High Tension

"High Tension" is a film directed by Allan Dwan and apparently some folks think it's a far better film than I do...hence it's unusual inclusion on the Criterion Channel's lineup this month. I really was expecting far better than I saw...and I think the problem is with the writing...not the direction nor acting.

The film is a B-movie...meant to be the second or lesser film during a double-feature. You can tell this because the running time is only about an hour, though the film looks better and is more slickly made than most Bs. But, like most Bs, it appears to have been rushed into production when what it really needed was a re-write to take care of all the logical problems with the script.

Steve (Brian Donlevy) is a man with a VERY specialized skill...he is a deep water diver who can repair submerged cable lines. So, if telephones or telegraph lines break, he's one of the few folks experienced enough to fix them. The problem is that Steve is acutely aware of this and is a complete ego maniac! He thinks he is the best and as such he treats many around him like dirt...particularly his low self-esteem longtime girlfriend, Edith (Glenda Farrell). She puts up with his neglect and abuse...even when he disappears for months on end and he expects her to drop everything when he gets around to seeing her! To put it bluntly, he's an awful person and deserves to be alone. This is why the movie just doesn't work. Again and again, Steve acts like a jerk...and the film seems to think this is okay and it STILL gives him a happy ending. As a result, I am sure many in the audience watching the film felt dissatisfied. He is NOT a jerk with a nice guy hidden down deep...he's just a jerk. So no matter how hard the actors and directors worked on the film, it couldn't work because of this ridiculous script. He should have had this persona softened and given him SOME reason for redemption.

No, it's not about men working on electrical lines Brian Donlevy is the guy they call when there's a break in the San Francisco-Honolulu telegraph cable and they need someone to go down and fix it. Norman Foster is the guy he's training, and Glenda Farrell the writer who converts his tall tales into pulp stories. She agrees to be engaged to him if he can hold an office job for six months, so Foster gets the job supervising the Honolulu office, But although he makes the right decisions, he doesn't have the clout to get them executed, so Donlevy chucks his job and shows up, giving the orders in Foster's name, and romancing Helen Wood, the secretary Foster is sweet on

Donlevy is fine as the big-talking, get-it-done guy under the direction of Allan Dwan, back in Hollywood and back in the B lot at Fox. It's fast, it's breezy, it's a muscular movie, and Miss Farrell runs her motor mouth at full speed. With Robert McWade, Theodore von Eltz, and Hattie MacDaniel.

I'm a huge Allan Dwan fan-and Glenda Farrell and Hattie McDaniel are two of my favorite actors-but "High Tension" is embarrassing to watch. It's sexist, racist, homophobic stereotypes are absolutely cringeworthy. Brian Donlevy's manic, overacting is hard to watch, and his appearance is gaunt and haggard. However, Farrell and McDaniel shine, though their scenes are marred by their unfortunate dialogue. Norman Foster, later noted as a fine director, is interesting and sexy, as Donlevy's best friend. Their meeting is played interestingly, the "morning after" scene surely gave the censors pause. Barney McGill's cinematography manages to be workmanlike and expressive.

This is the type of film that has to be judged in its own terms. It doesn't set out to be groundbreaking or cerebral; it aims are to simply entertain and raise the occasional chuckle. It succeeds in both these aims admirably.

Brian Donlevy is a force of nature as the lead, brash to a fault, but always forgiven for his sometimes excessive zeal. Norman Foster is perfect as the barroom piano player Donlevy takes under his wings as a fledgling underwater engineer.

The female leads, Glenda Farrell and Helen Wood, are both playful and charming, yet stand up to the men when appropriate. The plot machinations may be predictable, but are executed with skill and aplomb.

If you're looking for intellectual stimulation, look elsewhere. But it's a cracking good time you're after, High Tension will fill the bill.

Brian Donlevy and Glenda Farrell star in "High Tension" from (1936). I don't know about the tension, but the energy is sure high.

Brian Donlevy plays expert cable layer Steve Reardon, who lays cable at the bottom of the ocean. When one goes out in an underwater tank in the ocean near Hawaii, Steve's boss wants him to solve the problem.

Steve is good, but he also plays fast and loose with time. He is too busy reading a pulp adventure story, "The Son of Neptune," written by his girlfriend, Edith O'Neill, and based on him.

Once he repairs the cable, he hits his boss up for a bonus and two weeks vacation so that he and Edith can be married. Unfortunately, Steve is late for a date with Edith, and they quarrel. He walks out and becomes incredibly drunk.

The next morning he wakes up next to the bar's piano player, Eddie (Norman Foster). He finds out that Eddie has studied engineering. Steve offers to help him get work in the field and mentor him.

Eddie becomes a success. Steve, deciding enough time has gone by for Edith to miss him, buys her a ring and goes to her apartment.

However, she has a new series of pulp storiez, based on a heavyweight boxing champion.

Time for another brawl, and this time, Steve is arrested. He and Edith make a deal - if their romance can last for six months, Steve agrees he will work at the home office so they won't have to be separated.

This is an insane, loud comedy that doesn't seem to go anywhere. Donlevy talks a mile a minute. It's short, fast-moving, and kind of an empty romance. Hattie McDaniel plays Edith's maid, and she's great.

Not much to recommend it.