Undercurrent (1946)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Thelma Strabel (story)
Edward Chodorov (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

28 November 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

An Irresistible Force That Draws a Man and Woman Together!

Plot:

Young bride Ann Hamilton soon begins to suspect that her charming husband is really a psychotic who plans to murder her. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Caretaker | Washington D.C. | Industrialist | Death By Animal

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Ann Hamilton
Robert Taylor	...	Alan Garroway
Robert Mitchum	...	Michael Garroway
Edmund Gwenn	...	Prof. '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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Adren	...	Mrs. Davenport (uncredited)
Monya Andre	...	Saleswoman (uncredited)
Sylvia Andrew	...	Nora, the Maid (uncredited)
Morris Ankrum	...	(uncredited)
Barbara Billingsley	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Betty Blythe	...	Saleslady (uncredited)
James Carlisle	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Bill Cartledge	...	Flower Delivery Man (uncredited)
David Cavendish	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	Bookstore Proprietor (uncredited)
Dorothy Christy	...	Woman (uncredited)
Oliver Cross	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
John Daheim	...	2nd Man (uncredited)
Phil Dunham	...	Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Dick Earle	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Helen Eby-Rock	...	Fitter (uncredited)
William Eddritt	...	Butler (uncredited)
Sarah Edwards	...	Cora (uncredited)
Ella Ethridge	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Florence Fair	...	Guest (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Julia Donnegan (uncredited)
Jane Green	...	Woman (uncredited)
Eula Guy	...	Housekeeper (uncredited)
Dell Henderson	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Ernest Hilliard	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Maxine Hudson	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Hazel Keener	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Daniel Kerry	...	Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Minister (uncredited)
Ann Lawrence	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Frank Leigh	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Sydney Logan	...	Model (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Clive Morgan	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Jack Murphy	...	Luke, Telegram Messenger (uncredited)
Forbes Murray	...	Senator Pelli (uncredited)
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Stationmaster (uncredited)
Rudy Rama	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Hilda Rhodes	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Gordon Richards	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Ellen Ross	...	Gwen, a model (uncredited)
Nina Ross	...	Woman (uncredited)
Reginald Simpson	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Joan Thorsen	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Laura Treadwell	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Hank Worden	...	Telegram Delivery Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincente Minnelli

Writing credits
Thelma Strabel		(story)
Edward Chodorov		(screenplay)
George Oppenheimer		uncredited
Marguerite Roberts		uncredited

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart

Cinematography by
Karl Freund		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ferris Webster

Art Direction by
Randall Duell
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair designer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Norman Elzer	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Jack D. Moore	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Stunts
John Daheim	....	stunt double: Robert Taylor (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
André Previn	....	music supervisor (uncredited)
Albert Sendrey	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Boyd Cabeen	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

You Were There (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #11781, Adult Audience)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Katharine Hepburn and Robert Mitchum didn't get along. One day she told him, "You know you can't act, and if you hadn't been good looking you would never have got a picture at all. I'm tired of working with people like you who have nothing to offer."

Movie Connections:

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

gripping

What a cast! Hepburn, Robert Taylor and Robert Mitchum! Hepburn here is paired with Robert Taylor, a scientist, who seems to have some very nervous employees and a some sensitive areas, one concerning an absent brother, Michael. When Hepburn meets one of Taylor's old girlfriends, a very well cast Jayne Meadows, she becomes suspicious of Taylor's motives for marrying her - and suspicious about what happened to Taylor's brother.

Hepburn gives her usual intelligent performance, showing a vulnerable, feminine side that is very appealing. There is a scene in a fitting room where she is absolutely stunning. The scenes between her and her father, played by Edmund Gwenn, were delightful and realistic, as she complains that Taylor could not be attracted to her. "Look at me," she demands, "what do you see? " Her father smiles and says "Beautiful" and kisses her. It's this type of gentleness coupled with good acting, underlying suspense and excitement that makes Undercurrent a very good -- and very underrated -'40s film. Taylor is handsome and enigmatic in his role. Somewhere along the way, he stumbled into playing bad boys, as he does later on in "Conspirator" as well, and these roles suit him. Hepburn once said that Spencer Tracy made her seem very feminine; Taylor does too.

I have to add that I did find the casting quite odd but inspired, with Hepburn and Mitchum cast against type, and Hepburn paired with Taylor. I wish we had seen more of this in Hollywood.