Whirlpool Reviews

Pretty damn good. Only my second Preminger after Laura but my favourite so far. It has a very clever and well-written plot that gets well-respected Gene Tierney caught up in a shoplifting scandal that leads to murder and blackmail. José Ferrer makes an excellent villain, Richard Conte is decent as Tierney’s husband and there is good support from Charles Bickford and Rope’s Constance Collier. Preminger seems almost reliant on long sequences, which is by no means a criticism as the scene with Tierney hiding the recordings is magnificent. However, the confession scene and onwards proves to be the downfall of the film and the proceeding scenes seem overdone, (particularly when Tierney starts to remember everything) and the climax is almost a copy of Laura’s, even if it is tense. Still, there’s plenty to enjoy – the showdown between Ferrer and Conte is terrific.