Tension

It's a strange bird in that, for a film called Tension, it undermines much of its own tension. Audrey Totter is a force of nature, but it's Richard Basehart who really delivers with a choice role. His transformation blew me away. There are scenes that would fit perfectly in a wholesome family film, if it weren't for the other scenes that show us the tension lurking in the corner of their superficially normal lives. The story flows really well, building up to a strong, if pat, finale.

For a movie named "Tension," I'd say the biggest problem here is that it lacks an amount of tension that could've pushed it to the next level. As neat, clever and complex as the plot is, there's never any mystery to the story - the motivations and actions of the involved parties are always right out in the open. It also ends on an anticlimactic note, and an unambiguously happy one at that. It's not a bad movie by any means, just not a great noir. Worth a look, but perhaps not much else.

Not bad, not bad. But not very good either. Richard Basehart delivers a likable every-man character, and Audrey Totter antagonizes him as one of the most sinister femme fatales film noir has to offer. There are a few things that happen seemingly without any motivation from the characters, right out of the blue without supporting details, and it's almost like Berry wasn't exactly sure what to do with some elements of the script. The ending is quite anti-climactic as well.

There was something repulsive to me about the narrator, who is the investigator of the crime. The guilty person is a sexist stereotype, and the way she is caught seems to send the objectionable message the end justifies the means. Still, there was a compelling energy to this story. You know the best laid plans are going to go wrong, but the story keeps you wondering exactly how.

This one's really fun. Audrey Totter is one of the best femme fatales, Richard Basehart is really good and I loved the two eccentric cops. The plot is pretty cool, too, the way these twists build on top of one another - even if Quimbley's plan is really stupid. It isn't perfect, though - peep the voiceover, or Totter's hysterical reaction shots during the fight scene.

Great film noir!

Largely superfluous VO. Pretty clumsy and drab throughout...which may have had something to do with the screenplay. Cyd was quite good, as was Basehart. The extracurricular hijinx between Totter and the detective seemed vaguely incestuous, or something like that; at any rate, it failed to convince.

Very uneven. For a movie called "Tension", there isn't very much of it, and the overall tone is oddly low-key. Basehart's motivations are also strange, and it takes him way too long to figure out what a bad idea his scheme is. The whole thing feels clumsy and misguided, and yet it has a compelling forward motion to it. Audrey Trotter does not disappoint, dominating every scene she's in, and her character is delightfully rotten. The ambiguity to Sullivan's character adds a little spice.

There was some of it, but I was expecting more Tension (1949) to be honest. The plot had the the foundation for it, with Audrey Totter being the toxic presence spreading the toxicity. She was as revolting as she needed to be. The men, however, were not that interesting. They should have gotten some bigger names, but I did love the young(ish) Fatman snooping around.