The Sleeping Tiger (1954)

An overdone psychodrama whose twists and turns require some unfortunate stretches.Too bad the plot ironies finally drown in a tidal wave of over-emotion. Apparently, ace director Losey couldn't tone down Smith's carpet chewing finale that unfortunately overwhelms what's gone before. At the same time, we're hit over the head with the finale's sleeping tiger irony. I think the audience can put two and two together without that billboard contrivance. Seems Glenda (Smith) is the highly repressed wife of coldly intellectual Dr. Clive (Knox), who's been neglecting her emotional needs as he pursues his writing and research. In that same pursuit he takes proven felon Frank (Bogarde) into his household in order to test his theory of criminal reform. Clive's main reform tool is to excuse Frank's misbehavior whether criminal or moral in order to get at the causes of Frank's disordered psyche. Needless to say, such indulgences cause all kinds of problems, both inside the household and out.As Doc's indulgences mount, it seems that an optimistic ideal is being mocked. Namely, that there are no bad people, only mistreated kids who then grow into criminal behavior. For example, while in the Doc's "care", Frank robs a jewelry store, and maybe worse, spits on Clive's generosity by seducing wife Glenda. In return, the Doc simply ignores the mounting transgressions. To me, that willingness, which also puts people in Doc's community in danger, looks like a mockery of a liberal brand of Freudianism then in vogue. It may be a provocative idea for the film to play with. Nonetheless, the tiger upshot undercuts that optimism, at the same time it clouds the film's one very real tragedy.Anyway, Bogarde comes through with a nicely modulated turn, while Knox deadpans through thick and thin, even as Smith does the sleeping tiger to an ear-splitting roar. Apparently the movie was filmed more cheaply abroad at a time when TV was eating into movie profits. So, on a small budget, don't expect much in terms of scenery or action, though noir master Losey does work in some atmosphere. To me, the story's highlight and genuine tragedy is downplayed, but is present nevertheless if you think about it. As the 90-minutes stands, it's something of a disappointment given the talent involved.(In passing-depending on the camera angle there are times when it appears Frank and Glenda resemble Lucy and Desi from TV's iconic I Love Lucy. Then again, maybe I had one too many beers!)

There is always something unpleasant and morbid about Joseph Losey's films as if they were innately self-destructive, you always sit waiting for the worst, and it always comes, but you never know how, and that's the worst of it.This film is slightly different from his ordinary ones, with above all an impressing camera work slanting towards almost Bergmanesque expressionism, but the dominant trait is the impressing acting by the three main characters, Alexis Smith, always beautiful and stylish, Dirk Bogarde, always slyly intelligent and unpredictable, and Alexander Knox, always on the safe and right side of reason and humanity. He is here a psychologist venturing on the interesting but risky experiment of housing a criminal (Bogarde) instead of turning him over to the police, in an effort to straighten him out. He gets straightened out but at the cost of Alexis Smith, Dr. Knox' wife, who finds her own tiger inside herself. There is more than one tiger getting roused from sleep and every day routine in this psychological thriller of mainly reasoning and experimenting - there is a gun but no bloodshed. The raw music of saxophones constantly insisting on vulgarity adds to the decadent atmosphere of human decay and perdition, like in so many of Losey's films if not all of them, but this is certainly one of his best. The Soho scenes contrast sharply against the orderly clinic and home of Dr. Knox and add some extra suggestive noir perfume to the dark drama of passion that never should have been called forth. Alexis Smith is always excellent, but I have never seen her better than here. It's a film of many raised eyebrows and some worries, but it is brilliantly realized with impressing, convincing psychology and great intelligence all the way.

At the time ,like so many others such as Dalton Trumbo,Joseph Losey used to work under pseudos because of his commie friends."The sleeping tiger" predates permanent features in the director's work:-the intruder ,be it a servant "(eponymous movie) ,a licentious gypsy ("the gypsy and the gentleman" ),some kind of doppelganger ("Monsieur Klein" ,perhaps his masterpiece), a mysterious girl ("secret ceremony"),who makes the place his very own ,physically ("The servant" ) or mentally ('Monsieur Klein" ).Dirk Bogarde is fascinating in his part of a young offender :his acting is so subtle we do not know when the movie ends whether he is a victim or a perverse person,probably both.-the depiction of the decay of a milieu the intruder will destroy : the old aristocracy in "the gypsy and the gentleman" ,the bourgeoisie in "the servant" the world of the war profiteers in " Monsieur Klein" . When Alexis Smith tells her husband's guinea pig that she got a raw deal too when she was a child but she made her way of life just the same ,the guy knows better :"because you think you are happy now?"A shrink wants to study a case of delinquency and wakens the sleeping tiger...which is perhaps not the one you are thinking of.Superlative performances by the three leads.

It's just a bit too much. The good doctor is attacked at gunpoint. He disarms the bad guy, then brings him home to dinner, where his high strung wife spars with the guy. Of course, the two eventually begin a movie long tryst. Dirk Bogarde is a bad boy who is a bundle of anger. He usually gets what he wants but carries more baggage than a porter at an airport. Alexis Smith is the femme fatale. She is older and bored with her psychologist husband, who is determined to resurrect the lad. He is willing to allow this man to do whatever he wants: bringing women to the house, bossing around the help, robbing jewelry stores and businesses. He is pursued by a cop who is on to him but has respect for the doctor and backs off on an arrest. It's hard to believe that this man should give a rip about Bogarde, but somehow he's willing to withdraw. The weakest part of the movie is when it all falls into place. It's so pat. A contemporary film would have built the house a card at a time; this happens in milliseconds. Then we have the denouement which I will not spoil. Let me just say it was a disappointment. The movie is visually sharp and the acting is pretty good. I never really like Alexis Smith much and she is a little grating here. Still, it's a decent performance and the subject is a little ahead of its time.