Undercurrent (1946)

Middle-aged bride Ann Hamilton soon begins to suspect that her charming husband is really a psychotic who plans to murder her.

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Edward Chodorov (screenplay), Thelma Strabel (story)

Stars:

Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Katharine Hepburn	...	Ann Hamilton
Robert Taylor	...	Alan Garroway
Robert Mitchum	...	Michael Garroway
Edmund Gwenn	...	Prof. David 'Dink' Hamilton
Marjorie Main	...	Lucy
Jayne Meadows	...	Sylvia Lea Burton
Clinton Sundberg	...	Mr. Warmsley
Dan Tobin	...	Prof. Joseph Bangs
Kathryn Card	...	Mrs. Foster
Leigh Whipper	...	George
Charles Trowbridge	...	Justice Putnam
James Westerfield	...	Henry Gilson
Billy McClain	...	Uncle Ben (as Billy McLain)

Storyline

Approaching middle age, spinster Ann Hamilton, the daughter of Science Professor David Hamilton - more affectionately referred to as Dink - is intelligent, but dowdy and unsophisticated, she who never expects to get married and does nothing beyond be her tomboyish self in an effort to attract a man. Being single does not bother her as she repeatedly turns down the marriage proposal of Dink's colleague, Professor Joseph Bangs, a man she does not love. So it is with some surprise to her that she not only likes Alan Garroway, a wealthy and handsome industrialist who is doing business with Dink, but that they fall in love and get married after a whirlwind courtship. Alan made his wealth during the war in a family started business which ended up being a parts supplier to the military for their aircraft. In their bi-coastal marriage - Alan's company's headquarters in San Francisco, while he grew up and still owns property in Middleburg, Virginia, outside of Washington, DC where he has many ...

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Plot Keywords:

whirlwind romance | husband wife relationship | industrialist | haunted by the past | father daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

An Irresistible Force That Draws a Man and Woman Together!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

13 January 1947 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

You Were There

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,644,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was a hit at the box office, earning MGM a profit of $1,001,000 ($13.47M in 2017) according to studio records.

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Goofs

The aircraft shown flying mid-air with Ann and Alan going to Washington, D.C. and the one landing are different planes. The one flying is NC16001, the one landing is NC33651. Note the different tail on the one landing that says "Buy War Bonds".

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Quotes

Ann Hamilton: If I relax, I'll drop dead.

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Connections

Featured in Private Screenings: Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell (1996)

User Reviews

Deftly, Deliberately Creeps Up on You...

All of the criticisms of this movie might well be flushed down the loo. This is one powerhouse of an interesting movie.

Call it Film-Noir. Call it Mystery/Suspense. Call it Psychological Thriller. Call it what you may...I call it: absorbing drama.

It moves very deliberately...and the facts are revealed one by one, in true mystery fashion, until the fantastic, thrilling ending.

Those who say that Hepburn and Mitchum were miscast are just so wrong. Hepburn wasn't playing Hepburn here...she wasn't Tracy Lord here. She wasn't a know-it-all New England uppity snob here. Not a worldly character at all. She played a different character than I've ever seen her do. Hepburn doesn't rely on her stable of clichés to capture our imagination here. She does it with imagination and as few of the Hepburn cornerstone mannerisms as possible. Good result!

Robert Taylor is fascinating to watch. He has so many secrets in this role. And they reside behind his facade for us to watch and enjoy. He slowly swirls into controlled mania and desperate determination. Very fine, indeed. He should have been nominated for this one.

And then there's Mitchum! What can one say about Mitchum without gushing foolishly. Gee whiz...the first time you see him...he shows us a side of him we have hardly ever seen! He seems at peace, mild in character, mellow in mood...pensive...other worldly. Likable even! Never gruff or abrasive like we've seen him so many times before.

What is unique about this story is that we really do not know what is going to happen next. We spend most of the movie residing in Hepburn's character's mind. Her wondering, her confusion, her search for the truth -- at all costs.

I was expecting not to like this movie. I was expecting it to be another formulaic Hepburn vehicle about high society. But this is where this movie takes a left turn into an underrated mystery.

I enjoyed the use of the theme to the Third Movement of Johannes Brahms' Third Symphony throughout the movie. It lent a delicious air of mystery, love and luscious pastoral passion to the whole affair.

And to say that Vincente Minnelli was WRONG for this movie? Gee whiz! He was perfect! Why compare him to Hitchcock? Minnelli has manufactured a mystery world all his own. Sure there are devices. All movies have devices. But they are handled so deftly...we don't rely on them to make us aware of the story -- they don't get in our way. They heighten our interest and this very absorbing plot.

Well done. I wish it had been a longer movie...it was THAT kind of movie.

I recommend this one...