Whirlpool (1949)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Ben Hecht (screenplay) and
Andrew Solt (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 November 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

Can a man make a woman do things she doesn't want to?

Plot:

The wife of a psycho-analyst falls prey to a devious quack hypnotist when he discovers she is an habitual shoplifter...

Plot Keywords:

Hypnotist | Desperation | Psychiatrist | Miscarriage Of Justice | Investigation

Cast

Gene Tierney	...	Ann Sutton
Richard Conte	...	Dr. William 'Bill' Sutton
José Ferrer	...	David Korvo (as Jose Ferrer)
Charles Bickford	...	Lt. James Colton
Barbara O'Neil	...	Theresa Randolph
Eduard Franz	...	Martin Avery
Constance Collier	...	Tina Cosgrove
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Feruccio di Ravallo

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #13925) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The final feature film of Constance Collier.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ann is arrested on June 3, 1949, but we later read on her file that she was fingerprinted by police on May 27, 1949.

Quotes:

David Korvo: You were wise not to tell your husband, Mrs. Sutton. A successful marriage is usually based on what a husband and wife don't know about each other.

Movie Connections:

Featured in À bout de souffle (1960)

Soundtrack:

Again

hypnotic

Gene Tierney plays a beautiful kleptomaniac married to a successful psychoanalyst who appears more vulnerable than she in fact is. She comes under the influence of a calculating and dangerous hypnotist played by Jose Ferrer, who not only wants to fleece her financially but also has a strong desire have her in some weird way where he can win over her husband, whom he seriously resents for his successes and recognition in his work. Aside from his glaring professional and personal inadequacies which he glosses over with his smooth delivery, he turns out to be quite dangerous. Forget her kleptomania, which is nothing compared to the psychological minefield portrayed so well by Ferrer. The film's best and most interesting angle is his obsessions, which ruin him, a reason to watch this film with a certain fascination.