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.

---

Plot Keywords:

louisiana | detective | private detective | bikini | death | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

18 July 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

La piscina mortal

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

Actress Melanie Griffith was aged only about seventeen.

---

Goofs

In the scene in the hydrotherapy room, there is a recessed panel in the wall with two access doors, on the side of the room closest to where Mavis (Gail Strickland) is lying. At the beginning of the scene, both doors to the recessed area are open, but for the rest of the scene, the right-hand door is closed, even though neither Mavis nor Harper (Paul Newman) are close enough to it to have closed it.

---

Quotes

Schuyler Devereaux: Never had anyone turn me down before.
Lew Harper: There's a first time for everything.
[She slaps him, then he slaps her]
Lew Harper: Sorry about that.
Schuyler Devereaux: No you're not.
Lew Harper: That's right, I'm not.

---

Connections

Edited into La classe américaine (1993)

---

Soundtracks

Sweet Dreams
(uncredited)
Performed by Tommy McLain and his Mule Train Band

User Reviews

Better With Every Viewing

The Drowning Pool is Paul Newman's second and last time as private detective Lew Harper. The plot takes him to the Louisiana bayou country where an old flame Joanne Woodward has hired him to trace and find out who's been sending her nasty notes about her sex life.

The investigation quickly centers around recently fired chauffeur Andy Robinson, but before long Newman gets himself immersed in the local politics of the area with a slick oil millionaire (Murray Hamilton), Woodward's nymphomaniac daughter (Melanie Griffith), an obsessed police lieutenant (Anthony Franciosa) and various and sundry other bayou characters. Quite a few of the characters are killed off before the climax.

The Drowning Pool goes somewhat astray in its development, but the ends are nicely tied together at the climax.

The hit song made popular by Helen Reddy in the seventies, Killing Me Softly With His Song, comes from The Drowning Pool. It was a mega hit back in the day and to my amazement I discovered it wasn't even nominated for an Oscar.

Of course my favorite here is Anthony Franciosa. He had an incredible ear for dialect and he really got the Cajun speech patterns down to perfection.

But the real reason I love The Drowning Pool is the scene where Paul Newman and Gail Strickland are locked in a hydrotherapy room by Murray Hamilton. Strickland is Hamilton's wife. Why they are both there I won't say, but their escape from the room is one of the most spectacular ever put on film.

You should see The Drowning Pool for that alone.