Pretty Poison (film)
Encyclopedia
Pretty Poison 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 protagonist
s 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.
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 racked 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 her 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.
Noel Black
Noel Black is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer.Black was born in Chicago, Illinois. He won awards at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival for an 18-minute short subject filmed in 1965 called Skaterdater. It had no dialogue, but used music and sound effects to advance...
, starring Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
and Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld is an American actress.Weld began her acting career as a child, and progressed to more mature roles during the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960...
, about an ex-convict and high school cheerleader who commit a series of crimes.
While not generally considered an example of neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
, the film does include certain elements of the genre, including a femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
, a character trapped into circumstances beyond his control, criminal protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s and, of course, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
.
The film was based on the novel She Let Him Continue by Stephen Geller
Stephen Geller
Stephen Geller is an American screenwriter and novelist. Most famous for writing the screenplay for the film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Geller has worked in the film industry in Hollywood and Europe, and recently directed his own independent feature, Mother's Little...
; this was also the working title of the film.
There was a 1996 remake with the same title and plot.
Synopsis
Dennis Pitt is a disturbed young man on paroleParole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
from a mental institution who becomes attracted to teenaged cheerleader Sue Ann Stepenek. He tells her that he is a secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
, and takes her along on a series of "missions" that eventually end in murder. While Dennis is racked 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
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. First, however, they have to get rid of her disapproving mother.
Dennis realizes that Sue Ann is a sociopath
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
, 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 her 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.