20th Century Fox
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Pretty Poison
What Brought A Nice Kid Like Sue Ann To A Shocking Moment Like This?
A troubled arsonist spins a tale of espionage to a captivating girl, who becomes enthralled and entangled in his dangerous fantasies, leading to unexpected murder and chaos that change their lives forever.
- Original title
- Pretty Poison
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- $1,300,000
- Revenue
- $2,075,000
Wuchak
Oct 20, 2024 · via TMDB
**_A psychopath is loose in western Massachusetts_** When a young man is released from a mental institution for a crime committed when he was 15 (Anthony Perkins), he gets a mundane job at a chemical factory while drawn to a fetching high school cheerleader (Tuesday Weld). "Pretty Poison" (1968) is a psychological drama with a couple crime-oriented thrills that some consider a subtle black comedy. It comes in the tradition of “Gun Crazy” from eighteen years prior. Debuting eight years after Perkin’s breakout success with “Psycho,” he’s still relatively young at 35, but looks ten years younger. It came out between Weld’s “Lord Love a Duck” and “I Walk the Line” (1970) and is sort of a meshing of those two films. While it failed to acquire an audience at the box office, it went on to cult status and thus was remade in 1996 with Grant Show and Wendy Benson-Landes, albeit shot in Montreal. It was also the inspiration for Bart Simpson’s girlfriend in an episode of The Simpsons, as well as influenced future flicks, like “Joyride” (1977). There are some interesting psychological gems to mine and I liked the locations (listed below), but I found the drama relatively boring. Those enamored with Perkins and Weld should find it more rewarding. It runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in southwestern Massachusetts in the area of Great Barrington and Egremont, as well as North Adams, which is an hour’s drive north of there. GRADE: B-
John Chard
Mar 8, 2014 · via TMDB
The Pitt and the Poison. Pretty Poison is directed by Noel Black and adapted to screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Junior from the novel “She Let Him Continue” written by Stephen Geller. It stars Anthony Perkins, Tuesday Weld, Beverly Garland, John Randolph and Dick O’Neill. Music is by Johnny Mandel and cinematography by David Quaid. Pure definition of a culter movie? Probably Pretty Poison. A wonderfully odd neo-noir that’s as cunning as a fox, Noel Black’s movie flummoxed many upon release but the underground swell of the cult enthusiasts has ensured this particular poison is still around to be swallowed. Plot finds Perkins as troubled Dennis Pitt, an arsonist as a youth and fantasist as an adult, he’s just been released from a mental health facility, in spite of his parole officer’s reservations. Beginning his employment at a chemical factory, Dennis comes into contact with young high school drum majorette, Sue Anne Stepanek (Weld), and lets her believe he is a secret agent. Little does he know, but Sue is only too happy to indulge his fantasies, since she herself is harbouring some unhealthy desires. Much like the brilliant film noir movie Gun Crazy (1950), Pretty Poison upturns the standard boy and girl crime spree formula by having the girl be the one doing the damage. Dennis Pitt has absolutely no idea how not in control of the relationship he is, he’s beguiled by Sue, thinking he has finally found a soul mate to share in his fantasies, but she’s pulling all the strings, luring him into a web of chaos from which he is completely incapable of escaping from. With the characterisations firmly in place, where both Weld and Perkins are on top form, Black and his tech team pump discoloured blood through the picture’s veins. Pic actually breathes as a black comedy, for the first third the makers are toying with us the audience, making us unsure as to if we should be laughing? Or feeling edgy? Maybe even daring us to walk out? Yes! The film “is” that off-kilter with its tonal flows. Then the light dawns on us, but not the hapless Dennis of course, that we are in a deceptively menacing Americana, one that’s even strangely sexy, and cynical into the bargain. Subversive, intelligent and utterly compelling, Pretty Poison deserves to be better known. 8/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Anthony Perkins
Dennis Pitt
Tuesday Weld
Sue Ann Stepanek
Beverly Garland
Mrs. Stepanek
John Randolph
Morton Azenauer
Dick O'Neill
Bud Munsch
Clarice Blackburn
Mrs. Bronson
Joseph Bova
Pete
Ken Kercheval
Harry Jackson
Don Fellows
Detective
Parker Fennelly
Sam Joyals (uncredited)
Bill Sorrells
Cop at Beanery (uncredited)
Gil Rogers
Man at Police Station (uncredited)
Ann Roth
Costume Design
Noel Black
Director
Lawrence Turman
Executive Producer
Noel Black
Producer
Johnny Mandel
Original Music Composer
Stephen Geller
Novel
Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Screenplay
Portrait of a Smile
Bread and Salt
The Green Mile
Forrest Gump
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Apocalypse Now
Gladiator
Memento
Metropolis
Ran
American Beauty
Dial M for Murder
Casino
Trainspotting
Blade Runner
Ben-Hur
On the Waterfront
A Beautiful Mind
Anatomy of a Murder
Dancer in the Dark
The Blues Brothers
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Hard Boiled
Once the Killing Starts
Miramar
The Experiment
The Last Duel
Interview with the Vampire
Grease
The Promised Land
On Golden Pond
Infernal Affairs II
Leaving Las Vegas
Fist of Fury
Monster
American Satan
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Frenzy
Soldier of Orange
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SHEUT
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A Beautiful Star
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Fuze
Legend
The Enforcer
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Siberian Education
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall
A Working Man
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Canary Black
Death Wish
The Public Eye
The November Man
Snitch
The Dancer Upstairs
Breaking In
American Murderer
Hellion
Back Roads
Killer Heat
Eileen
Jul 19, 1968
