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Pretty Poison

Play trailer Poster for Pretty Poison R 1968 1h 29m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Paranoid parolee Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins) strives to fit into everyday life working at a chemical factory but soon comes to believe the company is purposely polluting the town's water supply. Befriended by an attractive high school drum majorette, Sue Ann Stepanek (Tuesday Weld), Dennis is delighted when she approves of his scheme to pretend to be a CIA agent in order to destroy the factory. The plan goes awry, and the hapless Dennis becomes a pawn in Sue Ann's own devious plot.
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Pretty Poison

Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker 07/06/2022
Pretty Poison is a good little movie, and I use “little” not in a pejorative sense but as a form of protection and also a term of affection. Go to Full Review Joe Morgenstern Newsweek 07/06/2022
This is a lot for a ninety-minute movie to have on its mind, yet Black builds his scenes and directs his actors with great lucidity. Go to Full Review Richard Brody The New Yorker 04/14/2020
The nerve-jangling tale of looming chaos in idyllic surroundings conveys a sense of a world out of whack; it virtually shrieks with the era’s political and social turmoil. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 05/13/2023
3/4
Tuesday Weld is excellent as the lethal Lolita. Go to Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand 01/27/2017
...He's an older guy, to be sure, and she's a beautiful high school majorette seemingly charmed by his secretive life and acronym-dotted small talk, but behind her schoolgirl smile is a cagey, bored girl with a sociopathic streak ... Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ian S @RT48225084 Jun 29 Great performances from Weld, Perkins and John Randolph. Quirky movie that is never boring. Seems to be considered as a cult movie now. Entertaining and believable. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 27 Success in 1 hour and 29 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Kevin L @Lakeman 03/24/2025 Well that was pretty wacky. Wacky Tony Perkins all loaded with delusions to apparently make up for a lackluster personal image. Then there's loopy Tuesday Weld, all fire and psychopathy. She's esp. good here, and there's good chemistry between the two of them. But this movie also smacks (like a burger patty slammed on a grill) of old-timey directing and writing. The boss at the factory is played by Dick O'Neill, a ham from way back. John Randolph is competent as the one person who has belief in Perkins' Dennis. Beverly Garland is fine as a skeptical mother with a taste for booze and a roll in the hay. The ending works pretty well, esp. Dennis' last words to Randolph's Mr. Azenuaer. That and Weld's sexy femme very fatale gets it to a 3. See more Jen O @Jenower 03/24/2025 Fantastic study of two troubled young people, with surprises aplenty. See more Blobbo X @Blobbo 04/16/2022 Has the look, sound, and feel of an average episode of Love American Style. See more steve d @RT35616104 07/18/2020 The ending makes the entire ride worth it. See more Read all reviews
Pretty Poison

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Cast & Crew

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Noel Black

Director

Anthony Perkins

Dennis Pitt

Tuesday Weld

Sue Ann Stepanek

Beverly Garland

Mrs. Stepanek

John Randolph

Morton Azenauer

Dick O'Neill

Bud Munsch

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Pretty Poison

Pretty Poison (1968) Pretty Poison (1968) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Paranoid parolee Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins) strives to fit into everyday life working at a chemical factory but soon comes to believe the company is purposely polluting the town's water supply. Befriended by an attractive high school drum majorette, Sue Ann Stepanek (Tuesday Weld), Dennis is delighted when she approves of his scheme to pretend to be a CIA agent in order to destroy the factory. The plan goes awry, and the hapless Dennis becomes a pawn in Sue Ann's own devious plot.
Director
Noel Black
Producer
Marshall Backlar, Noel Black
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
20th Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 23, 1968, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 1, 2010
Runtime
1h 29m
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