Tension (film)
| Tension | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | John Berry |
| Produced by | Robert Sisk |
| Screenplay by | Allen Rivkin |
| Story by | John D. Klorer |
| Starring |
Richard Basehart Audrey Totter Cyd Charisse Barry Sullivan William Conrad |
| Narrated by | Barry Sullivan |
| Music by | André Previn |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling |
| Edited by | Albert Akst |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $682,000 |
| Box office | $776,000 |
Tension is a 1949 crime thriller film noir directed by John Berry, and written by Allen Rivkin, based on a story written by John D. Klorer. The drama features Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse, Barry Sullivan, and William Conrad.
Police Lieutenant Collier Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan) of the homicide department explains that he only knows one way to solve a case: by applying pressure to all the suspects, playing on their strengths and weaknesses, until one of them snaps under the tension. He then cites a murder case involving Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart).
In flashback, the bespectacled Quimby, night manager of the 24-hour "Coast-to-Coast" drugstore in Culver City, is married to the sluttish Claire (Audrey Totter). Saving and doing without, he is able to afford a nice house in the suburbs, but she is utterly unimpressed, refusing even to look inside. She eventually leaves him for the latest of her conquests, rich Barney Deager (Lloyd Gough). Quimby goes to Deager's Malibu beachfront house to try to get his wife back, but she wants nothing to do with him. When Quimby persists, Deager beats him up.
He tells his sympathetic employee, Freddie, what happened. Freddie remarks that if it had been him, he would have killed the man. Deeply humiliated, Quimby takes up Freddie's idea. He constructs a new identity, cosmetics salesman "Paul Sothern," buys contact lenses and flashier clothes, and rents an apartment in Westwood. As he is moving in, he meets his new neighbor, beautiful, sweet Mary Chanler (Cyd Charisse), whom he starts dating.
One night Quimby, identifying himself as Paul Sothern, makes a phone call, leaving a message with Narco (Tito Renaldo), Deager's servant, that he will get Deager for some unspecified wrong. On a later night, he hitchhikes to Deager's place, grabs a barbecue prong and walks through the open patio door. He finds Deager asleep in a chair, but cannot go through with the killing. When he drops his weapon, Deager awakes. Quimby grabs the prong and holds it to Deager's neck, explaining that he came to kill him, but has suddenly realized that Claire is not worth it. Then, seeing that his wife is absent, he mocks Deager, guessing that Claire has said she was going to the movies—the excuse she used while cheating on him. After Quimby leaves, Deager ponders his situation.
...
Wikipedia