Pretty Poison

Dennis Pitt [Anthony Perkins] is a disturbed young man on parole from a mental institution who becomes attracted to Sue Ann Stepanek [Tuesday Weld]. He tells her he is a secret agent, and takes her along on a series of missions. What starts as a seductive fantasy quickly spirals into real danger when he convinces her to participate in a sabotage plot against a factory, allegedly ordered by the CIA.

When the pair confronts the factory’s night watchman, Sue Ann knocks him unconscious and drowns him. Dennis is wracked with guilt over what they’ve done and what they’ve allowed to happen, while Sue Ann is exhilarated by the adventure and urges Dennis to run away with her to Mexico.

Back at Sue Ann’s home, they are interrupted by Mrs. Stepanek [Beverly Garland], the disapproving mother who stands in their way. Sue Ann realizes that Dennis is incapable of actually killing a person, so she shoots her mother and orders Dennis to dispose of the body. But he calls the police instead.

Dennis accepts the blame for the crimes, knowing the police will take Sue Ann’s word over his. He makes no effort to defend himself in court and is sentenced to a life sentence. He is glad to be locked away, a distance from Sue Ann, whom he has begun to fear. He asks his skeptical parole officer Morton Azenauer [John Randolph] to “see what Sue Ann is up to” in hopes she will be exposed. The film ends with Sue Ann meeting a young man and lamenting that the people who took her in after her mother’s death won’t let her stay out late; it is implied she will use and destroy him as she did Dennis. But Dennis’s parole officer is indeed watching as she departs with her latest victim.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 12:32