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Where Danger Lives / Tension (Film Noir Double Feature)

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Made largely to showcase Howard Hughes' latest inamoratas Faith Domergue, Where Danger Lives starts off a little slow and more than somewhat unintentionally amusing, laying on nice young doctor Robert Mitchum's nice guy credentials with a trowel (he even tells a bedtime story about Elmer the Elephant to a little girl in an iron lung). Things don't immediately improve once he meets Domergue's suicidal femme fatale, but once Claude Rains turns up for his one scene as her `father,' it starts getting better and better and heads straight for near-classic status as they find themselves on the run, Mitch nursing a surprisingly medically accurate serious concussion ("I may talk rationally but my decisions may not make much sense.") and Domergue manifesting some pretty unpleasant symptoms of her own ("Nobody pities me!"]). Of course, we know he must be having problems even before he takes that bump on the head since no-one in possession of a full set of marbles would pass over nurse Maureen O'Sullivan for Faith Domergue even if she doesn't take off her surgical mask to answer the phone - O'Sullivan may have been the director's wife but she's barely seen without it. As their bolt for the border goes increasingly badly, the eternally underrated John Farrow mirrors his condition with a more surreal set of characters and situations - not least a truly bizarre plot development during `Whiskers Week.' The great Nicolas Musuraca does his usual wonders with the black and white cinematography and Farrow throws in one of the longest of his uninterrupted single takes, a key seven-minute hotel room scene that's so fluid and cinematic despite consisting of only two people in a small, dingy room that you don't even notice there are no cuts.

DVD supporting feature Tension is an okay MGM noir from 1949, but, despite a bizarre opening with Barry Sullivan's homicide cop explaining to camera the principles of tension with the aid of a rubber band, it's noticeably anything but tense. Richard Basehart's the downtrodden druggist who comes up with the perfect plan to kill sluttish wife Audrey Totter's new `big man' Lloyd Gough only to decide not to go through with it (understandable since in the meantime he's fallen for Cyd Charisse, which is a definite trade up). Unfortunately for him, someone does the job for him and the false identity he has created to take the blame becomes the prime suspect...

If the pitch is similar to Henri-Georges Clouzot's Quai des Orfevres, made two years earlier, the execution couldn't be more different, with the first half focussing on Basehart's preparations and the second on Sullivan and William Conrad's investigation as the lead cop decides the best way to solve the case is to hit on Totter. The absence of suspects is a bit of a problem (the motive for the killing is never discovered), but it ticks over efficiently enough even if it could have benefited from a tighter running time and a sharper script.

"Where Danger Lives" and "Tension" were both released in 1950 with archetypal femme fatale scenarios. "Where Danger Lives" was made at RKO during Howard Hughes' tenure. It is a more expensive film, with A-list star Robert Mitchum and an upscale femme fatale, while "Tension" was made at MGM with very middle class characters and a middle budget.. "Where Danger Lives" also qualifies as a "fugitive couple" film and "Tension" has a "wrongly accused" subplot, so there are a lot of noir staples packed into these two movies. They are not the most outstanding film noir I've seen but both are strong, enjoyable films, and Faith Domergue's performance in "Where Danger Lives" is a highlight.

The danger in "Where Danger Lives" begins with a gesture of kindness. Dr. Jeff Cameron (Robert Mitchum) happens to be on duty at a hospital when a woman who has attempted suicide is brought in. The handsome doctor saves her life and she invites him to her home on the pretense that she owes him an explanation for giving a false name. Her real name is Margo Lannington (Faith Domergue). She's rich and glamorous and dolefully lonely. Jeff falls head over heels for her, in spite of having a rather more down-to-earth girlfriend at the hospital. But Margo says her father (Claude Rains) disapproves of the relationship, so Jeff pays him a visit to clearly state his intentions. And the couple end up on the run from the law.

Even before Margo's situation becomes clear, "Where Danger Lives" invites comparison with another RKO film in which Robert Mitchum played a man hoodwinked by a mentally unstable woman: "Angel Face", made 3 years later. Both Margo and Jeff are stronger, smarter characters than those in "Angel Face", and that makes this a better film. Margo is unstable and motivated by perverse emotional needs, not ambition, in contrast to a typical femme fatale. But she is also conniving and possessed of an instinct for seduction. The way the film explains Jeff's gullibility is a little amusing: He has a concussion and can't think straight. The fugitive couple's misadventures in small towns could also be comical, but their desperation and outsider status make Jeff's anxiety quite palpable, to unnerving effect.

