User reviews

Wealthy industrialist John Sinclair (Richard Dix) has devoted so much of his life to making money that he has no friends. To make matters worse for the saddest millionaire, his health is now failing. While on a doctor-prescribed vacation, he meets sexy nurse Joan (Lynn Merrick). He steals her away from her fiancé Fred to go live with him in a lighthouse, promising he will leave his fortune to her when he dies. After awhile Fred shows up and the plot, as they say, thickens.

The fourth in Columbia's Whistler series starring Richard Dix. Not the best but pretty good, especially given the short runtime. Dix is solid as usual. Fine support from Rhys Williams, James Cardwell, and beautiful Lynn Merrick, who looks great in a bathing suit. There's an early scene with a group of men sitting in a darkened room watching newsreel footage about the life of Dix's character that is close enough to Citizen Kane that one might call it a rip-off. Perhaps William Castle meant it as an homage. By the way, how precious is that little girl in the doctor's office? "I can't help it if I'm popular" -- so cute.

Whistler no.4 was imho perhaps the weakest of the 8 in the series, the main trouble being the plot change from seedy tarmac to invigorating lighthouse. This still means it's an atmospheric, interesting and inventive mystery thriller, keeping you on your toes with all the twists to the very end.

Rich, friendless and ill industrialist Richard Dix has a heart attack and gets ordered to go on vacation, forget about work and de-stress. He bumps into an English ex-boxer cocky Ernie Sparrow who befriends him and shows him round his poor but friendly neighbourhood. But sadly it doesn't last long as a new story direction is suddenly taken. You go from feeling sympathetic for everyone to feeling it only for Sparrow, such is the effect of the "business arrangement" that was made. Favourite bits: Some of the homely scenes looking out of the lighthouse windows stick in the mind; Lynn Merrick never looked lovelier this side of Boston Blackie, or out of a saddle either.

If you like the genre like me it's a nice little film, an hour well spent.

RICHARD DIX was nearing the end of his career in "The Whistler" series and this one was made just four years before his untimely death from heart attack. He plays a rich industrialist who takes the advice of his doctors and seeks relaxation away from the pressures of work which are killing him.

LYNN MERRICK is a blonde nurse who takes an interest in the strangely quiet man. She's in love with a young doctor but gives in to the idea of marrying Dix (at his suggestion) so that when he dies within a few months, she would be a rich woman inheriting all of his wealth. She presents the plan to her fiancé (JAMES CARDWELL) but he rejects it flatly and she goes ahead with her plan to marry Dix for his money.

What happens after that is what makes the film interesting, since the plot is anything but predictable. Suffice it to say that Cardwell returns to the lighthouse where Merrick is living her married life to Dix, and the plot thickens as a murder plan develops that goes awry.

Interesting "Whistler" story with the loneliness theme nicely played out amid the lone atmosphere of a Maine lighthouse.

Summing up: Intriguing and better than average entry in this series.

One of the best of the offbeat series. About 15 or 20 minutes into the screenplay and we still can't be sure what direction the story will take or how it will turn out. We're being set up for something, but without the usual conventions, it's hard to know what. In fact, this is one of the most unusual plot turn-arounds of that period. No doubt, a little programmer like this could get away with a lot more than a higher profile project. That's why there's more movie gold to be found under the 40's radar screen than on it.

Richard Dix is perfectly cast as the burned-out magnate looking for a new lease on life after years of cut-throat competition at the top. In fact he looks like he's at tether's end until he meets the sweet blonde nurse. ( Prophetically, the alcoholic Dix would die a few short years later). However, the chummy stroll with cabbie Rhys Williams along poverty row is rather overdone, while the roomful of cheerful clinic patients smacks of pure Hollywood pretense. On the other hand, the converted lighthouse amounts to an inspired bit of "mise-en-scene", with a moonlit seascape that stretches into a glimpse of eternity and a perfect backdrop for the events that follow.

I don't know if the writers intended the screenplay as a cynical commentary on friendship among the poor and those who serve them, but it certainly looks that way. The irony isn't played up, but it's still there. Also, note how the closing shot amounts to a spooky warning that in such matters, no one gets off scot free. Then too, if there's a moral to the story, I suggest something like never messing with a guy who has battled his way to the top of the business dog pile. Anyhow, it's an intriguing little 60 minutes, more than worthy of that shadowy figure of fate and master of graveyard commentary, the Whistler.

