered ridiculous by director Berry. Mr. Berry has no idea of pacing and is unable to inject even a smidgen of style into the thing. There is nothing he can put in front of the camera that will prevent you from nodding off! The only TENSION contained in this movie is in the rubber band that is stretched to its limit and snaps in the fingers of Barry Sullivan as he gives the intro at the film's opening. So much for that! A most unfortunate effort! C'est La Vie!

Best things about this turkey is the smooth Monochrome Cinematography by the great Harry Stradling, an effective score by a young Andre Previn and an early dramatic appearance by the lovely Cyd Charisse before she found her dancing shoes. Hey! - maybe she could have saved the picture had she given us a few steps and a couple of pirouettes! HUH?

In its favour however, are the heaps of extras that are included which boasts trailers, commentaries and featurettes for both films. But the disc is worth it alone for the RKO Mitchum classic!

Excellent mid-century melodrama

[Ripshin · 13 March 2005]

Although a bit noir-sh at times, and produced during the golden era of that film genre, this is by no means a pure film noir. Rather, "Tension" is a B-movie version of the melodramas popular at all of the studios during the late 40s. And, certainly, as suggested by other posters, this film has no business being compared to Hitchcock.

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised with the talent, direction, script and locations.

Granted, the whole "Clark-Kent-wearing-glasses-isn't-Superman" form of disguise is ludicrous, but it has always been an accepted modus-operandi for the concept of hidden identities on stage, film and TV. The performances of all of the leads are good - none chew the scenery. Basehart never "got his due" as an actor, as I'm afraid most remember him as the captain on TV's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" in the 60s. Totter is excellent, and while Cyd Charisse is little more than set dressing, she requites herself well.

The techniques of law have certainly changed, as the means of tricking the guilty party in this film is nothing less than entrapment.

And for those of you interested in architecture, that great Deco-ish apartment complex featured in the film is still much the same 55 years later, even down to the vines on the railing. It is located off West Olympic Blvd, just west of Century City (across from Pavilion's, behind hotel). By the way, contrary to what a previous poster states, most of this film takes place in Culver City - only the beach house and apartment complex are "in" Malibu. Being an MGM film, they stuck close to home with locations.

UPDATE: Bad news - that beautiful apt. complex is coming down in 2006. Now THAT is a crime!

Update 2: Jan 2007 - the building is still there.

Update 3: Oct 2008 - they're moving people out by 2010.

Update 4: October 2013 - still there!!

nice

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 22 January 2021]

Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart) is a meek bespectacled pharmacy manager. His wife Claire (Audrey Totter) is a blonde bombshell with expensive tastes and wandering eyes. She eventually leaves him for the richer Barney Deager. After getting beat up by Barney, Warren starts obsessing for the perfect murder. All this is told in flashback and in narration by Police Lieutenant Collier Bonnabel.

It's a nice little pulpy noir. It has the opportunity for being a great character study of this loser. He's not showing enough fear and loathing. His pathetic nature could be highlighted more. Basehart is still a young pup as an actor. Totter is throwing every melodramatic kitchen sink at the screen. It's nice.

Not The Best, But Maybe My Favorite, Film Noir

[Handlinghandel · 9/10 · 23 June 2006]

Two of its four stars are staples of the noir genre: Audrey Totter and Barry Sullivan. Sullivan opens the movie with an introduction to himself and some excellent voice-over. And Totter! She was always good, but here she plays the archetype of the evil woman. In some ways she's more plausible than Ann Savage in "Detour," because she's put in a clear context and her character is developed.

That's not all about Totter that's developed. She is curvaceous and then some: It seems as if in some scenes she has been costumed in clothing at least one size too small. She thus appears not only alluring but also a bit overweight. That handsome Richard Basehart, the third star, is crazily in love with her anyway is all the more poignant.

Totter has voracious appetites. She likes to eat desserts at the soda fountain in her husband's drugstore. She sneers at the nice suburban house he has picked out for them: She wants something much bigger and fancier.

And she gets it when she hooks up with a somewhat older customer who has a snazzy car and a house on the beach.

(Here as in a few other places, it seems as if the editing was a little messy -- or that something was cut out. The guy appears in the drugstore, she and Basehart already seem to know him and know him by name, at that. But we aren't sure who he is.

That the Production Code allowed what happens next is really surprising. It's pretty blatant, in-your-face adultery.

Basehart was a superb actor. Here he is excellent in an understated way. He gets fitted with contact lenses -- surely a novelty when the movie was filmed. But even with glasses on, he is exceptionally handsome. Barry Sullivan is handsome too and he is a fine movie performer. But Basehart was the real thing. To me, for example, he is the best part of "La Strada," renowned for its two other leads.

