Just perfect...

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Turgid screenplay that starts off well, but gets more obscure as the plot develops. Clearly director Preminger is hoping to repeat the allure of Laura (1944), but lacks the coherent story material. There's a lot of what critics call pscho-babble in the dialogue, which would be okay if the story gelled better. The one good part is the little mystery surrounding who killed Mrs. Randolph. Under the circumstances, there's no obvious culprit. Unfortunately, the rest of the story has Ann (Tierney) bouncing between two psychologists, the arrogant Korvo (Ferrer) and her husband (Conte) who's trying to help her overcome her kleptomania.Maybe I've seen too many gangster movies of the time, but tough guy Conte appears miscast as a highly educated professional. At the same time, Ferrer as the dislikable Korvo manages to load his elevated vocabulary with an obnoxious amount of cultivated sarcasm. And, of course, there's the gorgeous Tierney pretty much putting on the same mask she wore in Laura. All in all, the movie slows down too much of the time, given Preminger's penchant for lengthy scenes along with the turgid script. Good thing the always reliable Charles Bickford is along to provide some spark. Still, the movie amounts to a disappointment given the big studio (TCF) pedigree.

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 --

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.

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.