Lieutenant Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan) of the Los Angeles police department introduces "Tension" with a menacing explanation of how he solves crimes: He stretches suspects to their breaking point. Tension. Bonnabel narrates the story of how a mild-mannered pharmacist named Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart) was driven to contemplate murder by his flirtatious wife Claire (Audrey Totter). Warren works the night shift, manages the drug store, scrimps and saves, all to make Claire happy. But a dissatisfied Claire leaves him for more monied and fun-loving Barney Deager (Lloyd Gough). Warren's anger leads him to conceive the perfect murder. He plans to create an alternate identity and simply murder Barney as someone else, someone who doesn't exist.

Claire is a curvaceous but uncomplicated femme fatale, a middle class woman unsatisfied with her lot and dismissive of her husband's hard work. She wouldn't be very interesting if Audrey Totter didn't play her with snide gusto. Thanks to Totter, we can delight in her callousness. Beside all the Los Angeles locations, the striking aspect of "Tension" is Lt. Bonnabel's methodology. He sizes Claire up right away and turns the tables on her by seducing her. He becomes an homme fatal. I guess it never occurred to Claire that a man could play her the same way she plays men. It's a lot of fun to watch.

The DVD (Warner 2007): Both films have a theatrical trailer, a featurette, and an audio commentary. There are no scene selection menus, which makes it difficult to study the films from this disc. "Where Danger Lives: White Rose for Julie" (6 min) interviews film noir historians and critics about John Farrow's direction, Howard Hughes' role, cinematography, and characters. "Tension: Who's Guilty Now?" (6 min) interviews film noir historians and critics about John Berry's direction, the cast, and the femme fatale archetype. The audio commentary for "Where Danger Lives" is by Alain Silver and James Ursini. As always, they talk a lot about the cast, including bit players, structure, style, characters, themes. The commentary for "Tension" by Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward, with some prerecorded commentary by Audrey Totter, discusses the cast, locations, themes, behavior, and scene analysis. Subtitles are available for both films in English SDH and French.

two great noir films. why i haven't heard either of these mentioned before is beyond me. a great duo of films. highly recommended. excellent!

No question I am a film noir, especially a crime film noir, aficionado. Recently I have been on a tear reviewing various crime noir efforts and drawing comparisons between the ones that "speak" to me and those that, perhaps, should have been left on the cutting room floor. The classics are easy: films like Out Of the Past, Gilda, The Lady From Shang-hai, and The Big Sleep need no additional comment from me as their plot lines stand on their own merits. Others, because they have a fetching, or wicked, for that matter, femme fatale to muddy the waters also get a pass, or as in Gilda a double nod for the plot and for the femme fatale. (Be still my heart, at the thought of Rita Hayworth, ah, dancing and singing, okay lip synching, and looking, well, fetching while doing those difficult tasks.). Having just mentioned the classic Out Of The Past allows me to segue into this 1950 <em>crime noir</em> vehicle, Where Danger Lives, another film starring Robert Mitchum.

No question jut-jawed, slightly hazy lazy-eyed, made for heavy-lifting, Robert Mitchum would make the top of any crime noir aficionados idea of guy that fits the bill in this genre. And he proved it out of box in Out Of The Past where he was "smitten" by classic bad girl, no, rotten, low-down femme fatale, Jane Greer, who, unfortunately, unfortunately for Mitchum was "owned" by a mobster (Kirk Douglas) a little further up the food chain. And paid the price for that indiscretion, paid big time. So we know two things about Robert Mitchum. He likes the lively ladies, the ones that come with bells and whistles and plenty of baggage, usually distressful baggage, and he can take care of himself in the clinches. Well almost. Actually we know three things about Brother Mitchum. He does not have enough sense to come in out of the rain, or any place else where danger lurks for that matter. Why? Well in this film he is at it again, back up against a two-timing femme fatale, although as they come in all sizes and shapes a dark-haired one this time (Faith Domegue).

A quick run through the plot line will bring us up to date on Brother Mitchum's problem. Seems that in this one Mitchum plays a young doctor, a very good young doctor as such doctors go, but he makes the number one cardinal mistake in medical practice (he must have skipped that class in med school, the one about proper bedside manner, minus the bed)- don't get involved personally with the patients. Especially drop-dead beautiful, alluring, capricious (yes, capricious), calculating ones who show up in the emergency room after attempted suicides. Yes, a big red flag should have been flying in Doc's head

But see he is young, and she is drop-dead beautiful. Put those two together, and well, what is a man to do. Only problem is said drop-dead beauty is one, married, very married, to a wealthy, older, hell, ancient man, and maybe, tad bit jealous and protective (Claude Rains) and, two, is under some mental distress, hell, she is cuckoo, bonkers, crazy, okay, murderously crazy, if you really want to know. Well for me that would take a certain edge off that drop-dead beauty part but for Doc, no way, no way at all as he is well, let's just call it smitten.

