Columbia Noir #6 – The Whistler

Description

Eight classic films noir produced by Columbia Pictures in the 1940s. In ‘The Whistler’ (1944), widower Earl C. Conrad (Richard Dix) is distraught after the loss of his wife and hires a hitman to help him to end his suffering. However, when Conrad learns all is not as it seems, he is unable to locate the hitman to call it off and time is running out. In ‘The Mark of the Whistler’ (1944), a drifter acquires the money left in an unclaimed bank account by impersonating its vanished owner. Little does he know, however, that there are men seeking revenge on the missing man. In ‘The Power of the Whistler’ (1945), fortune teller Jean Lang (Janis Carter) finds herself spiritually drawn to a mysterious man who cannot remember who he is. As Jean helps him to uncover his identity, he learns that he may only have one more day to live. In ‘Voice of the Whistler’ (1945), John Sinclair (Dix), a dying man with extraordinary wealth, encourages his beautiful nurse Joan (Lynn Merrick) to marry him so that she can inherit his vast estate. Joan’s fiancée Fred (James Cardwell) does not approve of this plan, however, and when Sinclair makes an incredible recovery, Fred insists on removing Sinclair from Joan’s life. In ‘Mysterious Intruder’ (1946), private detective Don Gale (Dix) is hired by the owner of a record shop to track down Elora Lund (Pamela Blake), a woman who vanished at the age of fourteen and who might be the heir to a vast fortune. In ‘The Secret of the Whistler’ (1946), artist Ralph Harrison (Dix) concocts a deadly plan when his ailing, wealthy wife Edith (Mary Currier) discovers his affair with Kay (Leslie Brooks). To prevent Edith from removing his right to inherit her estate, he sets out to hasten her inevitable death. In ‘The Thirteenth Hour’ (1947), tensions rise between truck driver Steve Reynolds (Dix) and his business rival. When Steve is assaulted by an unknown assailant and has his truck hijacked, could it be his familiar enemy or a mysterious stranger out for blood? Finally, in ‘The Return of the Whistler’ (1948), a man hires a private investigator to find out why his fiancée disappeared. When he finally finds her, however, he learns she is being controlled by the scheming family of her ex-husband.