Themes: Assumed Identities, Lovers on the Lam, Suburban Dysfunction
Main Cast: Anthony Perkins, Tuesday Weld, Beverly Garland, John Randolph, Dick O'Neill
Release Year: 1968
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Easygoing but psychotic Dennis (Anthony Perkins) is released from jail, where he has served a sentence for his complicity in a suspicious death. Wandering through a small, working-class New England town, Dennis befriends apparently normal high school A-student Sue Ann (Tuesday Weld). He fills her head with lies about his imaginary career as a secret agent. She is thrilled, and makes up her mind to join him in his further adventures. This jet-black "who's manipulating who?" seriocomedy was adapted by Lorenzo Semple Jr. from Stephen Geller's novel She Let Him Continue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
In a lot of 1960s cinema, "trouble" was spelled "Tuesday Weld." Sexy, kittenish, possessed of a voice that purred venom, Weld created one of her most memorable amoral portraits in Pretty Poison, an initially neglected black comedy/thriller that has gained in stature since its initial release. Weld, of course, is blessed with looks that go a long way to explaining why she is able to captivate Anthony Perkins, but there's a fiercely instinctive and intelligent actress manipulating those looks, one who knows just what buttons to push to convey innocence or evil (and sometimes both simultaneously). Her reactions to her murderous activities are chilling -- and yet funny. Perkins is her perfect match; his shy, eager-to-be-manipulated psychopath may have echoes of Norman Bates, but only echoes; Perkins was too good an actor at this stage of his career to waste this opportunity by simply repeating himself. Both actors are helped by Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s darkly ironic screenplay, which provides both meaty characters and a compelling storyline. Pretty Poison's blackness will put off many, but it's a prize for those who treasure riveting performances. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Clarice Blackburn - Mrs. Bronson; Joe Bova - Pete; Ken Kercheval - Harry; Don Fellows - Detective; Parker Fennelly - Night Watchman; Dan Morgan; Paul Larson - Mrs. Stepanek's Boy Friend; Bill Sorrells - Cop at Beanery; George Fisher - Burly Man
Credit
Harold Michelson - Art Director, Jack Martin Smith - Art Director, Jack Grossberg - Associate Producer, Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Noel Black - Director, William H. Ziegler - Editor, Lawrence Turman - Executive Producer, Johnny Mandel - Composer (Music Score), Robert Jiras - Makeup, David Quaid - Cinematographer, Noel Black - Producer, Marshal Backlar - Producer, John Mortensen - Set Designer, Billy King - Special Effects, Ralph Winigar - Special Effects, Dennis L. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, David Dockendorf - Sound/Sound Designer, Lorenzo Semple, Jr. - Screenwriter, Stephen Geller - Book Author
While not generally considered an example of neo-noir, the film does include certain elements of the genre, including a femme fatale, a character trapped into circumstances beyond his control, criminal protagonists and, of course, murder.
The film was based on the novel She Let Him Continue by Stephen Geller; this was also the working title of the film.
There was a 1996 remake with the same title and plot.
Synopsis
Dennis Pitt is a disturbed young man on parole from a mental institution who becomes attracted to teenaged cheerleader Sue Ann Stepenek. He tells her that he is a secret agent, and takes her along on a series of "missions" that eventually end in murder. While Dennis is wracked with guilt over both what he has done and what he has allowed to happen, Sue Ann is excited by the "adventure" and entreats Dennis to run away with her to Mexico. First, however, they have to get rid of her disapproving mother.
Dennis realizes that Sue Ann is a sociopath, but knows that the police will take her word over his, so he takes the blame for their crimes. Sue Ann, meanwhile, betrays him without a second thought, sending him to prison for life. Dennis refuses to tell his skeptical parole officer the truth, but asks him to "see what Sue Ann is up to" in hopes she will be exposed for what she really is. The film ends with Sue Ann meeting a young man and lamenting to him that the people who took her in after her mother's death won't let her stay out late; it is implied that she will use and destroy him just as she did Dennis.