Of course the price of smitten, smitten to a crazy (sorry), married, very married woman can be very high and here is no exception. After a little bout/confrontation with hubby in which Doc got the worst of it, it seems that when Doc came to said hubby was dead, very dead. See here is where smitten gets you in trouble though. Doc is not going to be the fall guy, and he is not letting his paramour take the fall either. So they decide to high-tail it to Mexico, and freedom, or so they think like a million other people in a tight spot, although not all that crowd decide to high-tail it to Mexico. The trials and tribulations of this now on-the-run couple is what drives the rest of the film, even though Doc is pretty hazy about why he is running (except she is running), given his own medical condition. The rest you can figure out for yourself, just like, in the end Doc, had to figure things out. The hard way.

So you can see that I was not kidding about Brother Mitchum's little femme fatale problem. But I blame the whole thing on Claude Rains. See there is no way an old guy, a wealthy old guy, or poor for that matter, is suppose to be hanging out with young, drop-dead beautiful women, crazy or not. And see worldly Claude Rains should know such stuff from back in the days when he was running around grabbing dough at Rick's Place in Casablanca. So the next time you see a crime noir film like this one you will know what's what.

******
Tension, starring Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Barry Sullivan, Paramount Pictures, 1950

No question I am a film noir, especially a crime film noir, aficionado. Recently I have been on a tear reviewing various crime noir efforts and drawing comparisons between the ones that "speak" to me and those that, perhaps, should have been left on the cutting room floor. The classics are easy: films like Out Of the Past, Gilda, The Lady From Shang-hai, and The Big Sleep need no additional comment from me as their plot lines stand on their own merits. Others, because they have a fetching, or wicked, for that matter, femme fatale to muddy the waters also get a pass, or as in Gilda a double nod for the plot and for the femme fatale. (Be still my heart, at the thought of Rita Hayworth, ah, dancing and singing, okay lip synching, and looking, well, fetching while doing those difficult tasks.) The film under review, 1950's Tension, falls somewhere in the grey area, the plot line while it started out with a certain amount of promise got dragged in the end toward a standard police procedural, a kiss of death for most crime noir films in my book. And the femme fatale is neither fetching (a la Rita) nor wicked (except for an involvement in murder and mayhem, but they all, the femme fatales that is, are involved in that, one way or the other, it comes with the territory).

A quick review of the plot will explain my bewilderment at where to place this one in the crime noir pantheon. Warren (Richard Basehart), a Walter Middy-type, married to Claire (Audrey Totter), a second-rate gold-digger who attached herself to Warren in harder times (her harder times) out in Southern California when that locale was becoming the homeland of the dreams- the post-World War II suburban sun-drenched tract dreams. And Warren is a prime number one prospect for that dream working nights like a mad man to get Claire those things he promised her, or half of them anyway. But Claire, the little round-heels, is looking for speedier stuff now that she is settled into a good thing, and a plaint husband. And sweetheart Claire is flouting her stuff right in front of Warren with a guy of unknown resources (Barney) with some dough, a nice car, and a place on the beach in up-scale Malibu to sun herself. Well, a girl has to look out for herself, a round-heels girl anyway, right?

The plot thickens when Warren, no longer content to be a door-mat, decides to kill somebody over this transgression (Barney, heaven's no, not lovely, wicked, maybe just misunderstood Claire). The long and short of it is that after planning the perfect murder by changing his identity (new idea, right?) he gets cold feet, as Walter Middys do, or maybe a slug of rationality that maybe, just maybe, sweet Claire ain't worth it and good riddance. Especially after, as part of his change of identity, he meets a honey, Mary (played by the leggy Cyd Charisse), who is more his speed and, well, is happy to think about that suburban house and that white picket fence with 2.2 kids, and a dog, one dog.

But see the story would become really tedious if somebody didn't kill somebody, and so old Barney winds up dead. And of course Warren (or his changed identity self, Paul) is fit six ways to Sunday for the frame. Someone is going to the chair for this one, this murder one job, and Warren better start making a list of his last requests.