Like the other entries in the Whistler series, this one has an intriguing premise (not far removed from "Indecent Proposal") with a couple of nice twists. Unfortunately, it doesn't make for good cinema due to its static nature -- it's much more suited to the series' original medium, radio. The grungy setting of the first entry in the series (also directed by the fledgling William Castle) is sorely missed, though he does introduce a few oddball characters in passing. Nonetheless, it is worth sitting through the dull parts for the clever climax and the haunting aftermath. And there's one of those nice little walk-across-the-room bits by a sexy waitress to keep the guys alert (reminiscent of Lana Turner's rookie appearance in "They Won't Forget" or Yvette Vickers' eye-catching serveuse in "Hud"). A similar tale of a lighthouse-bound ménage-a-trois occurs in PRC's semi-noir appropriately entitled "Lighthouse".

This is the fourth Whistler film. Once again Richard Dix is the star and he plays a completely different character from the three preceding ones. His versatility is simply amazing. This time he is a very wealthy industrialist named John Sinclair who has no family, has never married, and also has no friends. He has been ruthless in the pursuit of financial success but as a result suffers from burnout. His doctor tells him he must take a long break, as his exhaustion attacks could become fatal. And that is where the story really begins. He meets a smiling and friendly nurse played by Lynn Merrick, who undergoes an extreme personality change when she realizes that Dix, going under a pseudonym as John Carter, is really the rich and famous John Sinclair. She becomes consumed by uncontrollable greed. Dix asks her to marry him and she unceremoniously dumps her fiancée, a handsome young doctor plated by James Cardwell. Then events very rapidly become noirish. The couple are living in a converted lighthouse on a desolate bit of coast and have no visitors. Merrick is going to pieces but Dix is falling in love with her. Then Cardwell suddenly turns up and the three of them spend days or weeks together, especially in the 'solarium' at the top of the lighthouse gazing out at the sea. There are lots of shots of them climbing up and down the spiral stairway inside the structure, of which Merrick cheerfully says 'It's good exercise.' Things get so tense one expects Barbara Stanwyck to turn up with Fred MacMurray. Well, at this point one draws a discreet veil over where this is all going, leaving the pleasure of discovery of the subsequent events to the viewers. One remark about Merrick. She was born in Texas as Marilyn Llewelling. That is an unusual American distortion of the well known Welsh surname of Llewellyn. And a real Welshman, Rhys Williams, appears in the supporting cast. I wonder what he thought of Llewellyn becoming Llewelling.

Richard Dix is a big, not very nice industrialist, who has nearly worked himself to death. If he takes the vacation his doctors suggest for him, can he find happiness for the last months of his life? Well, he'll likely be better off if he disregards the VOICE OF THE WHISTLER.

This William Castle directed entry has some great moments (the introduction and the depiction of Richard Dix's life through newsreel a la Citizen Kane), and some intriguing plotting in the final reels. Dix's performance is generally pretty good. But, unfortunately, the just does not quite work because one does not end up buying that the characters would behave the way that they do. Also, the movie veers from a dark (and fascinating beginning) to an almost cheerful 30s movie like midsection (full of nice urban ethnic types who don't mind that they aren't rich) and back again to a complex noir plot for the last 15 minutes or so.

This is a decent movie -- worth seeing -- but it needed a little more running time to establish a couple of the characters and a female lead capable of meeting the demands of her role.