As to the fourth lead in "Tension," we have Cyd Charisse. She doesn't dance; she acts. She isn't exactly bad. But, though she's playing a somewhat thankless good-girl role, she could have been more interesting.

This is a hard, cold movie. One of its characters is despicable. Another is not very admirable. There's a little romance but it doesn't really soften the movie. The movie is tough and mean: Just what we want in film noir.

Interesting Characters, Especially 'Claire,' But Could Have Used A Twist & Some Action

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 9 March 2008]

For me, the highlight of this film noir was simply ogling the two female leads, played by Audrey Totter ("Claire Quimby") - who wasn't beautiful but had an incredible body - and Cyd Charisse ("Mary Chandler"), who had a much smaller role but was pleasing. They were opposites: a nasty film-noir femme fatale (Totter) and a wholesome girl-next-door (Charisse).

Totter played a number of classic blonde film noir floozies, women who sure look good on the outside but are nasty on the inside. She, Marie Windsor and Lizabeth Scott were all excellent noir "molls." Totter, as of this writing, is still alive at the age of 89. I think this was one of her better performances.

It's a good thing the characters in this film were interesting because the story was a little too slow, to be honest. It's hard to picture, especially in the last 50 years, a crime movie with no action. We don't even see the only crime committed. It is something we hear about after the fact. We can pretty much guess who did it - it is made more than obvious - so the only question remaining is how are the police going to catch "Claire."

Actually, all the actors are good in this movie and I really enjoyed some of the film noir photography. The DVD transfer of this movie, which is part of the "Film Noir Classics Collection Vol.4," is very good. Richard Basehart has the lead role as meek pharmacist "Warren Quimby." In order to hatch a plan involving murder, he dons contact lenses and darkens his hair and becomes Charisse's boyfriend, "Paul Sothern." The idea is to kill the man who took away his slimy wife, played almost to perfection by Totter.

The fairly-young-looking Basehart, like the two ladies, is very good in this film, his first noir since the excellent "He Walked By Night" released the year before. Basehart didn't begin his film career until he was in his middle '30s.

Of the two policeman, William Conrad is fairly intense but Barry Sullivan's character is bland, despite having some juicy parts.

I think this story would have been much better with a few twists to it, and I can think at least one good one: Warren's pal "Freddie" (Tom D'Andrea) in on the crime. With Freddie nosing around all the time, looking after Warren's welfare, I thought he might wind up with a bigger part in this mystery - maybe the surprise killer to help his buddy - but it wasn't to be. That's really a summation of the story: something that could have been really clever, but wasn't to be despite some good acting performances.

"Everybody's got a breaking point"

[nickenchuggets · 8/10 · 18 November 2022]