Except of course, crime noir or not, guys who don't commit murder and mayhem are not stepping off for such crimes, at least in 1950s movies. And that is where the tedious police procedural aspect of this film meets low-rent femme fatale when L.A.'s finest get on the case and "entrap" if you can believe that about the police in 1950, or now, everybody connected with the crime (except of course, the deceased Barney, although he too might have had a motive, who knows). And guess who is going to take the fall for this one? Well, guess. But you could see where this one was headed from a long way off. Hey didn't Phillip Marlowe work these slumming L.A. streets in those days. Taking a little off-hand beating before swinging the scales of justice back where they belong. He could have been used here to tell Claire what's what, and to spice this one up.

In Where"Danger Lives," a doctor (Robert Mitchum) saves a suicidal patient (Faith Domergue) who latches on to him for a lot more than love. He quickly falls for her beauty and glamour. When she tells him she has to take a two week trip with her strong-willed "father", he is devastated to learn it is her older controlling husband. Soon he becomes involved in the death of her husband and they flee to the Mexican Border together. The movie is intriguing and moves along at the right pace.

In "Tension" a wife's infidelities have a mild-mannered pharmacist (Richard Basehart) driven to plot a murder of her most recent conquest. In the process he changes his identity and meets a new love (Cyd Charrisse). Complications arise as motives change. Made interesting by the cleverness of the detective assigned to solve the murder.

I haven't seen Where Danger lives, but as another reviewer pointed out, Tension alone is worth the price. This is a very eclectic movie; yes, you know is a film noir, but some scenes make you think if you are watching a plain soapopera, a screwball comedy or what? Do yourself a favor and enjoy this movie. Its absolutely over the top style (including the bombastic almost cartoonish soundtrack by the Great maestro Previn)is at once its major flaw and its most fun aspect. Totter and Basehart are simple great as the docile husband and his femme fatal wife. Totally recommendad for anyone who loves movies and wants to spend 91 minutes of plain fun!

Having seen both films, the two-for-one dvd isn't the greatest (nor worst) deal imaginable, but if you are a noir fan (which i assume you are, having come this far) you must see "Tension". Yes, you will suffer through the other Robert Mitchum number on here, a somewhat routine girl-murders husband-pins-it-on-lover entry that doesn't really make your pulse race. But you will be rewarded for its banality with "Tension".
Nebbish pharmacist gets pushed around by his delightfully sleazy and manipulative blonde floozy wife who actually picks up tricks while sitting at the pharmacy soda pop counter (god, why don't they have those anymore?) Nebbish pharmacist goes bonkers, like anyone would, but pulls back just in time. Which is good, because somebody when on ahead and did his blast-off for him, leading to all sorts of whodunit complications. Thats' pretty much it, without giving away the story.
The fun in this movie is that everyone can relate to Everyman, Pushed Around and Plain Fed Up Pharmacist dude. The blonde floozy is so much fun to hate and amazingly brutal in her obvious distaste for her husband ('sure, you were cute in your uniform, we had some laughs, but....") Its a bit like a comic book- everyone is a bit black-and-white (no pun intended) but to amazing emotional effect. It works. Its trash, but it works. This would be a great beginners noir- it was for me, and i have since become a noir slut, finding any and every noir i can get my hands on.
Another note- the most fun thing about noirs is that they had to communicate paranoia, sleaze, sex and death while having the Hays Code hanging round their necks. Ergo, everything is somewhat veiled and implied, which makes it so much sleazier and grimmer somehow. Were this film being made today, the blonde floozy would probably be shown having it off with all in sundry right there in the car. But here, she just looks over her shoulder and says, "where are you parked? " and saunters out. Why is this more effective? I guess its the old HP Lovecraft trick of pretending that he can't describe something because its simply too horrific. Your imagination does the dirty work for you, instead of spelling it out in sky-high nakedness. if you are a screenwriter, this is a good thing to learn, and you can learn that, in my opinion, from watching noir after noir. Worth your time and like the nebbish husband, "good for some laughs". If you like this and haven't seen it, get "Murder, My Sweet" as well.

TENSION is an "okay" little movie---I like it least of the 3 films under discussion but that has more to do with the actors in it than with the movie itself. Audrey Totter is the "femme fatale" here. She is married to Richard Basehart who begins the film as a submissive weakling but, as the movie progresses, he finds his "cajones" and becomes much more assertive(after making some changes in his personal appearance that the viewer kind of has to "accept" although, again, credulity is strained somewhat). He leaves Totter, and meets Cyd Charisse(who wouldn't swap Totter for Charisse?); Totter then tries to frame him for murder. Barry Sullivan plays a cop trying to solve the murder. Again, it's not a bad little movie---Totter gives the best performance. It just didn't "grab me" the way that DECOY and CRIME WAVE did. Run time for TENSION is 91 minutes.

