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hyped garbage

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

There's nothing too special here, but it's an entertaining enough noir. Audrey Totter plays a materialistic woman cheating on her pharmacist husband (Richard Basehart), a nice guy who is crushed when she leaves him for another man. He assumes an alter ego based on a brand new technology (contact lenses!), and plots revenge. Along the way he meets a nice girl (Cyd Charisse), who puts a delightful wrinkle in his plans. Totter has a wonderfully strong edge in this film, scheming and openly defiant of her husband. The scene where she appears with eyes flashing in the mirror is probably the film's strongest. Unfortunately the rest of the cast don't keep up with her. Barry Sullivan is reasonably strong as the detective, as is William Conrad as his sidekick, but he lacks a little in the 'tough guy' department. I liked seeing Charisse who has such a fresh face and is so likeable, but I'm not sure how deep her character or performance was. Other than Totter, there's just something missing, some grit or hardness, which prevents this from being a very good or great film. Also, quite a bit of the rest of the plot is telegraphed, and without a lot of subtlety. As for direction, it's decent, and the shots in the pharmacy and the street outside of it are good, as there is so much detail in the entire frame during these scenes. There was also something that was interesting about seeing a more obscure, 'B' film noir, which never committed any major errors, even if it didn't hit any homeruns.

Saw the TCM re-run of this and I may say this is totally a fantastic movie! Never heard of Richard Basehart until now. Better check out the rest of his films.

One of the better film noirs. Great performances from all the principles: Audrey Totter, Richard Basehart, Cyd Charisse, and Barry Sullivan. Unlike some noir thrillers that get too clever to make sense, Tension is well-plotted. The pacing keeps Basehart and Totter twisting until the end.We've got the girl-next-door Mary (Charisse) and the tramp Claire (Totter) in and out of Warren's (Basehart's) respectable life. Warren and Deager (Lloyd Gough) are rivals, but the innocent Mary and the evil Claire are complete opposites. Deager is certainly a jerk, but he recognizes that Warren is a "nice little guy." Warren, on the other hand, planned to murder Deager; he pulls back at the last second, realizing that Deager has also been manipulated by Claire. They're in the same boat.In typical noir fashion, Warren outsmarts himself. His alter ego 'Paul' has the unintended side effect of attracting Mary's attention. That their relationship is great leads, nonetheless, to some agonizing scenes--especialy when the lieutenant throws them together in the drug store. They have to pretend to be strangers to fool him. The lieutenant already knows that Paul is Warren; but he has to act as though he doesn't know in hopes that one of them will snap.The lieutenant's role is very aptly played by Sullivan. He drives the plot after Deager's murder. Both Claire and Warren give shaky statements when he first interviews them, and Mary mucks things up for 'Paul.' But as soon as the Lieutenant sidles up to Claire she becomes vulnerable; she's shown that she can't resist men. His subsequent pretense that the case has gone nowhere, that Warren is free, and the murder weapon is the only red flag, simultaneously serves to relieve Claire and force her hand.The denouement in Paul/Warren's apartment is perfect. Yet another of the Lieutenant's deceptions reveals Claire's attempt to incriminate Warren. The mystery lies in how Claire will be caught; we know Warren's innocent. But we also know that he's set himself up by his history with Deager, especially with the elaborate revenge plan. Only a couple of bits in Tension ring false. Why would Claire kill Deager anyway? If she gets tired of him, why not just leave him? She has nothing to gain from killing him. For a while I thought that the killer might turn out to be someone else, but there weren't really any other characters crawling around waiting to murder anyone. Also, since the Lieutenant has such a commanding role; do we really need him narrating too? Still, Tension worked extremely well. I can't think of another noir of this caliber that maintained dramatic 'tension' with no car crashes, not much on-screen violence, no back alleys, gangsters, no strained rat-a-tat-tat dialogue, and not all that much time in the dark. Well-worth checking out a few times.

Tension (1949)This is such a unique surprise, it makes me think there are scores of other obscure films that are waiting to be watched. The plot, the lead actors, and the steady, crisp filming and editing prove once again that Hollywood was capable of making even ordinary seeming films excellent.The biggest surprise surely is the confidence, subtle acting by lead man (or lead men, as you'll see), Richard Basehart. His principle role is a little like Harold Lloyd from the silent days, and he is at such ease with his everyday boyish man with glasses persona you forget he's acting. But then he takes on a second role, and is dapper and super likable and the kind of guy women fall for. Basehart might actually lack a little edge, or quirkiness, to make him memorable. And he might even be good looking in too ordinary a way for a leading male.Actresses face a different audience in this way, and the second leading female, Cyd Charisse, is one of those completely ordinarily good looking leading ladies who survived just on those plain good looks, maybe like Donna Reed seemed to. (Charisse, of course, is more famous for her dancing.) The other leading female, more typecast but searingly cool and calculating, a pure femme fatale, is played by Audrey Totter, in a mold along the lines of Gloria Grahame. Totter has to play both sides of a fence, too, and does so brilliantly.Another surprise is surely Barry Sullivan, not so much for his acting, which is spot on as a detective, but for the methods this detective uses to catch his prey. We all fall for it, at least partly, and then it comes to a high pitch and dramatic end. There are surprisingly few clichés at work here. Even the setting, a fabulous pharmacy, is a fresh, and complex, and useful backdrop for the several twists as they go on. There is a beach house, and a homicide office, and noirish night scenery, but these are secondary. As much as it remains a romantic crime melodrama, it can't avoid certain useful tropes, but it's so original in other ways, I could watch it again today.