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The cast was my main reason in seeing 'Tension'. Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse, William Conrad and Barry Sullivan were all actors of considerable talent and all did fine work in other films of theirs. 'Tension' is also another film that had a very interesting sounding story, and also watched it due to loving mystery and noir-ish films and due to loving classic film. Having seen some very well done films recently in the same genre and similar, there was a lot of high expectations.

High expectations that were mostly met if not exceeded. 'Tension' has a lot to recommend and it is another recently seen film that is rather under-valued. It is though uneven and one half is better than the other, something that has already been picked up to a few. There are better films in the mystery and noir genres, but also worse and in no way should 'Tension' be compared to Hitchcock. Not a fair comparison and something that it was not striving to be.

Am going to begin with the good. Generally, 'Tension' looks good. Particularly the moody and smooth photography and eerie lighting. A young Andre Previn provides a score that gels beautifully with the atmosphere and even enhances it, sounding very ominous and unsettling. While the direction is not exceptional it is at least competent, especially in the first half. The script is intelligent and tightly paced.

On the whole the story absorbs, though it is not consistent. The first half is great, very intriguing and atmospheric without taking too long to set up. The best thing about 'Tension' is the acting, Basehart contrasts his two roles beautifully and with ease and Totter is a smouldering knockout and steals the film. Conrad injects his role with a lot of juice and Charisse is charming despite her character being on the one-dimensional side.

With all that being said, 'Tension' isn't perfect. The second half is not as strong. The tone shift is abrupt and jarring and the storytelling in the second is not as focused or as riveting, could have done with more tension and surprises. The conclusion and the truth are not hard to figure out at all.

For my tastes, Sullivan is on the bland side. Will agree too that some of the rear projection is distractingly fake.

Concluding, pretty impressive. Rough around the edges, but with more than enough to earn a recommendation. 7/10.

Underrated, somewhat obscure B mystery/noir film about a mousy drugstore manager married to a beautiful woman who uses him and plays the field while he works nights. Things heat up as the woman leaves her husband for another man, he goes to get her, gets beat up by the hulk of a guy she is with, and then he decides he will invent a whole new identity on the weekends and kill him. Richard Basehart does a really good job playing the mild-mannered Warren and then the more realistic Paul Southern. Basehart just doesn't stereotype either role but gives life to each. The director John Berry creates many suspenseful scenes and does all those film noir things we come to expect from a good noir thriller: lots of odd camera angles, excellent use of lighting and shadows, a narrator telling us information after the fact, and a group of players of dubious character. Audrey Totter plays Warren's playful wife to perfection - she really gives the role some depth despite it being so outwardly two-dimensional. The rest of the cast is very effective with Barry Sullivan pulling extra duty as policeman and film narrator doing a very credible job, William Conrad adding humour as his partner, Tom D'Andrea being a voice of reason, and lovely Cyd Charisse as Paul's object of affection. Tension is one of those diamonds in the rough you find when you least expect it. The film doesn't boast a huge budget or marquee stars, but it can hold its weight with many of the films of similar subject matter in its era. Another great plus is the terrific score used throughout by Andre Previn. It almost assumes the role of another character with its ubiquitous presence shadowing the proceedings throughout. If you like good old-fashioned mysteries, then you should not be at all be disappointed with Tension.

