Whirlpool

In this taut drama, a mesmerising performance by Gene Tierney is matched by lyrical camerawork from Arthur C. Miller and a twisted script by one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed screenwriters, Ben Hecht.

  • Director

    Otto Preminger

  • With

    Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer

  • USA 1950. 97min

  • 35mm

  • Certificate

    U

  • A BFI National Archive Print

With nods to Preminger and Tierney’s previous hit Laura, Whirlpool is an intoxicating mixture of film noir and probing psychological thriller. Tierney is Ann Sutton, a sophisticated wife of a successful psychoanalyst. When she is caught stealing from a department store, she encounters a mysterious hypnotist, and her seemingly contented life is turned upside down. Tierney excels in conveying the depths of her character’s tormented emotional state, while Preminger delivers one of his most fascinating and disturbing films.

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