DVD Review High Tension DVD Review (1 Viewer)

High Tension DVD Review

As he worked his way up the ladder toward top-billed stardom, Brian Donlevy played a number of different types of roles but mostly specialized in tough guys. Allan Dwan’s High Tension offered him a chance at a romantic lead, slightly tough and full of ego but a good guy nonetheless and the film’s unquestioned hero. While he carried it off quite well, it proved to be a rare instance where his toughness was less important than other qualities he was able to bring to the screen. This 20^th Century Fox “B” picture from Sol Wurtzel’s production unit may have the unmistakable look of a studio bound picture (despite undersea scenes and the last part of the movie taking place in Hawaii), but it’s nevertheless an entertaining quickie and worth experiencing.

Studio: Fox

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 480I/MPEG-2

Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1

Audio: English 2.0 DD

Subtitles: None

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 1 Hr. 3 Min.

Package Includes: DVD

Amaray case

Disc Type: DVD-R

Region: 1

Release Date: 12/16/2014

MSRP: $19.98

The Production Rating: 3.5/5

Steve Reardon (Brian Donlevy) is the most valued deep-sea engineer at the Trans Pacific Cable Company. His boss Willard Stone (Robert McWade) would like to keep a firmer grip on his egotistical gadabout, but Steve always manages to come through in the clutch and keep the company running no matter the difficulty. During one of the down moments in his topsy-turvy romance with writer Edith McNeil (Glenda Farrell), Steve finds himself saved from getting mugged while drunk by newly graduated engineer Eddie Mitchell (Norman Foster), and the two become great pals. Steve even turns down a lucrative job with the company in their Hawaii office and gives it to Eddie so he can stay close to Edie on the mainland (even though they’re currently on the outs). But when a rival to Eddie in Hawaii named Noble Harrison (Theodore von Eltz) starts making things tough for Eddie to keep his job, Steve drops everything to go help his friend.

The script by Lou Breslow, Edward Eliscu, and John Patrick is short on narrative but jam-packed with enjoyable rapid-fire dialogue that Donlevy, Farrell, the irrepressible Hattie McDaniel (playing Edie's maid Hattie), and the rest of the cast handle with professional ease. Director Allan Dwan tries his mightiest to keep things interesting by staging a bar brawl, a bedroom fight between Steve and the newly crowned heavyweight champion (Joe Sawyer) currently romancing Edie, and a couple of undersea diving sequences (the climactic one involving great danger for Eddie), and they all come off rather well even though the tank-shot undersea scenes are blurry and photographed sometimes at too great a distance away to get the real impact of the incipient danger. The mix of comedy, drama, and romance is nicely balanced even when the writers must stoop to obvious clichés of the era like the prissy office manager (Romaine Callender) whom Steve calls with women’s names and the leading character being such a male chauvinist who never considers the feelings of the women whom he consistently disappoints and leads on.

Brian Donlevy seems to be terrifically enjoying the role of Steve Reardon with all of his egotistical world-by-the-tail dominance at the fore. Sure, it’s the kind of role only the movies allowed such a thoughtless braggart: the kind of man who can do as he pleases when he pleases, tell the boss when and what to do, and never worry about being fired but rather uses his expertise as the hook by which he runs the whole show while at the same time keeping the women on his leash jumping at the chance to be with him even when he keeps them waiting four hours for a date while he sleeps off a bender. Glenda Farrell gets to be the one who finally tames him, but the writers don’t give her nearly enough calculated wiles to do the taming with real persuasion. Norman Foster is very appealing as the wide-eyed innocent Eddie Mitchell who hero worships Steve until Steve himself starts to make the moves on Eddie’s Girl Friday Brenda Burke, played by Helen Wood with again not quite enough pluck to pull it off convincingly. Robert McWade gives a pleasing if over-familiar performance as the boss who pulls his hair out over Steve’s demands that have him over a barrel. Romaine Callender is the butt of quite a few jokes as the stuffy, by-the-book office manager which he handles as nobly as possible, and Hattie McDaniel in an early sizable role (after triumphing the year before in Alice Adams) earns her expected laughs as the knowing, outspoken maid.

Video Rating: 3.5/5  3D Rating: NA

The film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37:1, and while it has some degree of flecks and time-related markings, it actually looks far better than one might imagine. The image is sharp and solid, contrast has been consistently maintained, the grayscale offers decent black levels and excellent whites. The movie has been chaptered every ten minutes, so this transfer contains 7 chapters.

Audio Rating: 3/5

The volume level of this Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound mix has been set way too high and requires adjustment to prevent distortion and possible equipment damage. As a typical mono sound mix of the era, there is a lack of high and low end though dialogue has been well recorded and mixes just fine with the music and sound effects. There is some slight hiss to be heard on occasion, and there are also occasional bursts of crackle and some pops as well.

Special Features Rating: 0/5

There are no bonus features on this made-on-demand disc.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

High Tension is a perfect example of an entertaining movie of the era put together quickly and offering its viewing audience an ingratiating mix of laughs, thrills, and romance. No, it’s no classic nor is it an undiscovered gem, but it offers pleasing actors and a decent amount of entertainment for its one hour running time.

Reviewed By: Matt Hough

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