The Mark of The Whistler (1946)

The Mark of The Whistler (1946) is a The Whistler series drifter narrative film noir tale of deceit and false identity, revenge and corruption, and the impossible allure of abandoned dormant bank accounts.

If ever the fringe world of American noir was bottled up in hour bags and bands this were it. The essence of the style, the resonant espirit de noir.

A deeper consciousness of film noir, a ritual of film noir, a primal series of events that say noir and noir only in their connection and passing.

Greed, deceit, double identity, broken men, guilt and deception, and a cash lump sum of thousands.

Say are you scared of something?

Banking on a fraud and engrossing within its capacity for amazing coincidences, as true noir maybe need be, this is a subtle masterpiece guised as a universally plain style of cheapo noir, but there are resonances galore for the student of the style.

The Thirteenth Hour (1947)

The Thirteenth Hour (1947) is a haulage and hallucination diamond smuggling duplicity and mystery film noir story from the The Whistler series of the films, eight of which appeared in the 1940s.

Haulage heel Steve Reynolds, played by Richard Dix, is a trucker guy who falls foul of a scheme that he uncovers from what seems like a series of accidents, and may in fact just be that, a series of accidents. 

Indeed and for whatever reason, there are questions unanswered at the conclusion of this tale, possibly the greatest of these being why is this film called The Thirteenth Hour, and what is the thirteenth hour and what in fact is it the thirteenth hour of?

Mysterious Intruder (1946)

Mysterious Intruder (1946) is a private-eye secret fortune mystery film noir based on the radio drama The Whistler. Directed by William Castle, the production features Richard Dix, Barton MacLane and Nina Vale. 

It is the fifth of Columbia Pictures' eight The Whistler films produced in the 1940s, the first seven starring Dix.

Dix plays the film noir private eye which is set up to tip top perfection complete with the flashing neon sign working the urban evening outwith and casting a technogothic glow across the office.

As a theme, sanatorium noir has never been fully proposed despite their being some decent sanatorium cinema from the 1940s in particular. Mysterious Intruder (1946) is fun and loose, not always convincing, but yet features a strong noir cast, relative to the budget and production values.

The Power of The Whistler (1945)

The Power of The Whistler (1945) is a death-prediction amnesia thriller mystery identity serial film noir movie, and is the eerie third entry into the 1940s serial noir The Whistler series.

In the film, Janis Carter plays Jean Lang, a character whose actions spark intrigue and tension as she makes some highly questionable decisions regarding a complete stranger she encounters. 

Jean, who is telling fortunes using cards, becomes concerned when her cards predict grave danger for a man she notices in a restaurant, played by Richard Dix, who is suffering from that most famous of every film noir malady available to the script writes, amnesia. 

The Whistler (1944)

The Whistler (1944) is a murder-suicide hitman noir and the first of the The Whistler film noir film serial series, and is directed by William Castle and stars Richard Dix.

If there were ever a serial with a film noir theme or a film noir touch and style, and one of course from the Golden Age of movie serial adventures, it was The Whistler.

The Whistler is great because we never see The Whistler themselves, but we see their shadow, which is a most film noir manner of appearance, and this character, invisible and present, does speak to the noir losers and saps that are the heroes of these films, always and with one exception played by Richard Dix. 

The Return of The Whistler (1948)

The Return of The Whistler (1948) is a Cornell Woolrich family plot paranoid woman cheapo The Whistler series film noir tale from the high period of American film serial and film noir cinema.

It's an old noir ruse, to frame up the female inheritor of a largescale superdoughed family estate and then persuade her that she is mad, until she almost or really does become mad, only to melt into relief after discovering that suburban and middle class, or elite living is in fact a sham, a conspiracy and an utter hoax of frauds.

The film begins with Ted meeting Alice Dupres Barkley, a young French woman played by Lenore Aubert. Despite knowing each other for only two days, the couple impulsively decides to marry.