Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Organnall Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

bkoganbing Otto Preminger hit something of a speed bump in his career when he did Whirlpool. A nice cast and the makings of what could have been a good story is undone by a really incredible and unbelievable premise.Gene Tierney is the wife of psychiatrist Richard Conte who has her own issues, to wit she's a kleptomaniac. Jose Ferrer who plays a quack hypnotherapist spots her and was probably stalking her waiting for a moment to catch her stealing from a department store. He's got a fine line in blackmailing and another of his victims is Barbara O'Neil.With a little hypnosis Ferrer gets Tierney to go to O'Neil's home where she's been strangled and have the police discover her. Here's where the rub is, Jose has an iron clad alibi. I won't go any further, but ain't no way he could have done the deed given his situation. How he did it is just too much for the viewer to swallow.I will say that Ferrer does steal the film with a portrait of pure evil. Still it was a performance wasted in a mediocre movie.

JohnWelles "Whirlpool" (1949), directed by Otto Preminger, the man brought us the classic "Laura" (1944), and stars the luminous Gene Tierney, Richard Conte (who would eventually go on to co-star in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" [1972] as Don Emilio Barzini), the wonderfully world-weary and haggard Charles Bickford and the malicious José Ferrer giving his best. The main fault in this otherwise fine film that benefits from a nice score by the famed David Raksin and attractive cinematography by Arthur C. Miller, is an exceptionally silly plot from the usually reliable Ben Hecht (who was forced to use the pseudonym Lester Barstow because of a blacklist) that has Gene Tierney, a secret kleptomaniac married to world-renowned psychologist Richard Conte, being manipulated by the villainous José Ferrer to unwittingly become the chief suspect in a murder. The resolution is daft and somewhat spoils the effect of the whole film. So while it's not one of Otto Preminger's finest movies, it still has a lot to like, especially an impeccable cast.

ackstasis The second of three films that Otto Preminger directed with Gene Tierney, 'Whirlpool (1949)' is also the least of them. Clouded by the dubious Freudian psychology that was sweeping Hollywood in the late 1940s, the film is simply too implausible to prove sufficiently effective, despite the best efforts of the director and stars. I was reasonably willing to accept that David Korvo (José Ferrer) could control Ann Sutton's (Tierney) movements through hypnosis – and, indeed, a similar idea forms the backbone of Frankenheimer's classic thriller, 'The Manchurian Candidate (1962).' However, that the shifty psychologist could hypnotise himself into carrying out murder only hours after voluntarily offering himself for gall-bladder surgery really pushes one's credulity, inspiring laughter rather than intrigue. Perhaps somebody should have told the actors not to take the story quite so seriously, and the resultant lighter mood would have provided some surefire entertainment. As it happens, the principle members all give solid dramatic performances that they probably needn't have bothered with.Gene Tierney was, of course, one of the most stunning actresses to grace the silver screen, but she was also among the most misused. When utilised as a traditional, innocent damsel-in-distress, Tierney's acting is usually dependable without being particularly memorable. However, at least two directors realised that she was at her best when her character's intentions are either ambiguous {see 'Laura (1944)'} or downright evil {see 'Leave Her to Heaven (1945)'}. Given that Preminger directed the first of these, one wonders why he here decided to use Tierney in a purely conventional capacity; he repeated this offence in his follow-up picture, 'Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950).' José Ferrer is smarmily sinister as the psychiatrist abusing his "powers," though the screenplay does him a disservice in the final act. Richard Conte is more subdued than he is in 'The Big Combo (1955),' but nonetheless brings a likable intensity to an otherwise-passive role. Charles Bickford, whom I last saw in Renoir's 'The Woman on the Beach (1947)' here also gives a strong performance.'Whirlpool' is strongest in its middle-act, with Tierney as a wrong-accused innocent for whom every piece of evidence points to her guilt. However, since the story's conclusion is ultimately never in any doubt, much of the film's second half feels as though it is merely going through the motions. I think it would have been more effective had the audience been uncertain of Ann's innocence, just as she herself is unsure. Alfred Hitchcock did something similar just a few years earlier in 'Spellbound (1945),' casting doubt on the virtuousness of Gregory Peck as he is hunted for a crime of which he has no memory. Hinting at the tantalising possibility that Tierney is a murderer would undoubtedly have brought out the actresses' talents, the audience meanwhile tentative about whose story they can trust. For fans of 1940s psychological thrillers, in the same vein as 'The Dark Mirror (1946)' and 'Secret Beyond the Door… (1947),' this is worthwhile viewing, but also a regrettable disappointment.

moonspinner55 Gene Tierney plays the beautiful but troubled wife of a wealthy psychoanalyst; she's suffering from kleptomania and seeks help from a nefarious hypnotist, who uses her for his own advantage. Otto Preminger-directed drama, from a novel by Guy Endore, has a terminal case of blandness. The well-coiffed picture is smartly-designed, but it is so starched and manicured that even the themes of blackmail and murder fail to cause much alarm. Tierney, her prim face permanently set in a super-serious freeze, has no character to play and falls back on externals; as the villain, Jose Ferrer gets off to a good start (much like the picture) but he quickly becomes monotonous. *1/2 from ****