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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.

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.

Tension is neat little noir thriller from MGM where some of their second line players get a chance to show their stuff without any of the big marquee names to take the audience's attention.

Richard Basehart stars as a meek pharmacist whose wife Audrey Totter has been seeing loudmouthed liquor salesman Lloyd Gough and she's not even keeping it a secret. After Basehart gets slapped around he conceives of a plan to murder Gough involving hthe creation of a second identity. But then at the last minute Basehart can't go through with it. In my favorite scene in the film he tells Gough you can have the tramp, she's your problem now.

But then Gough is killed and the cops Barry Sullivan and William Conrad go looking for the man who doesn't really exist. More I cannot say this one has more twists than your small intestine.

Totter is one nasty slattern of a woman. In contrast to neighbor Cyd Charisse who Basehart has fallen for. But at the moment he and Totter are trapped by circumstances.

Even the detectives aren't quite what they seem. Barry Sullivan has some unique investigative methods that I'm sure the LAPD would not approve of.

You'll like how this one goes down. I'd check it out.

Why is everyone here comparing this (unfavorably) to Hitchcock? Apples and oranges! What this is is a damn good little B mystery lifted to art by the estimable, underrated Audrey Totter and an evocative score by Andre Previn. He reused the theme here years later in the much more well known Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Parenthetically, can anyone think of a movie that wasn't bettered by the presence of the fabulous Miss Totter? Let's file belated criminal charges against M-G-M for misusing this dream girl!

Putting glasses on the very versatile Richard Basehart and sticking him with a drugstore and a faithless trophy wife (Totter) is almost inspired. His Warren Quimby is such a timid, dependent little guy, and when wife Claire thrusts out her ample chest at any well-dressed man who walks by, we feel for the put-upon pharmacist. He's working day and night trying to please her, but she could care less, especially when she hooks up with the flashy Barney Deager (Gough) and rubs Warren's nose in it. Or rather it's Deager who does the nose-rubbing in the sands of his Malibu beach house. Now Warren may be no Clark Kent, but he's finally had enough humiliation, and there is an alter-ego waiting to break out of that timid soul. The alter-ego is named Paul Southern. He doesn't wear a red cape, but he does sport a very unWarren-like checked jacket and no glasses. More importantly, he's got a plan, a nifty plan for revenge on his two tormentors. In the meantime, he's picked up a new girl (Charisse) who admires the forceful Southern style. So now Quimby-Southern is ready for a new life with his new girl once his nifty revenge plan succeeds.

I just wish the second half succeeded as well as this riveting first half. But the focus shifts abruptly over to wise-guy cop Bonnabel (Sullivan) and we lose the compelling thread of humiliation and revenge. It's almost like the script didn't know what to do with Basehart following the Malibu showdown. The remainder of the film plays out in kind of fuzzy, not very believable fashion. It's like a screenplay in two very unequal chapters. The movie is another of Dore Schary's attempts to bring sunny MGM into the post-war world of noir. Like many of the others, the effort here only partially succeeds. There's some good location photography and an excellent cast. However, director Berry adds little to the erratic script, and I'm tempted to say that neither he nor the studio had a feel for this kind of RKO material. Nonetheless, that compelling first half remains.