Whirlpool (1934)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Wow - how beautiful Lila Lee looked, photographed to perfection by Benjamin H. Kline in fetching period costumes and stylistically filmed in slanting shadows. She plays Helen, starry eyed wife of carnival manager Buck Rankin (Jack Holt) whose honeymoon is over before it begins when he is sentenced to 20 years for killing a man in a side show brawl.Jack Holt was Columbia's most bankable male star and by the early 30s seemed to be in every other movie - usually playing in adventurous thrillers but this one was a hearts and flowers tear-jerker that still left room for some action. Desperate for Helen to get on with her life, he forges a letter from the prison governor in which he announces his own death - jumping into the whirlpool of water that no prisoner has ever survived, all the while serving out his sentence.Twenty years after shows him now free and with the help of his buddy (Allan Jenkins) has him going from strength to strength as a racketeer. He is all set to give evidence at a trial of one of his associates when Sandy enters the scene. Sandy is an eager reporter but also Rankin's daughter who recognizes him at once due to his picture always being prominent on her mother's dressing table. Although remarried she has never forgotten her first love!! Jean Arthur is just splendid as Sandy, never cloying or sentimental or full of recriminations for the past - she is just eager to spend as much time as she can with her dad. There is also a young man played by the moody Don Cook who, of course, jumps to the wrong conclusion when he sees them together!!Having started in movies back in 1923, by 1932 Jean Arthur realized she would need to go to Broadway if she wanted to be anything more than just an ingénue. She did and came back to Hollywood with a Columbia contract. As well as going blonde, she had emerged as a better actress and as Sandy she lights up the screen and along with Lila Lee, the real reason "Whirlpool" is such a success!!Very Recommended.

This film was recently shown on TCM as part of a series of Jack Holt films. This is a great thing about TCM, in that it allows, by seeing several films in a row featuring a particular actor, to really get a good feel for the range of the actor, and to help you determine how much you might like that actor; and, happily, on Jack Holt day, I have found another very likable and interesting actor to look forward to seeing in other films. This is a sleeper of a great film; the scenes between Jack and Jean Arthur are genuinely touching, especially the recognition scene, which is beautifully underplayed; they truly complement each other's style. Some of the other reviews are mildly critical of some of the dated dialogue, but I have always found that to be part of the charm of old films. I don't need "realistic" dialogue; that is already a part of everyday life. Alan Jenkins is funny as always, but Jack's acting, traveling back and forth between toughness and tenderness, is lovely.

I probably never would have bothered with this were I not a big Jean Arthur fan; but even in her oeuvre this is rarely mentioned. That may be because "Whirlpool" isn't *quite* the quintessential Arthur movie (see "Easy Living," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "The Devil and Miss Jones," etc.--now!). Still, Jean's in full blossom here, and well on her way to her glory days. Either way, this is a remarkably entertaining little movie, told in a brisk, energetic, entertaining style that seems to have been practically unique in some ways to the Hollywood of the early to mid-30's. Jack Holt stars as an ex-con who is reunited by chance with his daughter (Arthur) after a 20-year stint in prison: He's high up in the underworld, she's a newspaper reporter. The plot machinations come fast and furious, and contrived though they may be, they are only so in the best way--the way Hollywood could pull this kind of thing off in the 30's. Good performances all the way around, but Holt--often looking very much like Brando's Don Corleone in "The Godfather"--and Arthur carry the show. (Another Godfather mention: Donald Cook, who plays Arthur's boyfriend Bob, looks quite a lot like Al Pacino!) Holt, in fact, really carries this picture, bringing to his Buck Rankin/Duke Sheldon a very sympathetic mix of no-nonsense tough guy and heart, and the relationship between him and Arthur is thoroughly convincing. I have to say that the opening credits had me worried: The "whirlpool" seems to be nothing more than water spinning down a sink! But this is mostly the exception: There's even one montage of father and daughter that's remarkably well-done, almost even poetic in its images and editing. Overall, I wouldn't call this a classic, but if you like Jean Arthur or the movies of the 30's in general, this is a better bet than you might have guessed.

I only caught the last third of this film the other morning, but it was enough to show me what a wonderful job Jack Holt does as a little girl's father. Because even at twenty-one, she is still his little girl. It makes everything that follows worth it. I have two (eleven and five), and the end of the film breaks my heart. Some other films that feature moments of paternal love include: China Doll (Victor Mature); Desperate Hours (Fredrick March); Kramer vs. Kramer (Dustin Hoffman); The Taking of Peggy Ann (look for David Soul on this one); The Green Berets (Jim Hutton); True Grit (the other Duke saying goodbye to Mattie Ross); It's a Wonderful Life (George Bailey with Zsu Zsu's petals); Man on Fire (Denzel Washington parleying for the life of his ward); Twilight Zone - Episode: Little Girl Lost; Way to go, Duke.JKHolman