Neither of these noir films is world class, but Tension has interest because of Basehart and Totter.

Tension (1949):
Sneers Claire Quimby to her milquetoast husband, Warren, "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." Is this a noir dame or not? Is this Audrey Totter or not?

Warren is a mild-mannered pharmacist who plans for the future and loves his wife. Claire is a hot, dissatisfied number who wants laughs, excitement and more than Warren can offer. She's really getting tired of the burnt toast he always makes for her breakfast. Claire decides big, tough Barney Deager is just the guy to give her those laughs. And just as Warren has methodically planned his future with Claire, when she walks out for Barney he puts his talent for planning to another task...murder, and how to get away with it. It will mean that mild druggist Warren Quimby will transform himself into confident Paul Sothern. No one, Warren believes, will suspect him for what Paul will do. Murder, however, has a funny way of tripping a guy up.

Tension isn't half bad. The basic storyline is a cliché and so are the characters, but Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter play the characters. That makes a big difference. Basehart was a first-rate actor, far better than many of the roles he was given. He's believable as the outclassed Warren who even gets shoved in the sand by Deager. He's also believable as Paul Sothern, the confidant operator who drives a convertible and easily picks up the ladies. Totter, of course, was one of the best of the selfish, desirable, dangerous noir dames. She might easily entice you into her bed, but you'd better realize you might not have all of your equipment afterwards. When Totter puts on the charm as Claire, she looks great. When she lets Claire's charm slip, you know she's poison. Tension isn't good enough to be a noir classic, whatever that might mean, but it's an entertainingly nasty movie that eventually lets in a little sunlight.

Tension shares a disc with another noir, Where Danger Lives. The DVD is one of Warner's Film Noir Classic Collection releases. It has a commentary track with Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward and some comments by Audrey Totter.

Where Danger Lives (1950):
"I wish you'd stop calling her my daughter. She happens to be my wife," says the wealthy Frederick Lannington. "She's your wife?" says Doctor Jeff Cameron. She'd told Dr. Jeff that she was Lannington's daughter. "Yes, doctor," says Lannington. "Oh, I concede the conspicuous difference in our ages. Margo married me for my money. I married her for her...youth. We both got what we wanted, after a fashion."

A beautiful dame, sick, really sick...a rich older husband...and a sleepy-eyed doctor named Jeff who tells bedtime stories about Elmer the Elephant to children in iron lungs. Even though Dr. Jeff is a whiz at diagnosing his own concussion, he's about to learn that's he's not smart enough to diagnose obsessive compulsion, selfish lust and murderous self-delusion. Jeff's just a doc who thinks with his...well, let's say it's not with his thermometer.

To say that Margo Lannington (Faith Domergue) may be trouble on legs is like saying a Ford Pinto may be great for tailgate barbecuing. It's not long before Dr. Jeff (Robert Mitchum) and Margo are on the lam heading by car to Mexico. A confrontation with Frederick Lannington (Claude Raines) in his mansion left Lannington dead. And there's that concussion. After looking at his eyes in the car's side mirror, Dr. Jeff tells Margo what to expect...it's the concussion from hell. He'll have splitting headaches, make irrational decisions, begin to have increasing paralysis in his extremities and then, within 24 hours, he'll lapse into a coma and...we can see Margo Lannington hadn't bargained for all this. "What can we do?" Margo asks. "I'll get you across the border before I pass out," Jeff says, reassuringly.

Before we also pass out, we need to emphasize that the one advantage this movie has is Claude Raines, who plays the cool, smirking Frederick Lannington. Perhaps it would have been different of Domergue could act and if Dr. Jeff Cameron had been better cast. Robert Mitchum as a doctor, or at least as this doctor, is as believable as Robert Mitchum playing Michael DeBakey. However, when Raines is on things perk up. He's just not there often enough. I hope Raines was paid well for his six minutes on camera.

The movie has a commentary by Alain Silver and James Ursini. When they said Where Danger Lives is notable in film noir, I lost interest in them. An average to poor movie is just an average to poor movie, noir or not.

WHERE DANGER LIVES: Although, this storyline is full of twists and turns, it fails to arouse any interest whatsoever. The wonderful actor, Claude Rains is in it as Faith Domergues Husband, but only appears 20 minutes in, and dies 28 minutes in.Like I said before, the story fails to interest me. The Film picture quality has been restored wonderfully, and the Documentary is insightful and interesting.
TENSION: This film is very engaging, and I enjoyed it alot!!The documentary is good, and the picture quality superb.