The Whip Hand (1951)

Matt Corbin, a vacationing magazine writer, takes a fishing trip to Minnesota, and stumbles across a lake, near a ghost-town, where all the fish have mysteriously died. None of the locals ... See full summary »

Director:

William Cameron Menzies

Writers:

Roy Hamilton (story), George Bricker (screenplay),

Stars:

Carla Balenda, Elliott Reid, Edgar Barrier

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Carla Balenda	...	Janet Keller
Elliott Reid	...	Matt Corbin
Edgar Barrier	...	Dr. Edward Keller
Raymond Burr	...	Steve Loomis
Otto Waldis	...	Dr. Wilhelm Bucholtz
Michael Steele	...	Chick
Lurene Tuttle	...	Molly Loomis
Peter Brocco	...	Nate Garr
Lewis Martin	...	Peterson
Frank Darien	...	Luther Adams
Olive Carey	...	Mabel Turner
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bobby Watson	...	Adolf Hitler (scenes deleted)
William Yetter Jr.	...	German Sergeant (scenes deleted)
William Yetter Sr.	...	German Llieutenant (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Matt Corbin, a vacationing magazine writer, takes a fishing trip to Minnesota, and stumbles across a lake, near a ghost-town, where all the fish have mysteriously died. None of the locals care to talk about it but he learns that a group of former-Nazi's-turned-communist have purchased a lodge on an island, in the middle of the fish-killing lake, and have built some kind of laboratory. Never one to pass up a chance to sell a story to a magazine, Matt decides to investigate. His only ally is Janet Keller, the sister of the local doctor who has been caught up into whatever those Commie-Nazis are up to out there in their laboratory on an island lake. What they are up to, with Soviet financing, is the development of diseases to use in bacteriological warfare against the United States of America, starting in Minnesota.

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Plot Keywords:

laboratory | fishing | minnesota | island | writer | 

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Taglines:

SCIENCE HARNESSED BY MADMEN TO WIPE OUT AMERICA'S MILLIONS! [all caps]

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Enemy Within

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In keeping with the original Nazis-as-villains idea, the hero originally saw Adolf Hitler himself standing on the balcony of the villain's lair. He disappeared when the extensive re-shooting was done. Hitler was played once again by Bobby Watson.

User Reviews

Believe it or not, anti-Red thriller not too bad

The anti-communist film was a malignant undergrowth to the noir cycle; there has probably never been such a clumsy or dispirited clump of films ever foisted on the public. Some of them, nonetheless, have their moments. The Whip Hand, directed by William Cameron Menzies, is one of these (possibly because it started as an anti-Nazi intrigue piece before then-RKO boss Howard Hughes decreed that the Commies would make better box-office in 1951, the high noon of McCarthyism). Journalist Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is on a solo fishing trip somewhere in northern Minnesota (probably not far from Jefty's Road House), when he conks his head. Seeking medical attention, he stumbles into a strange town where he's told to fish elsewhere, as a virus, or something, has wiped out all the fish. It's kind of like Bad Day at Black Rock, where a loner insists on solving a terrible secret despite the fact that the whole town is in on the conspiracy. He can't even get a message out, or, if he does.... A bearded Raymond Burr is an outwardly jovial innkeeper and the best actor in this curious film, which manages to generate some tension and suspense along the way.