Themes: Haunted By the Past, Double Life, Keeping a Secret
Main Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Edmund Gwenn, Marjorie Main
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 118 minutes
Plot
A change of pace for both director Vincente Minnelli and star Katharine Hepburn, this taut drama features the latter as Ann Hamilton, the daughter of a scientist (Edmund Gwenn), who after a whirlwind romance marries handsome but slightly mysterious inventor turned businessman Alan Garroway (Robert Taylor). But wedded bliss proves short-lived when Garroway refuses to discuss his brother Michael, whose presence is felt constantly despite the mystery surrounding his whereabouts. The missing Michael becomes an obsession for Ann, whose curiosity is piqued even more after a chance encounter with Sylvia Burton (Jayne Meadows), a young woman who figures in the lives of both brothers and who displays a strange resemblance to Ann herself. Despite Alan's dire misgivings, Ann feels compelled to solve the mystery of Michael, until, that is, she discovers that Alan may very well have murdered his own brother. Undercurrent marked the screen debut of Jayne Meadows and a breakthrough of sorts for Robert Mitchum, whom M-G-M borrowed from David O. Selznick for a reputed $25,000. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Review
Katharine Hepburn as a helpless Gothic heroine a la Jane Eyre or Rebecca's second Mrs. De Winter? Well, that is exactly what Undercurrent asks you to believe. Yet despite her much vaunted charisma and acting prowess Hepburn fails to make much sense of Ann Hamilton, whose constant stream-of-consciousness may be typical of the actress but whose wide-eyed trust in men is definitely not. Our Kate would hardly have let herself be manipulated by someone as transparent as Robert Taylor's Alan Garroway. Certainly not! Yet here she is, being dressed by him like some store window mannequin just so he can take credit for her transformation. Almost any other actress of her generation could have made that believable but not Ms. Hepburn, who doesn't strike a viewer as the Trilby type at all. That Undercurrent remains a gripping thriller despite this bit of miscasting is solely to the credit of director Vincente Minnelli, screenwriter Edward Chodorov and good work by newcomers Jayne Meadows and Robert Mitchum, whose matter-of-fact acting style is downright refreshing in as manipulating a melodrama as Undercurrent. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Kenny Drew's seventh recording as a leader is significant for many reasons, not the least of which that it is one of the finest Blue Note hard bop statements in either of their catalogs. Teamed with rising young star, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and the wonderful tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley fresh off stints with Donald Byrd and Art Blakey, Drew is joining the ranks of the premier mainstream jazz pianists just prior to moving permanently to Europe. He's a complementary piece of the puzzle as a player, but stirs the drink as the composer of all of these very fine hard bop vehicles. Bassist Sam Jones and especially drummer Louis Hayes contribute mightily to the beats that keep Hubbard and Mobley flying on this recording, whose energy runs contrary to the more subtle, suggestive title. The band is roaring out of the gate on the title track in a Blakey-like stance, where Drew's rambling piano fortifies the under-the-surface horns. There's no messing around during the straight-ahead, fleet "Lion's Den," as the steady Hayes drives the combo, and Jones masterfully commands held tension-and-release segments. Toning it down into the blues spectrum, "Funk-Cosity" offers a beautiful melodic line where the identity might be typical, but the individualism of the performers is not. There's deft unison playing between the very compatible Hubbard and Mobley during the simplified "Groovin' the Blues," and even more pronounced on the ultra-melodic "The Pot's On," a gem of a tune that swings with a religious fervor via the adept drumming of Hayes. The lone downtempo track, "Ballade," is a real beauty as the trumpeter and tenor saxophonist wax poetic, but it is Drew whose cascading piano and deeply emotional romantic forays come across symphonically, like a young Erroll Garner. This is an extraordinary recording that reveals more upon repeat listenings. One does wish there was alternate or bonus material from this fine jazz band, but as is, it's the best of Drew as a leader aside from his quintessential work as a consummate sideman. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
Ann Hamilton (Hepburn) is a middle-aged bride who begins to suspect that her charming husband Alan Garroway (Taylor) is really a psychotic who plans to murder her. Nor can she ignore the shadow of her brother-in-law Michael Garroway (Robert Mitchum), whom she's never met but has been told so much about.
When the film was released the staff at Variety magazine lauded the film and wrote, "Undercurrent is heavy drama with femme appeal...Hepburn sells her role with usual finesse and talent. Robert Mitchum, as the missing brother, has only three scenes but makes them count for importance."[2]
Critic Bosley Crowther also liked the film and wrote, "However, that is Undercurrent-—and you must take it upon its own terms, which are those of theatrical dogmatism, if you hope to endure it at all. If you do, you may find it gratifying principally because Miss Hepburn gives a crisp and taut performance of a lady overcome by mounting fears and Mr. Taylor, back in films from his war service, accelerates a brooding meanness as her spouse. You may also find Robert Mitchum fairly appealing in a crumpled, modest way as the culturally oriented brother, even though he appears in only a couple of scenes. And you may like Edmund Gwenn and Jayne Meadows, among others, in minor roles."[3]
More recently, critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Director Vincente Minnelli...known mostly through his upbeat MGM musicals changes direction with this tearjerker femme appealing romantic melodrama, that can also be viewed as a heavy going psychological film noir (at least, stylishly noir through the brilliantly dark photography of Karl Freund)...Though overlong and filled with too many misleading clues about which brother is the baddie, the acting is superb even though both Katharine Hepburn and Robert Mitchum are cast against type (a weak woman and a sensitive man). It successfully takes on the theme from Gaslight."[4]
