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      The Whip Hand

      1951 1 hr. 22 min. Sci-Fi List
      Reviews 29% Fewer than 50 Ratings Audience Score Journalist Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is traveling through the Midwest 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. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Interesting "cold war" thriller, nicely shot and directed by legendary production designer William Cameron Menzies. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is so bad....that it's difficult to stop watching! The background music is annoying as its mysterious monotony doesn't stop throughout. It's interesting to see Raymond Burr in this. The acting of the entire cast is plastic. The "over-acting" is on the level of a high school drama class or sci-fi B-movie of the same era. The film was originally filmed to deal with a quiet American town with Nazis and Hitler, but when Howard Hughes, who owned RKO at the time, he stated that Nazis are no longer our enemy but Communists are. So, they had to re-shoot all pertinent scenes about a Communist takeover plot! My favourite scene is the mad scientists room of old people aimlessly walking around, and referred to as grotesque by anyone who sees them...hilarious! Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member the premise is hard to swallow but still watchable. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Most historians will tell you part of the reasons of war in the 1940's was that Nazi and Communist ideology was just too incompatible, this film throws that out of the window as a post-war conspiracy film against the USA. There's a wider post-war fear this film taps into and actually does it with some effect and the mystery surrounding everything works whilst it remains a mystery, however not too well after it's revealed. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The story of a Commie town made up of ex-Nazis prospering in the middle of America is hard to swallow, but as sheer entertainment value this one somehow works. Rated: B Apr 22, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Journalist Matt Corbin (Elliott Reid) is traveling through the Midwest 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.
      Director
      William Cameron Menzies
      Production Co
      RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
      Genre
      Sci-Fi
      Original Language
      English