Interesteg What makes it different from others?

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Brucey D This film was the product of two main thoughts; 1) "Lets make a film about Nazi fifth columnists...." and 2) " hang on, let's make the bad guys ex-Nazis who are now Communists instead..." and so a muddled, overly expensive film is born. It would have been bad enough if the second thought had been shortly after the first, but it wasn't; the film had to be re-shot in part, and it shows.This film isn't entirely without merit, but for me the story just doesn't make sense; leave alone the usual business where the bad guys insist on explaining their dark deeds in detail whilst not disposing of the good guys, or taking the opportunity to push the button etc (as seen in countless films ranging from 'The thirty-nine steps' to various Bond outings); here we are expected to believe that one of the main bad guys has comparatively recently been the subject of an exposé in a national magazine, but, er, this didn't immediately alert the bad guys when the writer turns up. Even though they knew all about it.Oh, and while we're at it, you might notice that the good guy gets hit on the head twice, but in exactly the same place each time. What are the chances of that...? Quite high if you are trying to cobble a film together without having to reshoot the whole thing, as it turns out....Just about worth watching if you have an interest in films of this type.

MattyGibbs A young reporter on vacation injuries himself and finds himself in a small town called Winnoga which seems to harbour a dark secret. The Whip Hand is a suspenseful and taut thriller. There are plenty of colourful characters as a town full of fear are helped by a confident reporter who senses things are not as they seem. Elliott Reid is convincing as the reporter and Raymond Burr is quietly menacing as one of the conspirators. The plot although featuring a sinister subject is fairly routine and predictable to today's audience but probably packed much more of a punch in the post war paranoid 1950's. Although by no means a classic, this is a fairly enjoyable thriller and well worth watching at least once.

utgard14 Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is a magazine writer on a fishing trip in Winnoga, Minnesota. He discovers all the fish in the town's lake are dead and the locals are none too friendly. He starts nosing around and finds himself in the middle of a Communist plot to overthrow America with germ warfare. The original story for this had Nazis as the villains instead of Communists. But producer Howard Hughes felt Reds were more timely so the story was changed to Communists who used to be Nazis. Which is all kinds of hilarious if you think about it.Elliott Reid, a fine character actor I've seen in tons of stuff, is an atypical lead but does a solid job. His big romantic scene is a pretty big fail, though. Frank Darien is fun as the elderly general store owner who tries to help Reid. Carla Balenda, no doubt given the female lead by Hughes, offers a bland and forgettable turn here. I don't think she changed facial expressions more than twice. Raymond Burr plays one of the Commies. He's the most famous actor in the movie. The rest of the cast is made up of lesser-known but quality actors, some of which classic movie fans might recognize (Lurene Tuttle, for one). Perhaps the most pleasant surprise about this movie is that it's directed by William Cameron Menzies, legendary production designer whose directorial efforts include Things to Come and Invaders from Mars. Menzies gives this movie a stylish direction lacking in most other '50s Red Scare flicks. The movie looks like a film noir, not a political thriller. It's a beautiful-looking black & white movie. Whether you take the story seriously or not, I don't see how you can deny it's a well-crafted film of its type. It's a reasonably suspenseful thriller with some style and some neat creepy moments late in the film.

the_biologist In these times of paranoia, it is often useful to look back to the nineteen fifties and see the effects of a similar period of right wing domination - The Mcarthyist era. The Whip Hand is a anti-communist propaganda film set in the US. A Nazi germ warfare scientist who was captured by the soviets after WWII is alive and well and living in middle America. A Journalist on a fishing holiday stumbles across a remote town previously well know for its trout fisheries, but a virus has recently wiped them out. injuring himself, he looks for help at a private estate only to be turned away. reaching the town, a doctor (who is really a bacteriologist) treats him, but his curiosity has been peaked by his brusque treatment at the estate amongst other things and he decides to investigate, despite the best efforts of the local commies. With the help of the doctor's sister and the owner of the general store, he uncovers a sinister soviet plot to unleash germ warfare upon the US. Quite why the doctor's sister doesn't realise that he is a communist is unclear, as is the reason a committed Nazi has turned to communism. Interstingly the bacteriologists name is Edward Keller - very similar to the name of a US atomic scientist Edward Teller who at this time was working on the H-bomb - a far greater threat! For any student of left wing politics, this will be a hoot, but for someone who sincerely subscribes to US propaganda, past and present, it will undoubtedly be a great embarrassment.