Still image from the 1949 film Tension.

Tension

Directed by John Berry

A man who had planned to murder his wife's lover becomes the prime suspect when somebody beats him to it.

1949 1h 35m Suspense/Mystery TV-PG

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CAST
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John Berry, Director
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John Berry
Director

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Richard Basehart, Warren Quimby [also known as Paul Southern]
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Richard Basehart
Warren Quimby [also k..

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Audrey Totter, Claire Quimby
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Audrey Totter
Claire Quimby

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Cyd Charisse, Mary Chanler
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Cyd Charisse
Mary Chanler

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Barry Sullivan, Lt. Collier Bonnabel
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Barry Sullivan
Lt. Collier Bonnabel

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Lloyd Gough, Barney Deager
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Lloyd Gough
Barney Deager

FULL SYNOPSIS

Warren Quimby, a pharmacist and night manager at a twenty-four-hour drugstore in Los Angeles, is a devoted husband to his wife Claire, even after he finds evidence that she has been unfaithful to him. Claire, who is more interested in the gifts she receives from her mysterious male friends, than her marriage, shows little appreciation for the long hours Warren works to support her. When Warren finally saves enough money to buy a house in the suburbs, Claire announces that she will not to live outside the city. She eventually leaves Warren to live with her paramour, Barney Deager, who has impressed her with his new car. Refusing to accept Claire's desertion, Warren vows to fight to save his marriage, and goes to Deager's house in Malibu to attempt to win back Claire. Warren finds Claire on the beach with Deager, and when an argument ensues, Deager gives Warren a severe beating, and warns him never to return. Humiliated, Warren returns to his drugstore and tells his co-worker, Freddie, about the incident. When Freddie declares that he would have killed Deager had he been treated in such a manner, Warren takes Freddie's idea seriously and lays out a plan to kill the man who stole his wife. As part of his methodical plot, Warren exchanges his eyeglasses for contact lenses and creates a new look for himself. He then picks a new name for himself, Paul Sothern, and moves into a new apartment, where he plans to live during weekends. While moving some of his possessions into his ...


VIDEOS
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Dave Karger Intro
NaNmHosted Intro
Noir Alley: Eddie Muller Intro...
NaNmHosted Intro
Original Trailer
NaNmTrailer

ARTICLES
Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart), a mild-mannered druggist, becomes insanely jealous and consumed with homicidal thoughts after his wife Claire (Audrey Totter) abandons him for another man. Soon he begins to concoct a new identity for himself that will serve as an alibi for the double murder he is planning. Once the beautiful and warmly sympathetic Mary Chanler (Cyd Charisse) enters his life, however, Quimby finds himself increasingly distracted from his initial plan. In an ironic twist of events, a homicide does occur - Claire's lover is found murdered at his beach house - and Quimby becomes the prime suspect. Tension (1949) is a tautly directed B-movie gem that features one of the screen's most calculating and self-serving femme fatales, a role that was tailor-made for Audrey Totter who had already established herself as a duplicitous screen presence in such suspense thrillers as Lady in the Lake and The Unsuspected, both 1947. Although Tension was Totter's last film noir she goes out in style as Claire, slinging a non-stop barrage of insults and demeaning remarks at her husband. Even her explanation for her infidelity puts the blame on him: "I've got what I'm looking for and I'm gonna grab it while I've got the chance. A real man. There's nothing to talk about. It was different in San Diego - you were kind of cute in your uniform. You were full of laughs then. Well, you're all laughed out now." Interestingly enough, Totter was a good friend in real life with another...

ARCHIVES
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 Lobby Card Set from the movie 'Tension'
Tension
Lobby Card Set

NOTES

This film is introduced and intermittently narrated by "Lt. Collier Bonnabel," the character played by Barry Sullivan. An October 1948 Hollywood Reporter news item notes that M-G-M purchased the rights to John Klorer's unpublished story as a starring vehicle for Robert Taylor and Van Heflin. A pre-production news item in Hollywood Reporter indicates that Harry Antrim was cast, but his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Although Hollywood Reporter production charts list George White as the film's editor, onscreen credits list Albert Akst.

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