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Undercurrent
Moody direction by Vincente Minnelli and effective performances by the stars somewhat cast against type make a slightly overheated melodrama from 1946 called Undercurrent worth a look.
The film stars Katharine Hepburn as Ann Hamilton, the daughter of a science professor, who is on the cusp of spinsterhood. After continually turning down marriage proposals from one of her father's colleagues, Ann does have a whirlwind romance with a wealthy industrialist named Alan Garroway (Robert Taylor) who she impulsively marries. It's not long before Ann learns that her new husband has a lot of issues involving his younger brother, Michael (Robert Mitchum), who Alan paints as a dangerous psychopath, but it's not long before Ann realizes that Alan is the real psychopath.
Edward Chodorov's screenplay is a little cliched and a little predictable. The way Alan or anyone who knows or works for Alan bristles every time someone mentions Michael's name
seems to draw the audience into the direction they want the viewer to go. Unfortunately, it's so obvious that by the halfway point of the film where we meet Michael, the effect of the plot twist has lost a lot of its power. This is also another story where, in order for the story to work, the heroine's brain is removed and replaced for several parts of the story. The smart and strong-willed Ann Hamilton we meet at the beginning of the film turns into a naive and insecure waif after she marries Alan.
What I did like about this film is Minnelli's direction, which turns out to be the driving force behind the story...I loved the way whenever Ann mentions Michael's name to Alan, the screen would turn dark and the camera would close in on Alan's burning eyes. It was also fun seeing the usually strong and outspoken Hepburn playing a damsel in distress, normal romantic lead Robert Taylor playing the psychopath, and well known cinema psychopath Mitchum playing the misunderstood brother.
Hepburn's luminous performance as Ann is really the heart of the film and makes us care about what's going on and Taylor works very hard at being a domineering psychopath. Mitchum also surprises in one of his most sensitive performances as misunderstood Michael. Edmund Gwenn, who would in an Oscar the following year for Miracle on 34th Street, is lovely as Ann's father and Clinton Sundberg was surprisingly creepy as Alan's underling. A must for Hepburn and Minnelli fans.
Moody direction by Vincente Minnelli and effective performances by the stars somewhat cast against type make a slightly overheated melodrama from 1946 called Undercurrent worth a look.
The film stars Katharine Hepburn as Ann Hamilton, the daughter of a science professor, who is on the cusp of spinsterhood. After continually turning down marriage proposals from one of her father's colleagues, Ann does have a whirlwind romance with a wealthy industrialist named Alan Garroway (Robert Taylor) who she impulsively marries. It's not long before Ann learns that her new husband has a lot of issues involving his younger brother, Michael (Robert Mitchum), who Alan paints as a dangerous psychopath, but it's not long before Ann realizes that Alan is the real psychopath.
Edward Chodorov's screenplay is a little cliched and a little predictable. The way Alan or anyone who knows or works for Alan bristles every time someone mentions Michael's name
seems to draw the audience into the direction they want the viewer to go. Unfortunately, it's so obvious that by the halfway point of the film where we meet Michael, the effect of the plot twist has lost a lot of its power. This is also another story where, in order for the story to work, the heroine's brain is removed and replaced for several parts of the story. The smart and strong-willed Ann Hamilton we meet at the beginning of the film turns into a naive and insecure waif after she marries Alan.
What I did like about this film is Minnelli's direction, which turns out to be the driving force behind the story...I loved the way whenever Ann mentions Michael's name to Alan, the screen would turn dark and the camera would close in on Alan's burning eyes. It was also fun seeing the usually strong and outspoken Hepburn playing a damsel in distress, normal romantic lead Robert Taylor playing the psychopath, and well known cinema psychopath Mitchum playing the misunderstood brother.
Hepburn's luminous performance as Ann is really the heart of the film and makes us care about what's going on and Taylor works very hard at being a domineering psychopath. Mitchum also surprises in one of his most sensitive performances as misunderstood Michael. Edmund Gwenn, who would in an Oscar the following year for Miracle on 34th Street, is lovely as Ann's father and Clinton Sundberg was surprisingly creepy as Alan's underling. A must for Hepburn and Minnelli fans.