Whirlpool (1934 film)


Whirlpool is a 1934 drama film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Jack Holt and Jean Arthur. The screenplay concerns Buck Rankin, a carnival owner who is convicted of manslaughter for the death of a man killed in a fight.

Plot summary

Buck Rankin is a shady carnival promoter. After meeting and quickly falling in love with Helen, he decides to go straight and sell the carnival. However, a fight over a con game causes a melee at the carnival, during which Rankin accidentally kills a man. He is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to twenty years behind bars. Eight months later, Helen reveals to him in prison that she is about to have his child and refuses his request that she divorce him.
For the good of his wife and child, Rankin decides to fake his own death. After seeing fellow prisoner Farley leap to his death in the roiling waters and deadly whirlpool surrounding the prison, Rankin, who works in the Warden's office, forges a letter to Helen saying that he has died trying to escape and that his body was never found.
Many years later, Rankin is released from prison. He adopts the alias, Duke Sheldon, and he and his carnival partner Mac quickly become wealthy via the illicit skills that Rankin learned while incarcerated—including owning a nightclub. In the meantime, Helen has married Judge Jim Morrison. Her and Rankin's daughter, Sandra has become a newspaper reporter who is engaged to marry fellow reporter Bob Andrews

Cast