PRETTY POISON: CRAZY IS AS CRAZY DOES

PRETTY POISON is one of those movies that I’d heard of but never had the opportunity to see.

For some reason it never appears on various movie channels or if it does it’s on at such a late hour that I’ve missed it. And I check for movies that I’ve missed to DVR on these channels! So I was glad to finally get the chance to see this film.

The movie stars Anthony Perkins as Dennis Pitt, a young man who’s spent most of his life in an institution because while a youngster he was responsible for a fire that killed his aunt. Having gone through rehabilitation and psychiatric care he is about to finally be released. His probation officer Morton Azenauer (John Randolph) tells him it is best to avoid the creative fantasies that Dennis tends to place himself in and stick with reality, working the job he’s found for him and getting on with his life.

Dennis begins work at a lumber yard where he does his job well enough but still has moments where he is distracted. Dennis’ boss Bud (Dick O’Neill) is a jerk of a boss who looks for reasons to give Dennis a hard time. Of course this will lead to Dennis resentment of both Bud and the job he now works at.

On lunch break one day Dennis sees a beautiful young girl (Tuesday Weld), a cheerleader he spies marching with the band. He bumps into her, passing her a small vial and tells her to be quiet, they’re watching and he’ll meet her at a theater that night. Once there he takes the vial and thanks her, leaving. She follows and he concocts a story that he’s a secret agent on a mission. Her name is Sue Ann Stepanek and she’s not intrigued by this supposed spy.

The two begin to spend time with one another going so far as Dennis meeting her mother and taking her out on a date. The make a stop by a local make out area where the cops harass them and take them back to Sue Ann’s house. It is there that we get our first glimpse of what Sue Ann is capable off as we see her slap her mother when they argue after the police leave. Dennis is shocked and leaves the house.

Sue Ann contacts Dennis again and at just the right time. It seems that his Azenauer has let Bud know about Dennis’ past and Bud then fires Dennis. When Dennis lets him know Azenauer is upset since Bud promised not to fire Dennis. Once more Dennis makes up a story about a new job and has Sue Ann play the part of a secretary confirming the job.

Angry at Bud, Dennis convinces Sue Ann that they have to perform an act of sabotage on the lumber mill, weakening the supports of a run off. In the middle of doing so the night watchman catches Dennis but Sue Ann knocks him unconscious with the wrench she’s carrying. She takes his gun and shoots him, then pushes him into the river. Dennis is shocked but Sue Ann convinces him that when the run off falls it will look like it collapsed on the watchman and killed him.

The two love birds move forward from here into more potential threatening incidents before deciding to run off together. All the while we watch as Dennis, the man who is supposed to be the one with mental issues, is matched with this young all American girl who seems to be much more disturbed than he ever was. Where they will end up is anyone’s guess.

The film moves along at a slow pace, at times distracting because of this, but never quite enough to make it boring. It has a made for TV look from that time rather than a feature feel and I’m not sure if that helps or hinders. This is not to say it looks bad, just mediocre. The performances by both leads are well done, more so for Weld than Perkins. Watching you can’t help but recall all of the other times he’s played mentally unstable characters, especially Norman Bates in PSYCHO. Perkins would go on to play other characters with questionable mental issues in several more films. While he hoped to put Bates behind him he somehow always found himself in these roles.

What makes this movie so interesting is the role that Weld plays here. Far too often you can tell just who the bad guy, who the person is most likely to commit a crime is in film. Here we’re presented with a wholesome young girl who’s held in high regard but who underneath is the pretty poison the film’s title speaks of. It makes for an interesting character and performance.

The movie is being released by Twilight Time so you know up front that the image on screen will be the best possible to be found for this release. Extras include the isolated music and effects track, audio commentary with executive producer Lawrence Turman and film historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman, audio commentary with director Noel Black and film historian Robert Fischer, deleted scene script and commentary and the original factory trailer. I say this all the time but once more, Twilight Time has released this with only 3,000 copies available so if you want one make sure you order before they sell out.

Click here to order.