6.5/10
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The Drowning Pool (1975)

PG | | Action, Crime, Mystery | 18 July 1975 (USA)
The Drowning Pool Poster
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:

Writers:

(screenplay), (screenplay) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

, , | See full cast & crew »
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1 nomination. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
... Lew Harper
... Iris Devereaux
... Broussard (as Tony Franciosa)
... J.J. Kilbourne
... Mavis Kilbourne
... Schuyler Devreaux
... Gretchen
... Franks
... Candy
... Glo
... Pat Reavis (as Andy Robinson)
... Olivia Devereaux
... James Devereaux
... Elaine Reavis
Leigh French ... Red Head
See full cast »
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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. Written by Alfred Jingle

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

louisiana | detective | private detective | bikini | death | See All (57) »

Taglines:

Your favorite private eye is back in "The Drowning Pool" See more »

Genres:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

18 July 1975 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

La piscina mortal  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

, ,  »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

On the set, Joanne Woodward told the then seventeen-year-old Melanie Griffith, who was playing her daughter, that she had three goals in life: Marry a movie star (Paul Newman), have beautiful babies (she had three), and win an Oscar (which she did in 1958). Melanie said that she adopted those goals for herself by marrying a movie star (Antonio Banderas), having beautiful babies (she also has three), but expressed frustration that she hasn't won an Oscar, even though she was nominated in 1989 for the Best Actress Academy Award for Working Girl (1988). See more »

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. See more »

Quotes

Bartender: How you like the Coon-Ass Beer, man?
Lew Harper: [belching] It works.
See more »

Connections

Follows Harper (1966) See more »

Soundtracks

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

 
Rising to the surface
25 August 2010 | by – See all my reviews

Like a lot of the films that I enjoy, The Drowning Pool can be watched on two levels. It's a Bogart'ish, Nior'ish mystery thriller with only a few lines that come off as maybe trying to be too clever. But that is well balanced out by some class acting and story development along with some unusual sleuthing techniques that we see from the Newman character. The characters and morals, the nastiness and the kindness have an authentic stamp of reality about them that compares well with the sentimental sugariness and lack of reality of so many "violent" modern action/thriller films. That in itself is a reason for watching the film; just for the stark contrast with so many creative works today that claim to show "realism".

On another level there is much social commentary going on here. The stifling psychological atmosphere lives up well to the title of this piece as we watch people tear themselves and their relationships apart; driven on, of course, by those who have a vested interest in seeing them fail.

There is a key scene towards the end of the film that pulls together all the strings at work on this second level.

Well worth it if you're prepared to pay attention.
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