The Drowning Pool (1975)

A big-city private detective travels to the Deep South to help out an old girlfriend who is worried that her husband will find out that she is cheating on him.

Director:

Stuart Rosenberg

Writers:

Tracy Keenan Wynn (screenplay), Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Newman	...	Lew Harper
Joanne Woodward	...	Iris Devereaux
Anthony Franciosa	...	Broussard (as Tony Franciosa)
Murray Hamilton	...	J.J. Kilbourne
Gail Strickland	...	Mavis Kilbourne
Melanie Griffith	...	Schuyler Devreaux
Linda Haynes	...	Gretchen
Richard Jaeckel	...	Franks
Paul Koslo	...	Candy
Joe Canutt	...	Glo
Andrew Robinson	...	Pat Reavis (as Andy Robinson)
Coral Browne	...	Olivia Devereaux
Richard Derr	...	James Devereaux
Helena Kallianiotes	...	Elaine Reavis
Leigh French	...	Red Head

Storyline

Harper is brought to Louisiana bayou country to help out an old girlfriend who is worried that her husband will find out that she is cheating on him. What is more, he finds himself caught in a power struggle between the matriarch of the family and a greedy oil baron, who wants her property. Poor Harper! Things are not as straight-forward as they initially appeared.

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Plot Keywords:

louisiana | detective | private detective | bikini | death | 

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Taglines:

Your favorite private eye is back in "The Drowning Pool"

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

18 July 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Drowning Pool

Filming Locations:

Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Artists, Coleytown, Turman-Foster Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the biography "Paul Newman: A Life" (2009) by Shawn Levy, Newman had an almost major accident whilst racing a Porsche car at a New Orleans race-track off set during production. According to the book, Newman and a cohort were not wearing seat belts when the vehicle spun out of control. Newman said: "For a time we rode on two wheels. Then the car went on its side but we weren't thrown out. The windshield shattered. Fortunately it was European glass that breaks into powder on impact. We climbed out of the windshield. Neither of us was hurt. We hardly had our hair mussed. As I stood by the car, somebody slammed the door on my hand. Fortunately the door was sprung or I would have lost the tips of my fingers. 'Open the door' I said quietly. When they did, I ran to the beer cooler and stuck my fingers in the icy water. I didn't even lose my fingernails." Incidentally, in the earlier Lew Harper movie Harper (1966) starring Newman, the make and model of Lew Harper (Paul Newman)'s car was also a Porsche, a black-top gray / silver Porsche 356 A Speedster.

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Goofs

When the fire hose is used in the hydrotherapy room, Mavis is initially left propped up unconscious in the corner while Harper is hosed down and struggles to get up. Once Mavis is hosed, she becomes conscious. The hosing stops, a short conversation ensures, and then the hose is turned on Harper again. During this scene Mavis is briefly shown as she was initially, unconscious and propped in the corner. This segment was clearly the continuation of the initial segment before Mavis was hosed.

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Quotes

J.H. Kilbourne: You wanna live, don't you? To a ripe old age?
Lew Harper: I'd hate to think that I was making those Social Security payments for nothing.

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Connections

Edited into La Classe américaine (1993)

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Soundtracks

Killing Me Softly With His Song
By Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox
Scored and conducted by Charles Fox

User Reviews

Some pleasure

It's a lot better than Harper. Newman has fewer tics and the story moves along smoother. Harper had no dynamism because Jack Smight is a terrible action director; the only excitement came from the exchanges between Newman and Arthur Hill in the car. Stuart Rosenberg can be relied on to throw enough kinkiness and ambiguity at us to keep our interest.

Melanie Griffith was used better by Arthur Penn in Night Moves; it's too bad the kitten with a whip persona had to end when she grew up. Andy Robinson was so good as the villain in so many pictures--that sensual face worked well for him, as it does here. You'd expect to see him at Andy Warhol's Factory. Gail Strickland and Murray Hamilton as the rich couple were enjoyable to watch. If Joanne Woodward's part had been better written, she could have given us more than just the nervous belle. An average picture, affording some pleasure for Paul Newman completists.