The Whip Hand

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.

This is One Odd Movie. Starting with the Title that is Meaningless Unless One Knows About a "Riding" Term Meaning the Upper Hand or Some Such Thing, Suffice to Say it is Meaningless. Add to That the Story was Changed Midstream from Nazis to Communist at the Insistence of Howard Hughes.

Still, Director Menzies Manages to Make the Thing Look Good, Despite Some Bad Acting that He Left Unattended. The Film Still Manages to Bring the Paranoia of the Time Front and Center with Bizarre Scenes and a Foreboding Atmosphere.

It Really Kicks In with the Third Act that Includes Mad Lab Scenes, Female Bondage, Zombie Like People Used as Guinea Pigs, and Some Communist Nut-Case Speeches. This is One of Quirkiest Entries in the Anti-Communist Movies Made During the McCarthy Era and that is Saying Something because Most of Them were Really Quirky.

The Commie Characters All Look Like Something Out of a Comic Book with Exaggerated Features and Props. They're One Scary Looking Bunch. The Protagonist and His Love Interest are So Sanitized and "Normal" Looking They Seem to have Stepped Out of a Disney Movie. The Contrast is Quite Startling and Add to the Surreal Nature of the Movie When Watched Today.

Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is a magazine writer on a fishing trip in Winnoga, Minnesota. He discovers all the fish in the town's lake are dead and the locals are none too friendly. He starts nosing around and finds himself in the middle of a Communist plot to overthrow America with germ warfare. The original story for this had Nazis as the villains instead of Communists. But producer Howard Hughes felt Reds were more timely so the story was changed to Communists who used to be Nazis. Which is all kinds of hilarious if you think about it.

Elliott Reid, a fine character actor I've seen in tons of stuff, is an atypical lead but does a solid job. His big romantic scene is a pretty big fail, though. Frank Darien is fun as the elderly general store owner who tries to help Reid. Carla Balenda, no doubt given the female lead by Hughes, offers a bland and forgettable turn here. I don't think she changed facial expressions more than twice. Raymond Burr plays one of the Commies. He's the most famous actor in the movie. The rest of the cast is made up of lesser-known but quality actors, some of which classic movie fans might recognize (Lurene Tuttle, for one). Perhaps the most pleasant surprise about this movie is that it's directed by William Cameron Menzies, legendary production designer whose directorial efforts include Things to Come and Invaders from Mars. Menzies gives this movie a stylish direction lacking in most other '50s Red Scare flicks. The movie looks like a film noir, not a political thriller. It's a beautiful-looking black & white movie. Whether you take the story seriously or not, I don't see how you can deny it's a well-crafted film of its type. It's a reasonably suspenseful thriller with some style and some neat creepy moments late in the film.

I was 12 years old when I first learned of this film from reading John Baxters chapter on William Cameron Menzies in his ground breaking book "Science Fiction in The Cinema.' The plot concerning germ warfare and Baxters praise of the film made me want to see it. I later learned from other sources that this film was made from a finished film called THE MAN HE FOUND, about Adolph Hitler being alive and well and living the USA. RKO studio heads did not like the film and ordered a new story written and new footage shot that would use as much footage from THE MAN HE FOUND as possible. This made me want to see it even more. But for years this film eluded me. It never showed up on TV, never shown as part of a Menzies retrospective and never turned up officially on video. It then turned up in the early 1990's late one night on TNT, where I taped it and have watched several times since.

While I found the film of some interest, I can certainly say Baxter over praised this film. Its not a bad cold war era espionage thriller, but other than the plot, its nothing special either. It is no doubt the least interesting of Menzies fantastic films that he both designed and directed. The court yard where infected guinea pigs wander around like zombies and Otto Waldis's lab are of some visual interest, but over all there isn't much of Menzies design genius evident. To comment on his direction is pointless, because Menzies was never a good director of actors. The reshooting and incorporating old scenes with the new scenes is done fairly well. I noticed where new scenes were inserted, but only because I was looking for them. Note that this film uses a lot of close ups. Otto Waldis as the former Nazi scientist, now working for Russian Communists is a bit hard to take. He praises his new adopted ideology. While its true Nazism and Communism have more in common then with western style democracy, most of the Nazi scientists who went to work for the Commies after the war did so more out of pragmatic and mercenary reasons than ideological ones.

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.