Marriage is typically treated as one of the happiest moments of your life by most people, but anyone who watches film noir will know that the stereotypical image of a happy couple is just propaganda at its finest. I say this because Tension highlights just how damaging a marriage to the wrong person can be. Richard Basehart plays Warren Quimby, a manager at a drug store who works night shifts. There, he sees his wife, the disagreeable Claire (Audrey Totter), who is essentially just a spoiled rotten kid in adult form. After working really hard for countless nights, Warren is able to afford a suburban home, but Claire isn't even interested in seeing the interior. Eventually, she abandons her husband in favor of a rich man named Barney Deager. Outraged, Warren tries to get his wife back as she relaxes on the beach with Deager. When Warren won't take no for an answer, Deager pummels him. Humiliated, Warren confides to one of his friends, who says that if he was in that situation, he'd murder Deager. Warren takes this advice to heart, and builds a false identity for himself. Now known as Paul Sothern, Warren now wears contact lenses, has a new house, and rents an apartment. At the latter, Warren meets Mary (Cyd Charisse), who becomes his new love interest. Using a different tone of voice, Warren calls Deager's beach house, but his servant answers it instead. Warren threatens that Deager is not going to get away with what he did. One night, Warren creeps into Deager's house and holds a small pitchfork to his neck. Suddenly, Warren changes his mind, and now finds it unthinkable that he's about to kill somebody. He drops the weapon, waking up Deager. Warren tells him that he's not going to kill him, as Claire is his problem now and it's more cruel to keep him alive so he can suffer by being with her. Sometime after, Claire goes back to Warren in his LA apartment and tells him that Barney is dead. Although it was Warren's original intention to murder him, he didn't carry through with it. Somehow, Barney was shot instead. Warren tells Claire she isn't welcome in any of his dwellings, and orders her to leave. Claire taunts him by saying the cops will be looking for him now, but Warren is confident that the truth doesn't fear any investigation. He didn't kill Barney, so he has nothing to worry about. Just then, two investigators knock on the door and start questioning Claire and her husband. They ask about what Barney meant to Claire and Warren, to which Claire lies and says they were good friends. Warren is forced to go along with what she says so as not to cause any discrepancies. One of the detectives, Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan) tells the two that they're looking for a man named Paul Sothern, but can't find him since his name isn't attached to any type of identifying accessory or credential that any ordinary person would have, such as a driver's license or social security number. Meanwhile, Mary goes to a bureau responsible for tracking down people who are missing, since she wants to find where Sothern is. After Bonnabel realizes that Sothern and Warren are the same person, he contacts Mary and brings her to Warren's drugstore to identify him, but she lies and says it's not him. This does not spare Warren from the handcuffs. After being interrogated, he simply says to talk to Claire instead since she was the one in close proximity to Barney, not him. Warren is eventually let go since there's no definitive proof he killed Barney. Claire, wanting to see her husband get jailed once and for all, retrieves a handgun from a prearranged location and attempts to plant it in Warren's apartment. Warren shows up, breaks the window, and enters, not noticing that Bonnabel is right behind him. Claire tries to misconstrue what's going on and says how Warren was trying to kill her, but the gun is found eventually. Claire's plan to use the gun as evidence against her husband backfires, as Bonnabel explains all the furniture in the room was replaced earlier that day, meaning there's no way the gun could have been there until just now. Furthermore, the gun's serial number located on the bottom surface of the handgrip matches the one of the pistol used to kill Barney. As Mary and Warren get ready to enter a relationship, Claire is taken away by the investigators. Even though this film was predictable at certain points, it flipped my expectations on their head later on. I put it this way because I knew it was only a matter of time before Warren got caught (which does end up happening), but I wasn't counting on seeing him get freed later. Additionally, it looks like he's about to get arrested a second time right at the end, but this doesn't happen. I don't think I've seen a movie that defied my expectations so many times before, but I'm glad it did because seeing Claire walk free would have really angered me. Audrey puts on a great performance as her, since she's everything a noir woman should be. She cheats on her husband, gets him in huge trouble, and then tries to lie her way out of taking accountability. You just hate her, and you want to see Basehart win. I kind of felt the saxophone music that plays whenever Claire is onscreen was getting on my nerves, but putting this aside, you'll find that Tension is a worthwhile noir that shows really well how criminals always make one mistake, and that's all an investigator needs.

An entertaining enough noir

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 20 August 2018]

There's nothing too special here, but it's an entertaining enough noir. Audrey Totter plays a materialistic woman cheating on her pharmacist husband (Richard Basehart), a nice guy who is crushed when she leaves him for another man. He assumes an alter ego based on a brand new technology (contact lenses!), and plots revenge. Along the way he meets a nice girl (Cyd Charisse), who puts a delightful wrinkle in his plans.

Totter has a wonderfully strong edge in this film, scheming and openly defiant of her husband. The scene where she appears with eyes flashing in the mirror is probably the film's strongest. Unfortunately the rest of the cast don't keep up with her. Barry Sullivan is reasonably strong as the detective, as is William Conrad as his sidekick, but he lacks a little in the 'tough guy' department. I liked seeing Charisse who has such a fresh face and is so likeable, but I'm not sure how deep her character or performance was. Other than Totter, there's just something missing, some grit or hardness, which prevents this from being a very good or great film. Also, quite a bit of the rest of the plot is telegraphed, and without a lot of subtlety.

As for direction, it's decent, and the shots in the pharmacy and the street outside of it are good, as there is so much detail in the entire frame during these scenes. There was also something that was interesting about seeing a more obscure, 'B' film noir, which never committed any major errors, even if it didn't hit any homeruns.

Not a bad little man at all

[MONA0825 · 10/10 · 24 April 2011]

This may not be the best film noir out there, but it certainly is my favorite. It's a shame is not wider known. You have murder, adultery, a policeman with very dubious investigation methods, a simple little guy mixed in terrible business and a femme fatale that can easily fit in a "Desperate House Wives" episode. Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter star as husband (Warren) and wife (Claire) trapped in a dead end marriage: he is a meek pharmacist who works the night shift in a drugstore in order to save enough money to achieve his little domestic American dream. Unfortunately his wife has much bigger dreams than that: she wants a bigger man, with a bigger wallet, a bigger car and … you get the idea. When she runs away with her lover and poor Warren's dream and self- esteem are shattered, Warren comes with a plan to kill the big man … a plan that is quite silly and that attracts most of the negative critics again this movie, but please think again: would you really expect a nice little guy as Warren to come with a brilliant killing scheme? Of course not! As silly as the murder plan is, it's perfectly adequate for Warren's character. Mr. Basehart is absolutely brilliant in his performance: he makes his pathetic character so likable that at times I just wanted to scream at my screen:" Warren dear, what are you doing? You silly man, you could get dozens of woman, just dump that bi**h of a wife and move on!" Mr. Basehart was the perfect nice guy next door involved in criminal business by fate or accident that was a recurrent type in film noirs. And Audrey Totter … she is so deliciously vicious as the femme fatale! She is one of a kind; you'll never find one like this in the entire film noir library. All other secondary players are equally great. In summary, try it! Don't let the apparently contrived plot drive you away, just enjoy the quintessential performances by Basehart and Totter.

