UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

MisterWhiplash Oh sure, Ann Sutton could pay for that pin - or for many other things - but there's something, probably, about the thrill of taking something, very non-chalant out of a store, especially as an unsuspecting adult white woman in the late 40's, and not getting caught. Is it Kleptomania? Perhaps. But the point is, at the start of Whirlpool, Ann gets caught at a department store stealing a pin, and she's in luck that David Korvo is there to help excuse her away - these are false charges after all, she has the money to buy a dozen of these pins, right - but there's a catch to her being let go: not so much for money, at least it seems at first. She tries to pay him, but for five thousand, p-shaw. No, he wants to get at her mind, to find what it is that made her do this thing... but it will lead to murder.Gene Tierney and Jose Ferrer play Ann and Korvo, and they're both excellent here. Even a one and a half note character (not quite one, maybe, almost two dimensional, if it tried) like Ann's husband Bill gets a solid performance out of Richard Conte, to the point where we really feel for their marriage, and see the conflict very plain as soon as Ann 'turns' on to her 'nothing's the matter' tone of voice to her husband after she comes home and tells the maid that there's something very wrong and she must speak to her husband soon as he gets home. Is she crazy? Has she been driven mad? She's no femme fatale really - she is in what seems to be a fairly happy marriage (though at one critical point she'll say otherwise in a very tense confessional). But she is flawed and interesting, and that helps.It's especially good that this character is so strong, as well as Korvo being an equally strong, conniving villain, and we know he's a villain from basically minute one but the fun is seeing how he does things like slip a glass with the lady's fingerprints into his jacket while she's away for a minute from the lunch table. But there's a couple of plot holes here that are jarring - one is more character-based and comes in the third act, it felt like a scene was missing that involved convincing a particular character to give Ann one more chance, and there was a connective tissue from the convincing to her not in prison - and I have to wonder how much they cut out of the book. It seems like a lot. Not to mention the notion of how completely tight the hypnosis can be, just how air-tight a plot can be (that we don't really see be suggested by the way) for Ann to go out in her car and get those records and then for that other thing to happen.Whirlpool isn't weak tea by any means, but I have to think Preminger, despite some clever camera angles and the usual flair for hardcore film noir as a director (the tension in that final scene is really terrific, especially how a character hides just until a certain moment) would have had some trouble without this cast. Thankfully, Tierney gives this character credibility and she makes her fragile, torn and frayed, and when she's in her hypnotic trances it's like she's walking on air. I even liked the one/two scene turn by Barbara O'Neil (Constance Collier also has some good lines). Not something to rush to see, but it's a fair follow-up for the director and star from Laura - more of a B-side if one were to screen them back to back

mark.waltz At first, everything seems to be going smoothly in this Film Noir directed by Otto Preminger, that is except for the shoplifting heroine (Gene Tierney) who has more drama than her signature role of "Laura". Tierney is somehow vulnerable to the charms and psychiatric manipulations of the evil Jose Ferrer, an obvious sociopath who tries but fails to become another Waldo Lydecker. As pompous as Clifton Webb was in "Laura", but lacking in his phony charm, Ferrer is a predatory male who pulls Tierney into his web of deceit, sending her into a whirlpool towards her own downfall. But in what should be an opportunity for Ferrer to shout, "Curses! Curses! Somebody always helps that girl!" ends up a fool's pathway to hell as his plot to get away with criminal activity fails miserably and the law and a legitimate psychiatrist (who just happens to be Tierney's husband) aide in its uncovering.There have been outrageous roles where a veteran actress of a certain age gets to chew the scenery before her demise or breakdown, but for Barbara O'Neil, that outrageousness is never developed because the writing for her character is undernourished. Sporting a hair-as-high-as-an-elephant's eye wig, O'Neil also gets a white streak that looks like somebody was obsessed either with "The Bride of Frankenstein" or more likely, Rafaela Ottiano's psychotic sidekick to Lionel Barrymore in "The Devil Doll". She's definitely a bitch waiting to explode as she confronts Tierney with advice about steering clear of Ferrer, an encounter witnessed by the portly Constance Collier who walks in as Tierney screams threats at her.Like I stated, everything starts off O.K., but in the last half hour, it all goes haywire as a totally fantastic, far-from-reality conclusion sets in and reveals all. Everything about this film seems to be a "Laura" rip-off (especially with Preminger at the helm) where the victim turns out to be inconsequential and every step towards the revelation is just cringe-worthy. Richard Conte seems miscast as the psychiatrist husband and at times, Tierney seems to be staring far off into space as if she was simply telling herself, "It's almost over."

AaronCapenBanner Otto Preminger directed this fanciful mystery that stars Gene Tierney as happily married Ann Sutton, who is also a kleptomaniac, and in an act of desperation, goes to hypnotist David Korvo(played by Jose Ferrer) to help her overcome her embarrassing compulsion, especially since her husband(played by Richard Conte) is a noted psychiatrist! Unfortunately, Korvo is untrustworthy, and involves Ann in an elaborate murder scheme that she desperately tries to convince both the police and herself that she is innocent of. Though melodramatic, with an unlikely premise, this is still reasonably entertaining, with good cast and direction.

cowboyandvampire First, David Korvo (played exquisitely by Joes Ferrer) is one of the most demented, manipulative, scandalously amoral cads to ever grace the screen. The movie is worth watching for him alone. Second, Gene Tierney (playing Anne Sutton) is so painfully lovely and vulnerable, the movie is worth watching for her alone. Do the math.Anne Sutton is the bored wife of a fabulously successful and rock-jawed psychoanalyst (luckily for her, his knowledge proves useful). She is one of those tragic kelptomaniacs with daddy issues (the field of psychology has advanced greatly in 60 years) who falls under the sway of Svengali-esque David Korvo, a truly despicable astrologist, mentalist and woman-beating, trust-fund draining con man. Ferrer has such a subtle, contained performance, conveying his evil intent with a half-hearted gesture or a dropped consonant or a lazy look of his eye — how can you not pull for him? Of course, he uses his considerable bag of tricks to draw poor Anne into his web of deceits and ultimately frames her for a murder (don't worry, it's 1949, there's no blood).Will her controlling and distant husband believe her? Will she let him believe her? And what of Korvo, apparently confined to bed after a surgery, could he actually be innocent? And can someone actually hypnotize themselves? Only grizzled police detective Colton, recently widowed and still grieving, can get to the bottom of it. This is a moody thriller with deep emotional undercurrents that pairs well with a rainy Sunday afternoon and a martini, especially if it's served in one of those old fashioned glasses that look more like champagne saucers.-- www.cowboyandvampire.com --