{"id":6855,"date":"2009-05-18T21:53:18","date_gmt":"2009-05-19T04:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6855"},"modified":"2020-12-30T16:34:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T23:34:33","slug":"whistler-the-1944","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6855","title":{"rendered":"Whistler, The (1944)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Do you know that some people actually die of fright?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Whistler-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Whistler-Poster-192x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-60569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Whistler-Poster-192x300.png 192w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Whistler-Poster-657x1024.png 657w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Whistler-Poster-82x128.png 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Whistler-Poster-173x270.png 173w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Whistler-Poster.png 707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA man (Richard Dix) despondent over the death of his wife puts out a contract on his own life; when he discovers his wife is still alive, however, he tries to reverse the contract, only to find that the man he originally contacted (Don Costello) has been killed, and a hired hitman (J. Carrol Naish) is determined to complete his job.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hit Men<\/li>\n<li>Race-Against-Time<\/li>\n<li>William Castle Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBased on one of the most popular radio mystery serials in American history, <em>The Whistler<\/em> offers a surprisingly effective cinematic translation of the show&#8217;s formulaic intrigue and suspense. Director William Castle &#8212; who went on to greater glory as the &#8220;schlockmeister&#8221; behind films such as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1705\"><em>The Tingler<\/em> (1959)<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2024\"><em>Strait-Jacket<\/em> (1964)<\/a> &#8212; reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/95616\/the-whistler#articles-reviews?articleId=139012\">used &#8220;creative tactics&#8221;<\/a> to elicit a suitably haggard and tense performance from wooden leading man Richard Dix, who wanders through the one-hour film desperate to reverse a chain of events he himself has put into motion; we can&#8217;t help vicariously experiencing his anxiety. Despite a few minor plot holes, <em>The Whistler<\/em> is worth a look both for its cultural significance and for the simple yet honest enjoyment it brings. Listen for the iconic opening whistled tune, which surely was an influence on Ennio Morricone&#8217;s scores for the &#8220;Man With No Name&#8221; films. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Effectively stark cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/whistler-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/whistler-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6857\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A clever screenplay with many suspenseful twists<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/whistler-screenplay.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/whistler-screenplay.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6858\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a nifty little B-thriller. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037461\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?_r=1&#038;res=9802E7D9123DE13BBC4151DFB266838F659EDE\">NY Times Original Review (Spoiler Alert!)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2017\/10\/21\/the-whistler-1944\/\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/95616\/the-whistler#articles-reviews?articleId=139012\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.noiroftheweek.com\/2006\/08\/whistler-1944.html\">Noir of the Week Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Do you know that some people actually die of fright?&#8221; Synopsis: A man (Richard Dix) despondent over the death of his wife puts out a contract on his own life; when he discovers his wife is still alive, however, he tries to reverse the contract, only to find that the man he originally contacted (Don Costello) has been killed, and a hired hitman (J. Carrol Naish) is determined to complete his job. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Hit Men Race-Against-Time&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6855\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6855"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60572,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6855\/revisions\/60572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}