Tension (1949)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

John Berry

Writers:

Allen Rivkin (story) and
John D. Klorer (story)
(more)

Release Date:

11 January 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance

Tagline:

The hard-hitting story of a man with a plan...REVENGE!

Plot:

A meek pharmacist creates an alternate identity under which he plans to murder the bullying liquor salesman who has become his wife's lover.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Lover | Manager | Neighbor | Killer

Cast

Richard Basehart	...	Warren Quimby / Paul Sothern
Audrey Totter	...	Mrs. Claire Quimby
Cyd Charisse	...	Mary Chandler
Barry Sullivan	...	Police Lt. Collier Bonnabel
Lloyd Gough	...	Barney Deager
Tom D'Andrea	...	Freddie, Coast to Coast Counter Man
William Conrad	...	Police Lt. Edgar 'Blackie' Gonsales
Tito Renaldo	...	Narco, Deager's Valet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ray Bennett	...	Movie Theater Manager (uncredited)
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Andrews, Westwood Landlady (uncredited)
Peter Brocco	...	Balew, Police Technician (uncredited)
Jack Daley	...	Man (uncredited)
Bert Davidson	...	Reporter at Press Club Cafe (uncredited)
Jack Davis	...	Man (uncredited)
John Gallaudet	...	Artie, Newspaperman (uncredited)
Theresa Harris	...	Woman in drugstore (uncredited)
John Indrisano	...	Handler for Boxer (uncredited)
Kitty McHugh	...	Agnes, Press Club Cafe Waitress (uncredited)
Mike Morelli	...	Reporter at Press Club Cafe (uncredited)
Stephen Roberts	...	Attendant (uncredited)
Dewey Robinson	...	Man (uncredited)
Tim Ryan	...	Man (uncredited)
Carl Sklover	...	Reporter at Press Club Cafe (uncredited)
Hayward Soo Hoo	...	Kid in Drug Store (uncredited)
Philip Van Zandt	...	Lt. Schiavone, Missing Persons (uncredited)
Tommy Walker	...	Man at Counter trying to pick up Claire (uncredited)

Directed by
John Berry

Writing credits
Allen Rivkin		story and screenplay and
John D. Klorer		story (as John Klorer)
John Berry		uncredited

Produced by
Robert Sisk	....	producer

Original Music by
André Previn

Cinematography by
Harry Stradling Sr.		(as Harry Stradling)

Film Editing by
Albert Akst

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Leonid Vasian

Set Decoration by
Jack D. Moore
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup artist
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Ruby Rosenberg	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Rhein	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	sound recording supervisor
Norwood A. Fenton	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Borland	....	grip (uncredited)
Jerome Hester	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Sam Leavitt	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Other crew
William J. Hole Jr.	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

When Richard Basehart's character of Quimby decides to create another identity for himself, he gets the idea for the name Sothern when he sees a movie fan magazine with Ann Sothern on the cover. "Tension" producer Robert Sisk was then in the process of prepping Shadow on the Wall (1950) to star Miss Sothern in the last film of her long-term MGM contract.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Cyd Charisse accidentally snaps a picture of Richard Baseheart as "Paul Sothern", it is day time. However, the resulting picture she hands over to the missing persons bureau was obviously taken at night.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Police Lt. Collier Bonnabel: I'm Collier Bonnabel. I'm a cop. I'm a Lieutenant Detective in, uh, Homicide. That's a fancy name for murder.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Tension: Who's Guilty Now? (2007) (V)

Hitchcock?

Why is everyone here comparing this (unfavorably) to Hitchcock? Apples and oranges! What this is is a damn good little B mystery lifted to art by the estimable, underrated Audrey Totter and an evocative score by Andre Previn. He reused the theme here years later in the much more well known Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Parenthetically, can anyone think of a movie that wasn't bettered by the presence of the fabulous Miss Totter? Let's file belated criminal charges against M-G-M for misusing this dream girl!