The Whip Hand

This is a rather straight forward thriller- a reporter stumbles into a story that not only threatens his life, but also threatens the life of America- can he survive long enough to save the day ? The camera work is frenetic at times and the sets have a subtle layered texture ; both aspects are very appealing. Practically the best part about this one is the fast pace, which never makes you fell bogged down. Our protagonist stumbles around for the first 30 minutes of the film, the viewer isn't sure what the movie is about. The hero discovers a nefarious plot, meets a mad scientist , the communist scare/ Cold War thing pervades this flick. Along the dangerous way romance occurs, and eventually we end up at a big lethal finale. This film was originally made with a different focus ( the theme involved restoring the 3rd Reich) but part of it was re shot to reflect then current (1951) anti communist concerns. I especially enjoyed seeing a younger Raymond Burr play the heavy. He was such a good bad guy, so sinister yet in a subdued way. 6.3 stars.

It's odd that I would give a propaganda film like this such a high score, but despite the odd plot the film IS very entertaining and tense and is still well worth seeing.

Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is a reporter for a news magazine. When he arrives in a small town in rural Minnesota, his reporter senses start tingling because things just don't add up there. Despite always being known as a great place to fish, all the fish are dead. And, despite there being no local industry or jobs, folks have moved INTO the town despite the crash of the fishing industry. And, finally, there is a compound nearby that is guarded like Fort Knox! Clearly something is going on here...and little does Corbin know that it's actually a base for germ warfare run by Commie-Nazis!! Why they didn't build it in the good 'ol USSR, I have no idea!

The plot is silly...but the sign of a good film is taking a ridiculous idea and making it seem possible and engaging. So don't worry that it's filled with mostly no-name actors and is a relatively low-budget picture, it's surprisingly good.

'Bad Day at Black Rock' meets 'Quatermass 2' in this gothic-looking RKO quickie directed by visionary production designer William Cameron Menzies and atmospherically photographed by veteran noir cameraman Nicholas Musuraca in which reporter Eliot Reid receives a frosty welcome in a decaying little hamlet straight out of Lovecraft.

Laurence Tuttle, later Sheriff Chambers' wife in 'Psycho' presciently plays a character called Molly Loomis.

THE WHIP HAND, an interesting curio of a film that's very much of its era, tells the story of a small rural town in the American South which finds itself at the mercy of a band of merciless Communists who'll do anything in their power to keep their plans for germ warfare a secret. Yes, welcome to the world of '50s paranoia and McCarthyist witch-hunts, where the ordinary-looking guy next door just might be a closet pinko.

The guy helming this little B-movie is William Camercon Menzies, responsible for the equally paranoia-laden INVADERS FROM MARS. And THE WHIP HAND turns out to be an entertaining little movie, one which thrives on building a sense of mistrust throughout as the crusading reporter hero gradually becomes aware of a sinister plot in darkest Minnesota. Cuddly bad guy Raymond Burr (REAR WINDOW), a go-to guy for '50s villainy, is inevitably one of the bad guys behind it all.

THE WHIP HAND is watchable and features an unfamiliar cast doing their best with the lines they're given. Sure, it's very much dated these days, but the same dating makes it interesting as a product of its era. The bad guys are far more interesting than the good, especially the well-defined characters like the pervy guy with the flat leather cap or the creepy gamekeeper. The decision to change said bad guys from Nazis to Communists at the last moment makes it all feel a little muddled, but it's certainly not a bad film and rewarding to those with an interest in film as a medium for social commentary.

The anti-communist film was a malignant undergrowth to the noir cycle; there has probably never been such a clumsy or dispirited clump of films ever foisted on the public. Some of them, nonetheless, have their moments. The Whip Hand, directed by William Cameron Menzies, is one of these (possibly because it started as an anti-Nazi intrigue piece before then-RKO boss Howard Hughes decreed that the Commies would make better box-office in 1951, the high noon of McCarthyism). Journalist Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is on a solo fishing trip somewhere in northern Minnesota (probably not far from Jefty's Road House), when he conks his head. Seeking medical attention, he stumbles into a strange town where he's told to fish elsewhere, as a virus, or something, has wiped out all the fish. It's kind of like Bad Day at Black Rock, where a loner insists on solving a terrible secret despite the fact that the whole town is in on the conspiracy. He can't even get a message out, or, if he does.... A bearded Raymond Burr is an outwardly jovial innkeeper and the best actor in this curious film, which manages to generate some tension and suspense along the way.