Whirlpool (1934)
Director:
Roy William Neill
Writers:
Howard Emmett Rogers (story), Dorothy Howell (screenplay)
Stars:
Jack Holt, Jean Arthur, Donald Cook
No relation to the 1949 20th Century-Fox melodrama of the same name, Columbia's 1934 Whirlpool stars Jack Holt as a shifty carnival promoter. He is incarcerated for a major crime just after learning that his wife is pregnant. Released after twenty years behind bars, Holt is anxious to make contact with his daughter (Jean Arthur), who knows nothing of his existence. This benighted reunion leads to tragedy for Holt, which he shoulders manfully (no one ever caught Jack Holt crying, no sir). Jean Arthur gave her best performance to date in Whirlpool, though her gift for comedy would remain untapped for a few years more.