Pretty Poison (film)

Infobox Film
name = Pretty Poison


caption = Original film poster
director = Noel Black
producer = Lawrence Turman
Marshal Backlar
Joel Black
writer = Novel:
Stephen Geller
Screenplay:
Lorenzo Semple Jr.
starring = Anthony Perkins
Tuesday Weld
Beverly Garland
John Randolph
Dick O'Neill
music = Johnny Mandel
cinematography = David Quaid
editing = William Ziegler
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = 23 October 1968
runtime = 89 min
country = flagicon|USA
language = English
budget = US$ 1,800,000
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:39091
imdb_id = 0063456

"Pretty Poison" (1968) is a thriller film directed by Noel Black, starring Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld, about an ex-convict and high school cheerleader who commit a series of crimes.

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.

ynopsis

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.

Awards

* Lorenzo Semple Jr. won the 1968 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay for this film.

External links

*imdb title|id=0063456|title=Pretty Poison
*amg movie|id=1:39091|title=Pretty Poison
* [http://www.dreadcentral.com/index.php?name=Reviews&req=showcontent&id=1056 Review at Dread Central.com]