MGM's Film Noir's may not have been up to par with RKO's during this time period but this is a pretty good film that doesn't actually become a Film Noir until well into the film but it has the look of a Film Noir throughout. Cinematographer Harry Stradling Sr. had a 50 year career in films beginning in the 20's as a young man and up until he died in 1970. Before this he had photographed such films as The Picture of Dorian Gray, Till The Clouds Roll By and had worked on the classic Intermezzo among his many films. He would go on to do A Streetcar Named Desire, Johnny Guitar, Gus & Dolls, My Fair Lady, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly and The Owl & The Pussycat. Director John Berry had made some dramas in the 40's and was really moving into Film Noir with this film. Unfortunately had also just completed a documentary about the blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers that got himself blacklisted and went to Europe to make films before returning to the USA and making some mediocre films. This is the story about a meek and mild mannered night manager of a 24 hour pharmacy/diner who toils 12 hour shifts to save money to make a comfortable life for his gold-digging, fast and loose wife. They are a mismatch who married while he was in the service because she thought he looked cute in his uniform but their life with living above the pharmacy is something she would like to ditch and she finally does. Audrey Totter is your classic femme fatal bad girl in a bullet bra. Richard Basehart is the pharmacist husband with a plan to seek a new identity. Cyd Charise is his new interest and Lloyd Gough is Totter's. Barry Sullivan and William Conrad are the detectives and Tom D'Andrea is the sympathetic late night counter guy. A story by John D. Klorer and screenplay by Allen Rivkin. 21 year old André Previn before he became a noted composer and conductor provides the film's score. I would give this a 7.0 out of 10.

This is in a category of its own. The central role of a bad, bad girl is played by Audrey Totter with such spectacular power and intensity that you would think it would break the projectors in the cinema. She was like an earthquake on screen. She was also well supported by superb performances from Richard Baseheart as her husband, Barry Sullivan as a sardonic detective, and the elegant Cyd Charisse who exerts her powerful charms in a non-dancing role. This film does not conform to any strict formulae of noir construction, is almost quirky, but is a genuine classic of the genre by breaking so many of the rules. There is no murder for absolutely ages, but we forget that we are waiting for it, so mesmerised are we by Totter. The balance of attention shifts from character to character, and there is a lot of misdirection of attention to keep the audience guessing. This is absolutely not a film about a murder, which in itself is incidental. This is a powerful psychological study of extreme character types. There are absolutely superb minor touches of direction throughout, and John Berry, the director, would have had a future as one of the top directors in Hollywood after this if he had not been blacklisted. William Conrad (later 'Cannon' on TV for 102 episodes) was just as fat a cop then, and Barry Sullivan actually pulls a bag of popcorn out of his hand, gives it to a passing stranger, and pats Conrad on his bulging stomach to admonish him. The film is full of little things like that which are creative embellishments added by a director with his imagination and his eye both in top gear. The best touch of all is the stretching of a rubber band throughout the film by Barry Sullivan, who says 'everybody has his breaking point', and snaps the band. In the scenes with the greatest tension, the band comes out and gets stretched and stretched. In one amazing scene, Sullivan and Totter even stretch the rubber band together with their fingers both entwined in it absentmindedly, while the psychological tension builds. This use of the rubber band throughout the film as a motif actually works, because it is done so well and with such extraordinary subtlety. All the suspects are under tension bigtime, hence the title. There are many good lines, such as Sullivan saying to Totter: 'I've got a file on you going back as far as you can remember and into the future as far as you dare imagine.' They end up kissing. This film positively reeks of classic noir elements, while being put together in an original manner. We have irrational passion, greed, amorality, lust, love, betrayal, selfless devotion, murder, as well as an inability to kill despite wanting to. It's all there. Just add DVD and stir.

Richard Basehart-an actor who never received the roles his talent merited-plays Warren Quimby a drugstore employee whose modest salary and aspirations frustrate his more avaricious wife Clare,played woodenly by Audrey Trotter.She leaves him for a wealthy operator ,Barney Deager,who compounds Quimbys misery by beating him up in front of Clare He resolves to take on another identity and kill Deager but while having the opportunity cannot bring himself to do it However Deager is murdered shortly after and suspicion falls on him.The rest of the movie centres on the investigation by the devious and shrewd police detective Collier Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan)and his attempt to get at the truth

It is not a who done it as the identity of the killer is never in doubt and instead the focus is on how the culprit will be revealed The performance ,the pouty and sulky Trotter aside ,are solid and the direction by John Berry brisk and to the point

It is not a major thriller but solid studio genre film making and worth the less than 90 minutes of your time that will be taken in watching it.