Pretty Poison (film)

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Pretty Poison
Original film poster
Directed by	Noel Black
Produced by	Lawrence Turman Marshal Backlar Joel Black
Written by	Novel: Stephen Geller Screenplay: Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Starring	Anthony Perkins Tuesday Weld Beverly Garland John Randolph Dick O'Neill
Music by	Johnny Mandel
Cinematography	David Quaid
Editing by	William Ziegler
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	23 October 1968
Running time	89 min
Country
Language	English
Budget	US$ 1,800,000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Pretty Poison (1968) 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 protagonists 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.

[edit] Synopsis

Dennis Pitt is a disturbed young man on parole 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 wracked 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 him 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.