The Pretender (film)

Last updated
The Pretender
Pretender1.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by W. Lee Wilder
Written byDon Martin
Doris Miller
Produced byW. Lee Wilder
Starring Albert Dekker
Catherine Craig
Charles Drake
Alan Carney
Cinematography John Alton
Edited by John F. Link Sr.
Asa Boyd Clark
Music by Paul Dessau
Production
company
W. Lee Wilder Productions
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date
  • August 13, 1947 (1947-08-13)(United States)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Pretender is a 1947 crime drama film noir directed by W. Lee Wilder starring Albert Dekker, Catherine Craig, Charles Drake and Alan Carney. [1]

Contents

Plot

The story tells of Kenneth Holden (Dekker), a crooked investment businessman who embezzles a large sum of money from an estate. He hopes to cover his crime by marrying the estate's heiress Claire Worthington (Craig).

However, Worthington is already engaged, so Holden arranges for her fiancé to be killed. The hired hit man's only means of identifying the victim is the picture in the society columns. When Claire Worthington changes her mind and agrees to marry Holden, however, it means that it is his picture that will appear in the newspaper, thereby condemning him to death.

Desperately trying to contact the hit man, Holden discovers that the man is dead, but his successor is still at large.

Cast

Critical reception

Critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film and wrote, "Billy Wilder's lesser known elder brother William Lee Wilder...directs this striking film noir about a successful man becoming paranoiac and placing himself in entrapment. In one amazing characteristic noir scene, the protagonist is seated on the floor of his unlit, locked room eating crackers and canned food, afraid of being poisoned. This is one of the first movies to score for theremin, an effectively chilling mood music which later became a cliché for many 1950s sci-fi films about aliens. John Alton's dark film noir photography sets the proper mood for the melodrama. The film noir is absorbing despite stilted dialogue and flat direction." [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Sudden Fear</i> 1952 film by David Miller

Sudden Fear is a 1952 American film noir thriller film directed by David Miller, and starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith was based upon the novel of the same name by Edna Sherry.

Albert Dekker American actor and politician (1905–1968)

Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in Dr. Cyclops, The Killers (1946), Kiss Me Deadly, and The Wild Bunch.

<i>The Man with My Face</i> (film) 1951 film by Edward Montagne

The Man with My Face is a 1951 American film noir directed by Edward Montagne featuring Barry Nelson, Carole Mathews and Lynn Ainley. The film marks Jack Warden's movie debut.

<i>Whistle Stop</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by Léonide Moguy

Whistle Stop is a 1946 American film noir crime film directed by Léonide Moguy and starring George Raft, Ava Gardner, Victor McLaglen, and Tom Conway. The screenplay was written by Philip Yordan, based on a novel by Maritta M. Wolff.

<i>T-Men</i> 1947 film by Anthony Mann

T-Men is a 1947 semi-documentary and police procedural style film noir about United States Treasury agents. The film was directed by Anthony Mann and shot by noted noir cameraman John Alton. The production features Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart and Charles McGraw. A year later, director Mann used the film's male lead, Dennis O'Keefe, in Raw Deal.

<i>Port of New York</i> (film) 1949 film by László Benedek

Port of New York is a 1949 American film noir/crime film directed by László Benedek with cinematography by George E. Diskant and shot in semidocumentary style. The film is notable for being Yul Brynner's first film appearance, and he had not yet begun shaving his head. The film, which is very similar to T-Men (1947), was shot on location in New York City.

<i>The Damned Dont Cry</i> 1950 film by Vincent Sherman

The Damned Don't Cry is a 1950 American film noir crime-drama directed by Vincent Sherman and featuring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Steve Cochran. It tells of a woman's involvement with an organized crime boss and his subordinates. The screenplay by Harold Medford and Jerome Weidman was based on the story "Case History" by Gertrude Walker. The plot is loosely based on the relationship of Bugsy Siegel and Virginia Hill. The film was directed by Vincent Sherman and produced by Jerry Wald. The Damned Don't Cry is the first of three cinematic collaborations between Sherman and Crawford, the others being Harriet Craig (1950) and Goodbye, My Fancy (1951).

<i>Beyond a Reasonable Doubt</i> (1956 film) 1956 American film directed by Fritz Lang

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt is a 1956 film noir directed by Fritz Lang and written by Douglas Morrow. The film stars Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, and Arthur Franz. It was Lang's second film for producer Bert E. Friedlob, and the last American film he directed.

