Tension (1949)

Assumed identities are a relatively common trope in film noir. It plays a role in movies from The Stranger (1946) to No Man of Her Own (1950). Perhaps only a few other film noirs took the idea of assumed identities as far as Tension (1949). It is at the core of the movie, and we even get to see the protagonist go about creating his new identity.

In Tension (1949) Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart) is the meek, mild-mannered night manager of the Coast-to-Coast Drug Store in Culver City, California. He lives in a modest apartment above the drug store, saving money until he can afford a house in the suburbs. Unfortunately, his wife Claire (Audrey Totter) does not want to wait that long. Neither the apartment above the drug store nor a house in the suburbs appeal to her, as she longs for greater things. To this end she cheats on him with any man willing to spend money on her. At long last she leaves him for one of her rich suitors, Barney Deager (Lloyd Gough). This does not sit well with Warren, who creates a whole new identity with the goal of murdering Deager. He gets contact lenses, buys fancy clothes, and moves into an apartment in Westwood, Los Angeles. His new identity is Paul Sothern, a cosmetics salesman. Warren backs out of his plan to kill Deager after meeting his lovely new neighbour Mary Chanier (Cyd Charisse). Unfortunately for Warren, Deager winds up dead anyway...

Tension was based on a story by John D. Klorer, who had earlier provided the stories for such films as Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942) and Good Sam (1948). MGM initially bought the rights to the story as a vehicle for Robert Taylor and Van Heflin. As it turned out, the protagonist Warren Quimby would be played by Richard Basehart, while Barry Sullivan would play Lt. Collier Bonnbel, the police detective who suspects Warren of murder. Tension was directed by John Berry, who had earlier directed the comedy Cross My Heart (1946) for Paramount and the musical Casbah (1948) for Marston Productions (Tony Martin's production company, which had a distribution deal with Universal). Unfortunately, in 1951 he was named a Communist by director Edward Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten. He was blacklisted and relocated to the United Kingdom.

The contact lenses that figure so prominently in Warren Quimby's transformation into Paul Sothern were a bit of a timely topic in 1949. Contacts lenses that fit over the sclera of the eye had existed since the 1800s. By the 1940s contact lenses made from plastic were developed. It was in 1949 that the first contact lenses that fit over the cornea of the eye were developed. They were smaller and could be worn up to 16 hours a day. Unfortunately, they tended to be both fragile and expensive. It would not be until the 1960s that soft contact lenses would be developed. Of course, one of the more far fetched ideas Warren Quimby had about creating a new identity is that contact lenses would make him less recognizable. As anyone who has switched from glasses to contacts knows, one is still recognizable wearing contact lenses. When I first started wearing contacts, I got the questions, "Where are your glasses?" and "Did you get contacts?," but I was never asked, "Who are you?." I can only guess that Warren decided if doing away with one's glasses worked for Clark Kent, maybe it would work for him...

Tension premiered on December 1 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee. For the most past it got positive reviews. The critic for Variety wrote that Tension "lived up to its title. It's a tight, tersely stated melodrama that holds the attention." Bosley Crowther of The New York Times was an exception in that he disliked the move. In his overly negative review, he wrote, "A much better title for this picture would be "Patience," presuming such a thing." Audiences were not apparently impressed by Tension either. Made for $682,000, it only made $506,000 in the United States and Canada. It lost  $229,000 at the box office.

Fortunately, the reputation of Tension would improve in the years since its release, to the point that it is counted among the better film noirs MGM ever made. While the idea that someone could create a new identity with merely contact lenses and new suits is a bit far fetched, the script by Allen Rivkin and the performances of the cast make Tension convincing. Richard Basehart does a good job of transitioning from the meek, mild-mannered Warren Quimby to the outgoing Paul Sothern. And the role of Claire numbers among the best of Audrey Totter's "bad girls." She is selfish and greedy, and she constantly demeans Warren, to the point that one wonders why he would even want to remain with Claire. As Mary, Cyd Charisse is certainly among the sexiest good girls in film noir, but she is not mere window dressing. She endows Mary with a personality all her own, warm and sweet, but at the same time very much her own woman. Barry Sullivan also does well as the dogged detective Bonnabel, who gives the film its title in his monologue prior to the opening credits.

Tension (1949) may not be as well known as such film noirs as Double Indemnity (1944) or The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), but it is a well done movie that benefits from some great performances and a script that consistently builds, well, tension. It should really be better known.