When critics and historians talk of 'legendary’ Hollywood directors they are probably thinking of, amongst others, the great Otto Preminger. The breadth, depth and quality of his work from the 30s through till the late 70s is staggering. He directed Sinatra in The Man with the Golden Arm (1957), James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder (1960) and Paul Newman in Exodus (1962). But as well as conducting compelling courtroom dramas, epics and socially responsible dramas he was expert at that style of hardboiled thriller that eventually became known as film noir, with his Angel Face (1953) being one of the most famous.
But as film scholar Adrian Martin argues convincingly on this excellent disc\'s commentary track, Whirlpool is one of the best, if little known, noirs from Hollywood and Preminger. It is certainly, as Martin says, very strange. The intense drama of intrigue and double cross revolves around a standard noir set-up: there’s a murder and an innocent is framed to take the fall. But instead of playing out in seedy mean streets, the action takes place in polite middle class settings and beautifully appointed rooms.
The characterisations are odd: the villain is a hypnotherapist, the anti-hero, a psychiatrist and the heroine, a kleptomaniac! Gene Tierney is beautiful and weird as the victim here, but it is Jose Ferrer’s menacing quack that steals the film and his savage bon mots prove more viscious than a slug from a .45. There is some print damage, but otherwise the picture and sound are good for a movie of this vintage and aside from Martin’s discursive and compelling commentary there is a trailer. Don’t miss it.
