The Power of the Whistler

1945 "Radio’s mystery man will hold you spellbound!"
6.3| 1h6m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 19 April 1945 Released
Producted By: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A woman uses a deck of cards to predict death within 24 hours for a stranger sitting at a bar, then tries to help him remember who he is based on items in his pockets.

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Reviews

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring
Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Michael_Elliott Power of the Whistler, The (1945) ** (out of 4) Third film in the series has Richard Dix being hit by a car and losing his memory. A card reader (Janis Carter) befriends the man as the two search for his real identity but who he turns out to be is the real shock. Based on a radio show episode, this film manages to be somewhat entertaining, although it seems long even at just 66-minutes. It takes a while for the story to get going but the twist in the man's identity comes out of no where and is handled very well. This is when the film really picks up and leads to a very good final act. Dix is very good in his role and Carter comes off good as well. Landers steps in to direct this one after William Castle handled the first two. I was a little letdown that he didn't keep the action moving better because he usually handles these B films a lot better. There's some nice humor scattered throughout and also a rather mean spirited side, which includes killing of a lot of animals.
blanche-2 "The Power of the Whistler" is a good story with a lot of atmosphere. A young woman (Janis Carter) tells a man's fortune and sees that it isn't good, goes to warn him, and finds out he's an amnesiac. She and her roommate (Jeff Donnell) set out to help him find out his true identity.Richard Dix stars in "The Whistler" series, which came from the radio -The Whistler is never seen but serves as narrator. I know things were different in the '40s, but first of all, why is Dix always described in these films as handsome? Doesn't anyone notice that cheap hairpiece he's wearing? When you look at who was considered handsome in the 1940s - oh, you know, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, that crowd, tell me Dix stacks up. Why would Jean (Carter) be attracted to him? And why would she trust him enough that she'd take him back to her place so he could sleep on the couch? While trying to discover his identity, Jean comes across a floral delivery receipt to a ballerina. They go and see the woman, and she says she doesn't know the man. Later we find out she did. She did, and she let this naive young woman walk out the door with him. Ridiculous. Meanwhile, every time this guy is around a little animal, it dies. This poor little girl asks him to hold her kitten for her, and when she gets it back, it's dead. Then the roommate's bird dies. And still, nothing is registering with Jean.I'm disappointed that I can't get into this series, but I just can't get past Dix.
MartinHafer This is one of the more frustrating movies I've seen in some time. That's because the basic story idea is brilliant and very engaging--so engaging that even with the plot's many, many faults, it still was worth watching. The bottom line is that the film had so many plot holes and irrational behaviors on the part of the characters that I was frustrated beyond belief. My wife also watched the film with me and we both found ourselves complaining out loud repeatedly at all the bone-headed actions of the cast--particularly, but not exclusively, Janis Carter (who played "Jean Lang"). The writer, Aubrey Wisberg, had great ideas but either rushed the film into production before all the kinks could be worked out or they didn't care--I'm not sure which.Richard Dix returns again to the series and I liked his being in the Whistler films because he was a very good actor and it was neat to see the same person play different roles in the lead in every Whistler film--what a great concept. It starts off very well as he's struck by a hit and run driver and loses his memory. As he wanders about, Jean sees him and takes pity on him--discovering that he has amnesia and she tries to help him recover his memories. Not knowing what sort of person he was is a great idea--especially as the hidden truth about Dix is really exciting like an episode of the Twlight Zone or Outer Limits.However, here is a partial list of stupid behaviors (those not by Jean are noted): --When she discovers Dix wandering about, she never thinks to take him to the police (who can take fingerprints and check out his story very quickly), but takes him home! What if he's a maniac or a sex offender or is an Amway salesman? --When Dix touches three animals and only a short time later they are dead, no red flag was raised to idiot Jean. A stranger appears and in the space of less than a day, three cute animals die around him and yet that doesn't result in her questioning his character! --When you discover that he IS lying about his past and has every appearance of being a maniac up to no good, you are fortunately stopped by the police who can easily save you! Yet, when they question him and he lies, you say nothing--you don't even ask for help, even though the cops have guns drawn on Dix and to your knowledge Dix is unarmed.--When Dix tries to kill you and chases you, you never scream for help! You just run and hide! --When Dix acts clingy and creepy later in the film (saying he loves you after only knowing you a day), you let this slide.--When Jean and Dix visit the actress early in the film, the actress says she doesn't know him and tells them to leave. Late in the film, she says she DID know him and that he was a dangerous maniac--yet said nothing!!! Had she just told Jean this in the beginning, the entire rest of the film would have been irrelevant!! Now this isn't to say ALL the characters were stupid. Jean's sister and her boyfriend were both good and intelligent characters. But Jean's actions go way beyond pathetically stupid making her seem ridiculous and forcing the audience to cheer for her to die! Plus, the actress and her story made absolutely no sense at all. It's really a shame, as apart from these problems, the plot was amazing and super-exciting. I really hope someone at a studio watches this film and decides to do a remake--the story idea and most of the plot are amazing.
whpratt1 My father told me about the Whistler Series that ran on the Radio years ago in the 1940's and Richard Dix starred in this series. This film was directed by Lew Landers, a famous director who created many mystery films and especially this film which will keep you trying to figure out just what William Everest (Richard Dix) was after he received a bad blow to his head from a car running into him and he lost his memory and amnesia occurred. William Everest stops in for a drink at a bar and a young pretty blonde named Jean Lang,(Janis Carter) is playing with cards that a fortune teller would use and finds out that this man at the bar has about twenty-four hours to live and will probably die. There are many twists and turns in this dark mysterious film from the 1940's and there is a very dark side to William Everest and he always seems to attract the very pretty women. Enjoy.