Tension (1949)

★ 6.8 1h 35m IMDb

Warren Quimby manages a drugstore while trying to keep his volatile wife, Claire, happy. However, when Claire leaves him for a liquor store salesman, Warren can no longer bear it. He decides to assume a new identity in order to murder his wife's lover without leaving a trace. Along the way, his plans are complicated by an attractive neighbor, as well as a shocking discovery that opens up a new world of doubts and accusations.

Tension

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Cast

Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart as Warren Quimby Died 1984 · Zanesville, Ohio, USA John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Har...
Audrey Totter
Audrey Totter as Claire Quimby Died 2013 · Joliet, Illinois, USA Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013), was a captivating American actress celebrated for her compelling performances in film noir during the 1940s and 1950s. A former MGM contrac...
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse as Mary Chanler Died 2008 · Amarillo, Texas, USA Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American dancer and actress. After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 194...
Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan as Lt. Collier Bonnabel Died 1994 · New York City, New York, USA Barry Sullivan (August 29, 1912 – June 6, 1994) was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s. Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in colle...
Lloyd Gough
Lloyd Gough as Barney Deager Died 1984 · New York City, New York, USA Lloyd Gough was an American character actor known for his work in film, television, and theater. He appeared in numerous movies and TV shows from the 1940s through the 1970s, often portraying tough or...
Tom D'Andrea
Tom D'Andrea as Freddie Died 1998 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Thomas J. D'Andrea was an American actor in films and on television. D'Andrea's first job was at the Chicago Public Library, after which he worked in publicity at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago.

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Dec 19, 2013
The Clark Kent Conundrum.

Tension is directed by John Berry and adapted to screenplay by Allen Rivkin from a story by John D. Klorer. It stars Richard Baseheart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Gough and William Conrad. Music is by Andre Previn and cinematography by Harry Stradling.

Tight and compact noir pot boiler that finds Baseheart as a drugstore manager married to bitch babe Totter. Planning to do away with her lover, Baseheart is stumped when someone beats him to it. But he of course is still the main suspect, so creating a new identity for himself he sets about trying to unravel the mystery before hard coppers Sullivan and Conrad jump on him from a great height.

Totter files in for classic femme fatale duties as Tension thrives on the post-war period of change as many Americans yearned for a better life away from the disillusionment of their current existence. Baseheart is the classic sap, dreaming of some picket fence nirvana with his vixen wife, only to have his illusions shattered by her callous clambering for the finer things in life, including a more alpha male suitor in the imposing form of Lloyd Gough. But wait! Baseheart has some brains, he has ideas above his station to commit the perfect crime, but inventing a new identity, which is basically just using contact lenses instead of glasses, it opens up a new avenue for him in the shapely form of Cyd Charisse.

Rivkin’s screenplay gives Totter licence to bitch up big time, with abuse of her sultry charms and a viper tongue delivering barbs, Totter’s Claire Quimby is very much a quintessential femme fatale and subsequently Totter walks away with the movie. Elsewhere isn’t bad though, it’s a roll call of stoic noir performers, from Sullivan’s hard-nosed detective and Conrad’s doughnut twirling menace, to Gough’s looming presence and Charisse’s vulnerable beauty, it’s a very well cast picture. Sealing the deal is Berry’s unfussy direction, Stradling’s atmospheric photography and Previn’s musical score that puts the tense in Tension.

Some of it’s daft, such as the Clark Kent line of character invention, and you don’t have to be a genius to know who committed the foul deed, but this is a good un’ for sure. 7/10

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