Had I not already seen "Fear in the Night" (1947), I think I would have liked "Whirlpool" a bit more. But, the prior film was low-budget and handled a similar topic much better. In contrast, Otto Preminger was a big-name director and this was made by Twentieth-Century Fox--yet lacks the same emotional wallop as "Fear in the Night". Both films are about evil hypnotists who use their powers for evil and to cover up crimes. While this is all a lot of psychological mumbo-jumbo, it was fascinating. But what made the prior film better is its originality as well as how it surprised the viewer. That's because in the Preminger film, you see the evil hypnotist (Jose Ferrer) setting up the crime, so you know exactly who is responsible--and there is absolutely no mystery about this. In contrast, the other film only slowly reveals what has occurred--thinking the viewer guessing and making for a much higher level of suspense. Still, both are worth seeing...and both are dubious when it comes to showing the ridiculous things hypnosis supposedly can do (I have training in hypnosis and know it is a lot less magical than TV and movies would have you think).
Gene Tierney is caught shoplifting at the beginning of the film. Despite her husband being a well to do psychiatrist, she's a thief...and the evil hypnotist catches her and uses this to gain influence over her. While he pretends to be there to treat her for her compulsion to steal, he actually is hypnotizing her into doing his bidding--much like Svengali from the story "Trilby". Eventually, using this evil hypnosis, Tierney is caught in the home of a woman who was just murdered--and it appeared she did it. This is only about midway through the film and unraveling this bizarre mystery takes up the second half of the movie.
As another reviewer said, Charles Bickford did a very good job playing the detective investigating the case. The rest of the cast was just fine, though it is interesting that they chose Tierney to play a mentally unstable woman since in real life she had a long and significant history of mental illness. This was actually pretty brave of her to play such a tough role. It's well made and interesting as well...but not at all great or extraordinary. Decent, but that's all.
Gene Tierney is caught shoplifting at the beginning of the film. Despite her husband being a well to do psychiatrist, she's a thief...and the evil hypnotist catches her and uses this to gain influence over her. While he pretends to be there to treat her for her compulsion to steal, he actually is hypnotizing her into doing his bidding--much like Svengali from the story "Trilby". Eventually, using this evil hypnosis, Tierney is caught in the home of a woman who was just murdered--and it appeared she did it. This is only about midway through the film and unraveling this bizarre mystery takes up the second half of the movie.
As another reviewer said, Charles Bickford did a very good job playing the detective investigating the case. The rest of the cast was just fine, though it is interesting that they chose Tierney to play a mentally unstable woman since in real life she had a long and significant history of mental illness. This was actually pretty brave of her to play such a tough role. It's well made and interesting as well...but not at all great or extraordinary. Decent, but that's all.