The Whip Hand is a 1951 American film directed by William Cameron Menzies and starring Carla Balenda and Elliott Reid.[3]
| The Whip Hand | |
|---|---|
 original US half-sheet film poster | |
| Directed by | William Cameron Menzies Stuart Gilmore (fill-in)[1] |
| Screenplay by | George Bricker Frank L. Moss Curt Siodmak (uncredited)[1] |
| Story by | Roy Hamilton |
| Produced by | Lewis Rachmil |
| Starring | Carla Balenda Elliott Reid |
| Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
| Edited by | Robert Golden |
| Music by | Paul Sawtell |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $376,000[2] |
Plot
editJournalist Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is traveling through Wisconsin on a fishing trip and comes across a nearly deserted town where the few inhabitants left are secretive and hostile. A shifty lodge owner named Steve Loomis (Raymond Burr) warns Matt away, claiming all the fish died off mysteriously years ago. The story just makes Matt more curious, and his investigations soon uncover a Kremlin plot to poison the American water supply. Now he just needs to get back to the city alive.
Cast
edit- Carla Balenda as Janet Keller
- Elliott Reid as Matt Corbin
- Edgar Barrier as Dr. Edward Keller
- Raymond Burr as Steve Loomis
- Otto Waldis as Dr. Wilhelm Bucholtz
- Michael Steele as Chick
- Lurene Tuttle as Molly Loomis
- Peter Brocco as Nate Garr
- Lewis Martin as Peterson
- Frank Darien as Luther Adams
- Olive Carey as Mabel Turner
Production
editIn July 1949, RKO purchased the screen story written by Roy Hamilton. The film was originally set in New England, and was titled The Man He Found; the term "the whip hand" comes from horse racing, and is a metaphor for having the advantage or upper hand.[1] In the original story the villains were escaped German Nazis involved in a plot to hide Adolf Hitler, portrayed by Bobby Watson. When Howard Hughes viewed the completed film in November 1950, he announced that Nazis were no longer villains, Communists were, and ordered portions of the film reshot.[4][1] Wheeler W. Dixon writes that "The Whip Hand compels the viewer's attention through the sheer visual frenzy of its violent, aggressive camera work, coupled with its nightmarish, forced-perspective sets, which seems to overpower both the view and the film's protagonists."[5]
Location shooting took place in Big Bear Lake as well as at RKO's ranch in Encino.
Critical reception
editA review of the film at Cinema Sentries described it as "a Cold War paranoia flick about those darned Communists" and a "fun Red Scare outing" that "isn't really bad," although at the box office it "flopped about like a germ-infested trout out of water before being doomed to a life of late night television obscurity."[6] Critic Gregory Meshman described it as a "curious film, which manages to generate some tension and suspense along the way," that "Menzies [...] provides able direction and manages to get good performances from the film's no-big-names cast," and that "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."[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f The Whip Hand at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- ^ a b Jewell, Richard and Marton, Vernon (1982) The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. p.260
- ^ "The Whip Hand (1951) - William Cameron Menzies - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ Weaver, Tom (July 30, 2005) "Elliot Reid Interview" in Earth Vs. The Sci-Fi Filmmakers: 20 Interviews McFarland, p.325
- ^ Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia, by Wheeler W. Dixon pg. 83
- ^ Bastardo, Luigi. "The Whip Hand (1951) DVD Review: RKO Sets Its Sights to Start Seeing Red". Cinema Sentries. Cinema Sentries. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ Meshman, Gregory. "The Whip Hand". DVD Beaver. DVD Beaver. Retrieved 2024-03-20.