Flawed but very interesting!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 5 April 2018]

Copyright 16 November 1949 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture. New York opening at the Rialto: 11 January 1950. U.S. release: 25 November 1949. U.K. release: 15 May 1950. Australian release: 6 July 1950. 95 minutes. Cut to 91 minutes in Australia.

SYNOPSIS: Meek pharmacist determines to murder his wife's lover. He adopts a complex plan which backfires when...

COMMENT: Although the plot is full of holes, none are apparent while the action is actually unwinding, thanks to the charismatic skills of the principals (even the normally no-personality Cyd Charisse seems very appealing here) and the sensitive direction of John Berry. Atmospheric photography and realistic sets also help. Audrey Totter has one of her best roles, but fans of Barry Sullivan are in for a mighty disappointment. Although he narrates the movie, he doesn't come on stage until halfway through, and even then he's often shaded by William Conrad's attention-grabbing impersonation of his slobby offsider.

OTHER VIEWS: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made only a few dozen or so forays into the non-escapist world of film noir. Fortunately, this grippingly atmospheric yet once-neglected little gem has found a secure niche in the repertoire of Turner Classic Movies. The cast is exceptionally engrossing, though it could be argued that Barry Sullivan delivers a somewhat too arch performance as a smug, string-pulling and none-too-likable detective.

On the other hand, secure portrayals by Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter brilliantly prop up a somewhat insecure script. If Quimby "looked so nice in his uniform", how come he allows himself to be beaten up by an obviously-out-of-condition Deager? And surely Mary would have made inquiries from Sothern's "employer" before reporting him to Missing Persons. And even though the action takes place in a large city (presumably Los Angeles), surely Quimby's plan is full of risk. After all, he's right there on display at the prescription counter day and night. He doesn't even take the trouble to dye his hair. And most important of all, surely a smart, street-wise cookie like Claire Quimby could see right through Bonnabel's extremely transparent stratagem. She's not in love with the guy anyhow and yet she suddenly acts like a dope purely in order to bring the movie to an isn't-romance-wonderful fade-out. And what's her motive anyway?

In an early dramatic role, Cyd Charisse comes across as exceptionally appealing. The way she handles the confrontation scene is so convincing, she manages to paper over the script's gaping holes. Also helping out in this regard, slot in Berry's tautly moody, stark, no-frills direction. The movie's unusually realistic sets (by M-G-M gloss-is-everything standards) are pinpointed to perfection by ace cameraman Harry Stradling.

Delightful Tension!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 8/10 · 10 April 2017]

Noir is one of my favorite style of movie and this one is really great, since the beginning when the cop explain how he solves an investigation, the story is about a bad marriage between a pharmacist and his unfaithful wife, betrayed and left by her, he wants and planned a revenge, however he gives up in time, but the man was killed that night and your wife comeback to him, now he is in trouble with the cops who are in charge of the case, Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter made a great performance in this movie and Barry Sullivan as a wise cop together with your partner William Conrad and don't forget the young Cyd Charisse!! Sooo delightful movie!!!

Good, noirish thriller.

[MOscarbradley · 6/10 · 27 September 2019]

A noirish thriller with a good cast, (Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Barry Sullivan, Cyd Charisse), and an excellent plot, (Basehart is the mild-mannered chemist planning on killing his faithless wife's lover). It was directed by John Berry, a minor jobbing director who made at least one outstanding film, ("He Ran All the Way"), in his relatively short career. This isn't quite in the same class, (it gets rather convoluted before it's over), but it does what it says on the tin and both Basehart and Totter are excellent.

Very good, tense, film noir.

[tles7 · 5/10 · 20 September 2019]

It's a suspenseful, well shot and an interesting yarn...except for one thing--it has the "you can't recognize Superman is Clark Kent because he isn't wearing glasses" silliness. A man is depending on a different identity based on the fact that he is wearing contact lenses (1949 contacts are frightening looking), You'd think he would have worn a wig or fake facial hair or something. The unbelievable premise makes the movie OK but not great.