Tension (1949)

Director:

John Berry

Writers:

Allen Rivkin (story) and
John D. Klorer (story)

Release Date:

11 January 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance

Tagline:

The hard-hitting story of a man with a plan...REVENGE!

Plot:

A meek pharmacist creates an alternate identity under which he plans to murder the bullying liquor salesman who has become his wife's lover.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Lover | Manager | Neighbor | Killer

Cast

Richard Basehart	...	Warren Quimby
Audrey Totter	...	Claire Quimby
Cyd Charisse	...	Mary Chanler
Barry Sullivan	...	Lt. Collier Bonnabel
Lloyd Gough	...	Barney Deager
Tom D'Andrea	...	Freddie, Coast to Coast Counter Man
William Conrad	...	Lt. Edgar Gonsales
Tito Renaldo	...	Narco, Deager's Valet

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

"Tension" was shooting at about the same time in 1949 as Side Street (1950), and the latter film utilizes the pharmacy set and its phone booth to allow Farley Granger to make a phone call.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Cyd Charisse accidentally snaps a picture of Richard Baseheart as "Paul Sothern", it is day time. However, the resulting picture she hands over to the missing persons bureau was obviously taken at night.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Police Lt. Collier Bonnabel: I'm Collier Bonnabel. I'm a cop. I'm a Lieutenant Detective in, uh, Homicide. That's a fancy name for murder.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Tension: Who's Guilty Now? (2007) (V)

Like a Rubber band, People Will Finally Snap

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.