Pretty Poison (1968/DVD-Video)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: B-
Lorenzo
Semple, Jr. was working on the hit TV series Batman in the 1960s while also working on more mature, adult
material. As a sort of counterculture
tale (based on Stephen Geller’s novel She
Let Him Continue), Noel Black’s Pretty
Poison (1968) has former arsonist and factory worker Dennis (Anthony
Perkins continuing typecasting) becoming interested in young Sue Ann (iconic
Tuesday Weld) who has a repressive mother (Beverly Garland in an interesting
performance) and Dennis tells Sue Ann he is with the CIA instead of the truth
that he just came out of a mental hospital.
Of
course, he is having problems at his factory bottling job and wants to do
something more, something better. Sue
Ann is not all there either; it turns out, thanks in part to her mother. That is why things are about to become more
complicated.
Though
not a great film, Black and Semple were able top create something interesting,
realistic, intelligent and a film that met many of its ambitions. Perkins can act and is good here, while Weld
still looked great and has an odd chemistry with him. John Randolph, Dick O’Neill and a young,
unknown Ken Kercheval are the more recognizable cast members in a story that is
always sad about people who are trapped in the most subtle ways and cannot seem
to figure out any way to get out. You
rarely see any film approaching this honesty today, which is why it is nice to
see it on DVD now.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image was shot by David Quaid and is not bad,
though the transfer is a little softer than expected and only some of that can
be attributed to the style of the piece.
The sound is here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and Stereo with a Johnny
Mandel score that helps the film’s narrative out. Either version shows the age of the film
sound, but the Stereo is a bit better.
Except for the original theatrical trailer and text recommendation of
similar Fox titles, there are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
