Otto Preminger directs Gene Tierney, José Ferrer, Richard Conte, Dana Andrews, Gary Merrill and Burt Freed in this pair of film noirs written by Ben Hecht.

On paper, Whirlpool is the more interesting thriller of the pair. A hypnotised housewife is framed for murder by a criminal mastermind. Ferrer’s oily, ratty charm dominating as everyone scrambles for a way to disprove his cast iron alibi. “How’s he gonna catch ’em”! Preminger apes Hitch’s obsession for the fad of psychoanalysis. I don’t think Otto is quite as spellbound. He seems sated exposing the rotten lie of suburban happiness. The trad wife facade torn to strips over the story. Twisty. Add in Mulder and Scully and it could easily be the basis of a memorable episode of The X Files. Preminger’s framing is rich and deep though the plot sidelines the two most captivating stars for the second half and that hobbles the entire endeavour.

Where The Sidewalk Ends is tougher and more in keeping with what you might hope for from a noir. Foggy, shadows, murders, gangsters, doubles and switches. There’s even a couple of action set pieces. Though Preminger is less bothered by reality than Hitch or Lang. A cop needs to cover up a manslaughter only to put the woman he loves in the soup with his machinations. Watching Andrews wade deeper into quicksand has its pleasures, he begins to resemble his dead body more and more as the net closes in on him. The Hays Code ending let’s this down a little. He deserves his redemption after all that. Awesome in spits and spots.

I’m not going to lie. I didn’t borrow these for Hecht or Otto. I’m all about the flawless enigma that is Gene Tierney. The first half of Whirlpool delivers. She is complex as the fragile, psychologically crippled housewife. Then eerily blank once she is arrested. The movie feels her absence once her plank of a husband takes centre stage to solve the mystery. She is spread about Where The Sidewalk Ends far more judiciously though the good girl role isn’t particularly exciting. As trophies go she is indisputably worth running the gauntlet for. Her and Andrews have chemistry at least.

6/8

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin