The Pretender (film)
Encyclopedia
The Pretender is an American
crime
film noir
directed by W. Lee Wilder and written by Don Martin, with additional dialogue by Doris Miller. The drama features Albert Dekker
, Catherine Craig, Charles Drake
, among others.
However, Worthington is already engaged, so Holden arranges for her fiancee to be killed. The hired hit man's only means of identifying the victim is the picture in the society columns. But Claire Worthington changes her mind and agrees to marry Holden. This means that it's his picture that will appear in the newspaper, thereby condemning him to death.
Desperately trying to contact the hit man, Holden discovers that the man is dead...but his successor is still at large.
, an effectively chilling mood music which later became a cliché for many 1950s sci-fi films about aliens. John Alton's dark film noir photography sets the proper mood for the melodrama. The film noir is absorbing despite stilted dialogue and flat direction."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
directed by W. Lee Wilder and written by Don Martin, with additional dialogue by Doris Miller. The drama features Albert Dekker
Albert Dekker
Albert Dekker was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in Dr. Cyclops, The Killers, Kiss Me Deadly, and The Wild Bunch. He is sometimes credited as Albert Van Dekker or Albert van Dekker...
, Catherine Craig, Charles Drake
Charles Drake
Charles Drake was an American actor.-Biography:Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful...
, among others.
Plot
The story tells of Kenneth Holden (Dekker) a crooked investment businessman who embezzles a large sum of money from an estate. He hopes to cover his crime by marrying the estate's heiress Claire Worthington (Craig).However, Worthington is already engaged, so Holden arranges for her fiancee to be killed. The hired hit man's only means of identifying the victim is the picture in the society columns. But Claire Worthington changes her mind and agrees to marry Holden. This means that it's his picture that will appear in the newspaper, thereby condemning him to death.
Desperately trying to contact the hit man, Holden discovers that the man is dead...but his successor is still at large.
Cast
- Albert DekkerAlbert DekkerAlbert Dekker was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in Dr. Cyclops, The Killers, Kiss Me Deadly, and The Wild Bunch. He is sometimes credited as Albert Van Dekker or Albert van Dekker...
as Kenneth Holden - Catherine Craig as Claire Worthington
- Charles DrakeCharles DrakeCharles Drake was an American actor.-Biography:Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful...
as Dr. Leonard Koster - Alan CarneyAlan CarneyAlan Carney was an American actor and comedian.Alan Carney was born David Boughal in Brooklyn, New York. He had performed in vaudeville for years as a comic dialectican. After making his first film, 1941's Convoy, Carney signed a contract at RKO Pictures, in choice supporting roles in such films...
as Victor Korrin - Linda StirlingLinda StirlingLinda Stirling was an American showgirl, model and actress. In her later years, she had a second career as a college English professor for more than two decades...
as Flo Ronson - Tom KennedyTom Kennedy (American actor)Tom Kennedy was an American actor best known for his roles in Hollywood comedies from the silent days, with such producers as Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, mainly supporting lead comedians such as the four Marx Brothers, WC Fields, Mabel Normand, Shemp Howard and Laurel and Hardy.-Career:For over 50...
as Fingers - Selmer Jackson as Charles Lennox
- Charles MiddletonCharles B. MiddletonCharles B. Middleton was an American stage and film actor. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, Charles Middleton appeared in nearly two hundred films as well as numerous plays...
as William the butler - Ernie Adams as Thomas the butler
- Ben WeldenBen WeldenBen Welden was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows...
as Mickie - John Bagni as Hank Gordon
- Stanley Ross as Stranger
Critical reception
Critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film and wrote, "Billy Wilder's lesser known elder brother William Lee Wilder...directs this striking film noir about a successful man becoming paranoiac and placing himself in entrapment. In one amazing characteristic noir scene, the protagonist is seated on the floor of his unlit, locked room eating crackers and canned food, afraid of being poisoned. This is one of the first movies to score for thereminTheremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
, an effectively chilling mood music which later became a cliché for many 1950s sci-fi films about aliens. John Alton's dark film noir photography sets the proper mood for the melodrama. The film noir is absorbing despite stilted dialogue and flat direction."