Name: The Sleeping Tiger
Genre: Drama
Released: 1954-10-05
Rating: 45
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Alexis Smith, Alexander Knox, Hugh Griffith, Patricia McCarron

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

The Sleeping Tiger is a hardboiled thriller which plays with a number of elements around the human condition.

Nov 4, 2022

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MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

There is a splendour about this film, which has one of the most absurdly extravagant plots on record, and never flinches from it.

Mar 2, 2019

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Brute force collides with the gentility of 1950s British cinema

Sep 25, 2009

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Unconvincing and far-fetched psychological drama about lust and redemption.

Rated: C+

Dec 25, 2008

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Audience Member

The psychology is dated but this is one of Alexis Smith's best roles and performances.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

Dirk Bogarde is the reason to watch this film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

Losey's first Brit production, directed anonymously after his blacklisting stateside. This also prominently features Bogarde, who would later work with Losey in less sensational but more complex roles. Condemned to B movie status in terms of budget and topical subject, this is a fascinatingly self-aware collision of noir technique and tragedy of manners. Malcolm Arnold's score repeats thematically in varying contexts and intensity to provoke sympathy or lurid disgust. There is also an interesting use of sound editing applied to crime and chase scenarios which might be considered as anticipatory of Accident (1967). Alexis Smith gives an emotionally intense performance rivaling Bogarde's sublimated inner conflict with a greater capacity for emotional violence. Losey uses mantelpiece mirrors and framing devices to confine his subjects even as they assure themselves that history is not repeating itself. And despite the tawdry and implausible script, the noir stylings and fine acting here elevate it well above most high budget films of any day.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

Well, the first hour of this film was rather exquisite, but the last 25 minutes or so are little short of batshit insane. Dirk Bogarde smoulders his way through the film as the lynchpin of a fairly silly story. If you can accept that a psychologist would allow a criminal into his home so that he can work on him, then the film is utterly fabulous.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Audience Member

A psychotherapist (Knox) invites a wanted criminal (Bogarde) to stay in his home in the hopes of finding a solid treatment for criminal behavior. The experiment starts to go awry when the doctor's sociopathic, bored wife (Smith) starts an affair with the criminal in the hopes that she will run away with her. "The Sleeping Tiger" is an overblown melodrama with just enough character development and film noir elements to make it interesting. A decent cast also helps the movie along quite nicely. Dirk Bogarde--as the young career criminal who finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place, but who might find his way to a new life if he can go straight--and Alexis Smith--as a gorgeous and deeply twisted woman who has everything except a soul) give outstanding performances, with Alexander Knox providing a fine backdrop for them to play off, as he plays a bland but unshakably confident man of science who only has thoughts of his experiment. There's nothing really outstanding about this British excursion into the film noir/crime drama genre, but there's also nothing particularly awful. It's one of those films that's worth checking out if you notice it included in a DVD multipack, or if it shows up on some cable channel, but it's not worth going out of your way for. The Sleeping Tiger Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Alexis Smith, Alexander Knox, Hugh Griffith, and Patricia McCarron Diretor: Victor Hanbury (aka Joseph Losey)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

6.5/10. Dirk Bogarde is such an intense and gifted actor. Alexis Smith gives one of her best performances. Suspenseful, well acted and directed, great score. Very well done.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Joseph Losey

Director

Dirk Bogarde

Frank Clemmons

Alexis Smith

Glenda Esmond

Alexander Knox

Dr. Clive Esmond

Hugh Griffith

The Inspector

Patricia McCarron

Sally Foster

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Synopsis

When brash young thug Frank Clemmons (Dirk Bogarde) attempts to rob psychiatrist Clive Esmond (Alexander Knox), the doctor surprisingly gains the upper hand. Instead of sending Frank to jail, Clive offers to have the criminal stay at his home, where he'll attempt to reform the delinquent via in-depth analysis. Settling into the doctor's house, Clive meets Esmond's wife, Glenda (Alexis Smith), who initially dislikes her coarse guest. When Glenda begins to fall for Frank, intense conflict ensues.

Director: Joseph Losey
Screenwriter: Maurice Moisiewitsch, Harold Buchman, Carl Foreman
Distributor: Astor Pictures Corporation
Production Co: Insignia Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 1954, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 27, 2017
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: Mono

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