Whirlpool

The premise of this well-made melodrama is far-fetched: A newly-married man (Jack Holt) is sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter. Once in jail, he fakes his suicide in order to allow his pregnant wife (Lila Lee) to lead a life not bound to a prisoner. Some years after his release, he meets his daughter (Jean Arthur), who recognises him from a photograph her mother has kept, and complications ensue - mainly because his wife has meanwhile married another man, which exposes her to the charge of bigamy. Despite the complicated set-up, the story works. In fact, it works very well, thanks to the two brilliant leads Holt and Arthur. Others might have overacted melodramatic roles such as theirs, but not these two. Holt is great in an understated way, and Arthur plays her part really touchingly without overdoing it. By 1934, she had been in the film business for more than a decade with at best middling success, but after this film, Hollywood would never again overlook her. Don't so so either - take a look at 'Whirlpool'; it's worth it!

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

Jack Holt is OK in this film but Jean Arthur saves it. The plot is unbelievable, but is noteworthy since it was Arthur's first film for Columbia after her return to Hollywood from the New York stage. Her previous films at Universal were forgettable. According to her biography, it was when executives saw the daily rushes, that they offered her a long term contract.

This movie is also notable in that Frank Capra reviewed her scenes and decided to offer her the part as Babe Bennett in the now classic Mr. Deeds Goes To Town. You can understand why he picked her. It was the beginning of a successful film period, which lasted 20 more years.

It is also interesting and funny to see Allen Jenkins, in a typical side kick role, particularly when he is doing knee bends in front of a window in his underwear.

Jack Holt is great in this rather ornately written melodrama. He plays a man sentenced to prison for twenty years, whose pregnant wife refuses to divorce him. He sends her a letter that he has committed suicide in a way that leaves no corpse. We then fast forward twenty-five years. Jack is now a reclusive night-club owner and his daughter is Jean Arthur, a newspaperwoman who figures out who he is. In order to protect her mother, who has remarried, from public scandal, Holt has to disappear again.

The rest of the movie is about the complications surrounding the latter events and Jack Holt gives a better performance than I have ever seen him give, enormously underplayed by his usual standards. Jean Arthur has to contend with some lines that have not aged well, as does juvenile Donald Cook.

Nonetheless, throughout all this, the performances as as good as they can get under old hand Roy William Neill. Like many silent directors, Neill had retreated to the Bs -- although this is definitely an A picture from Columbia. Even so, Neill always worked well and carefully and this is a fine effort, the visuals perfect under a crack team of three cinematographers and half a dozen camera operators that included Joe August and Ben Kline.

In short, while the dialogue may occasionally make you roll your eyes, everything else about this movie will keep you intensely interested.