Whirlpool (1950)

Whirlpool: Directed by Otto Preminger. With Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer, Charles Bickford. A woman suffering from kleptomania is hypnotized in an attempt to cure her. Soon afterwards, she’s found at the scene of a murder with no memory of how she got there, and seemingly no way to prove her innocence.

“A woman is taken terrible advantage of by a hypnotist in u0026quot;Whirlpool,u0026quot; a 1949 film starring Gene Tierney, Jose Ferrer, and Richard Conte, directed by Otto Preminger. Tierney is the wife of a successful psychiatrist who is caught shoplifting. She is helped by Ferrer, a hypnotist who steps in during her interrogation. He works with her to help her solve some of her problems, but he adds some other hypnosis as well.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis isnu0026#39;t a great Preminger. The acting is good, but the script is weak. First of all, is it really possible to hypnotize someone that completely? I donu0026#39;t know. What I do know is that itu0026#39;s absolutely against all ethics to talk about a patient with anyone as freely as Conte does. Since a good deal of the plot hinges on his breaking of that doctor-patient privilege, the story doesnu0026#39;t hold up.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGene Tierney is her usual beautiful self. This is not, however, a role that plays to her strengths as an actress. Sheu0026#39;s sympathetic but doesnu0026#39;t explore the range of the role enough. She more easily played an icy or feisty type. In those days, as actresses neared 30, studios became less interested, and Tierney found herself in roles which she was not particularly right for – or that wasted her talent just to fulfill her contractual obligations. Ferrer is excellent as the oily hypnotist, keeping his voice even when he was saying the most outrageous things. Conte is very good as well as Tierneyu0026#39;s husband.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll in all, this was interesting to watch, but it could have been much better given the talent behind and before the camera.”