The Drowning Pool

The Drowning Pool. 1975 First Artists & Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, Melanie Griffith
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Available as part of the Paul Newman Collection from Amazon.

Stuart Rosenberg and Paul Newman get together to make their fourth feature film, which so happens to be what everyone in the world was demanding to see in the mid '70s: a sequel to 1966's Harper. Since I really couldn't get into the first movie, let's see how the sequel holds up.

(True, I wasn't that thrilled with Harper, but I still own two copies of it. Go figure...)

Lew Harper ventures to Louisiana to investigate a blackmail plot involving the nymphomaniac daughter (Griffith) of a former lover, Iris Devereaux (Woodward). He is also caught up in a power struggle between Iris and the oil tycoon Kilbourne (Hamilton), who wants the Devereaux property for himself.

The film's title comes from a scene where Harper and Kilbourne's wife Mavis (Strickland) are locked in a hydrotherapy room. Harper is inspired to flood the room, so he and Mavis can possibly float to the top and escape through the skylight.

The Drowning Pool looks good on film, but the plot is a bit complicated, and the main appeal of the first movie was its kitschy '60s look. The same magic wasn't captured on film in 1975. Newman, as always, is enjoyable, so I would have to say this is recommended for a rainy day. Oh, and I did like this one a little better than Harper.