Rent The Sleeping Tiger (1954)

3.3 of 5 from 62 ratings
1h 25min
Rent The Sleeping Tiger Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
A psychiatrist, Clive Esmond (Alexander Knox), catches young gunman Frank Clements (Dirk Bogarde) breaking into his house. Rather than send him to prison he invites the delinquent to stay at his home as a social guinea pig - Esmond believes he can curb the fugitives criminal tendencies. Further tensions arise however when the young begins an afair with Esmonds wife (Alexis Smith).
Actors:
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Directors:
Producers:
Victor Hanbury, Joseph Losey
Writers:
Maurice Moiseiwitsch, Harold Buchman, Carl Foreman
Studio:
Optimum
Genres:
Classics, Drama, Thrillers
BBFC:
Release Date:
22/07/2007
Run Time:
85 minutes
Languages:
English LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
None
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W
BBFC:
Release Date:
07/11/2022
Run Time:
89 minutes
Languages:
English LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Interview with Dirk Bogarde's Biographer John Coldstream
  • Interview with Matthew Sweet

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Reviews (1) of The Sleeping Tiger

Freudian drama. - The Sleeping Tiger review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
29/05/2023

1954 was the year that Dirk Bogarde became a major British star with Doctor in the House. But The Sleeping Tiger was a more significant indication of the actor's future direction. It was the first of many collaborations with Joseph Losey, an elaborate psycho-drama with Dirk playing a complex, dangerous criminal who moves in with a psychiatrist.

Alexander Knox plays the narcissistic shrink who wants to get into the head of the volatile delinquent, and unlock his suppressed trauma with Freudian analysis. But didn't reckon on his bored, beautiful wife (Alexis Smith) falling for the handsome, imperious younger man. Wrong move! She has hidden motives too. And the film becomes a malign power struggle.

It's the kind of cerebral, brooding psychological stand off for which Losey is remembered. It's an actors film, and Alexis Smith is excellent as an emotionally hungry neurotic who is outwardly assured and elegant. But Bogarde dominates playing a sardonic, insidious sociopath; a forerunner of his signature performance in Losey's, The Servant.

Losey released his UK debut under a borrowed name, because he was a refugee from McCarthyism. He became arguably the standout director of 50s-60s British films. This is an intelligent and unconventional drama, rather than groundbreaking. He wasn't quite there yet. But it's an early gateway into his oeuvre, and the dark charisma of Dirk Bogarde.

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