Witness to Murder is a 1954 American film noir crime drama directed by Roy Rowland and starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, and Gary Merrill. While the film received moderately positive reviews, it ended up as an also-ran to Alfred Hitchcock's somewhat similar Rear Window, which opened less than a month later. The latter picture was a box-office hit.

<i>Pushover</i> (film) 1954 film by Richard Quine

Pushover is a 1954 American film noir crime film directed by Richard Quine and starring Fred MacMurray, Phil Carey and Kim Novak in her first credited role. The motion picture was adapted from two novels, The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh and Rafferty by William S. Ballinger, by Roy Huggins, who went on to great success creating television series, including The Fugitive, Maverick, and The Rockford Files.

<i>The Second Woman</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by James V. Kern

The Second Woman is a 1950 film noir mystery-suspense film directed by James V. Kern and featuring Robert Young, Betsy Drake, John Sutton and Florence Bates. Sequences of the film were shot on the coastal areas of Monterey, California.

<i>The Man Who Came Back</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

The Man Who Came Back is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The movie was adapted to screen by Edwin J. Burke from the play by Jules Eckert Goodman.

<i>Born to Be Bad</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by Nicholas Ray

Born to Be Bad is a 1950 film noir melodrama directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Joan Fontaine as a manipulative young woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. It is based on the bestselling novel All Kneeling by Anne Parrish (1928).

<i>Black Widow</i> (1954 film) 1954 color mystery film directed by Nunnally Johnson

Black Widow is a 1954 American DeLuxe Color mystery film in CinemaScope, with elements of film noir, written, produced, and directed by Nunnally Johnson and starring Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, Gene Tierney, and George Raft.

<i>Start Cheering</i> 1938 film by Albert S. Rogell

Start Cheering is a 1938 American musical film directed by Albert S. Rogell and starring Jimmy Durante, Charles Starrett, Joan Perry, and Walter Connolly. It is best remembered today for guest appearances throughout the film by The Three Stooges, who were Columbia Pictures' short subject headliners at the time, as campus firemen. The film's choreography was by Danny Dare.

<i>Blonde Ice</i> 1948 film by Jack Bernhard

Blonde Ice is a crime film noir released on July 24, 1948, directed by Jack Bernhard with music by Irving Gertz. The film was originally released as a B movie. This means the film is a low budget commercial film along with a feature movie. The film stars Leslie Brooks as Claire Cummings Hanneman, Robert Paige as Les Burns, and Michael Whalen as Stanley Mason. It is based on the 1938 novel Once Too Often by Elwyn Whitman Chambers. Claire is a society reporter and serial killer who is willing to go to extremes if it means publishing a story. She manages to keep herself in the headlines by marrying and seducing a series of wealthy men. However, all of these men die under certain mysterious circumstances. In order to protect her reputation, as well as deflect suspicion from herself, Claire frames her former boyfriend, the sportswriter Les Burns.

<i>The Gangster</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Gordon Wiles

The Gangster is a 1947 American crime film noir starring Barry Sullivan, Belita, Joan Lorring and Akim Tamiroff. It was directed by Gordon Wiles, with a screenplay by Daniel Fuchs, based on his novel Low Company (1937).

<i>The Strip</i> (1951 film) 1951 film by László Kardos

The Strip is a 1951 American crime film noir directed by László Kardos and starring Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest and William Demarest. Much of the picture was shot on location in and around the Sunset Strip. Interiors were shot at popular nightclubs Mocambo and Ciro's and at restaurants Little Hungary and Stripps.

<i>The Whistler</i> (1944 film) 1944 film by William Castle

The Whistler is a 1944 American mystery film noir directed by William Castle and starring Richard Dix, Gloria Stuart and J. Carrol Naish. Based on the radio drama The Whistler, it was the first of Columbia Pictures' eight "Whistler" films starring Richard Dix produced in the 1940s. The film will be under copyright until 2040 due to renewal.

No Questions Asked is a 1951 American crime film noir directed by Harold F. Kress and starring Barry Sullivan, Arlene Dahl, George Murphy and Jean Hagen.

References

  1. The Pretender at IMDb.
  2. Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, October 11, 2004. Last accessed: January 10, 2008.