A truly great "B" and the best "Whistler" series film I've seen so far. It's true that the plot doesn't make much sense, but there's a marvelously surrealistic quality about the exercise and Richard Dix's performance is one of the most haunting of his career, harking back to his great epics of the 1930's ("Cimarron," "The Conquerors" and "Reno"). William Castle's direction shows his marvelous command of atmosphere — he really was a first-rate suspense director when he wasn't throwing things at the audience or giving them electric shocks — and also is distinctly influenced by Orson Welles even before they worked together on "The Lady from Shanghai," especially in the fake newsreel used to introduce Dix's character and his backstory and the long scenes of the semi-retired tycoon and his blonde trophy wife living a joyless existence in a remote residence. Lynn Merrick is superb as a morally ambiguous character, and though James Cardwell is weak, Rhys Williams is a far better than average comic-relief sidekick even though his sudden appearance makes it seem at first as if that train took Dix not to Chicago but to London via the transatlantic tunnel Dix was constructing in the film of that name. "Voice of the Whistler" is an especially good entry in a series that on the whole maintained a high level of quality and holds up better than the rather dated, tricky "Whistler" radio shows. Please, Sony, follow the example of Universai's release of the "Inner Sanctum" films and put out all eight "Whistler" movies as a DVD boxed set!

This film is really like two separate films morphed together near the very end. The first 85% is a nice film about a rich but lonely man who is able to find himself. He seems like a very nice guy and you want him to succeed. I liked this very, very much and Richard Dix played an extremely sympathetic character. Then, as if out of left field, near the end of the film, the plot took a HUGE detour in an entirely different direction and this change made little sense. As I said, it seemed like an entirely different movie. Plus, once the film changed and the plot took a very dark turn, there was no sense of irony or suspense--leaving the viewer with a very flat and downbeat ending. While those who created this anthology series wanted to create a series with many of the characteristics of the later Twilight Zone TV show, the writing in the case of several of the installments just was too spotty. For a suspense-type film, it was gravely lacking in suspense.

Voice of the Whistler (1945)

*** (out of 4)

Fourth film in Columbia's series is once again directed by William Castle but he also co-wrote the screenplay here. This time out Richard Dix plays a rich man who will dead within a two month period. Not wanting to spend his last months alone, he offers a nurse (Lynn Merrick) a great opportunity. She marries him to bring him happiness and he'll leave her his millions. They go through with the plan but all of the sudden he starts to get healthy again. This is certainly the best film in the series so far and it works mainly due to the great story they are working with. There's a lot of twists and turns throughout the short 60-minute running time but it all leads to a highly believable ending. Dix is very good in his role as is Merrick and the two work perfectly well together. The screenplay offers both of their characters a chance to grow, which certainly isn't normal for this type of B movie. Castle does a very good job with his direction and proves he could direct something without gimmicks.

This is one of a series of movies starring Richard Dix based on the very popular radio drama "The Whistler" with it signature whistling.

This episode...I mean movie is all about the wealthy businessman John Sinclair, who is suffering from poor health and lack of friends. On his was to a cruise vacation he passes out in a cab. The friendly cab driver and former boxer, Ernie Sparrow, takes him home until he can get him to a doctor at the free clinic. This new doctor recommends avoiding a cruise and instead going to a small town in New England where he should make friends.

John invites Ernie to come with him and proposes to the local free clinic nurse. The doctor told him he is going to die probably in months. So his proposal to Nurse Joan Martin, is marry him...come to Maine to nurse him and when he dies she will get his whole fortune.

Only in Maine, where they buy a lighthouse and turn it into a house, John gets better and doesn't die as expected. Joan's former fiancée, Dr. Fred Graham, comes to pay them a visit and take Joan away with him. Except his timing couldn't be worse as John had just confessed his love to Joan, wanting to have a real marriage.

Then John during a chess explanation maps out how he would commit a murder...and Fred starts to take step to use it!

Interesting film, my one complaint is the person who ends up with the fortune seems a little mercenary, making the ending a bit of a disappointment. The rest of the end seems like poetic justice.

If you are a big Whistler fan I recommend not missing this one, also if you like a good murder mystery plot...you may enjoy this.

This 1940's gem seems to be a screwy morality play and an ill-conceived cautionary tale combined, put together by some very clumsy writers and a director who evidently took verrrrry long lunches. The characters' motives and behavior are so contrary to basic human nature, so lacking reason, so contrived, so bizarre -- and let's not forget the shoddy police work and questionable medical procedures, not to mention people who trust strangers implicitly -- that the best thing to do is watch it and laugh at it.But it's oddly enjoyable throughout -- for how utterly camp it is.

If "huh?" isn't the word you say most in reaction to this miserable but entertaining little piece of cinema, I'd be very surprised.