THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER [1945] + VOICE OF THE WHISTLER [1945] [Blu-ray] [Limited Edition] [1945 / 2024] [UK Release] Radio’s Mystery Man Will Hold YOU Spellbound . . . The Strange Case of the HAUNTED Lighthouse!
THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER [1945] A woman uses a deck of cards to predict death within 24 hours for an amnesiac sitting at a bar, then tries to help him remember who he is based on items in his pockets and eventually they must reconstruct his dark past using only the items in his pockets.
FILM FACT: ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ [1945] is a 1945 film noir thriller film based on the radio drama The Whistler. Directed by Lew Landers, the production features Richard Dix. It is the third of Columbia Pictures eighth The Whistler films produced in the 1940’s, and seven of The Whistler films starred the actor Richard Dix. Critic Leonard Maltin said of the film, Third Whistler entry is a little padded but still genuinely eerie.
Cast: Richard Dix, Janis Carter, Jeff Donnell, Loren Tindall, Tala Birell, John Abbott, Ernie Adams (uncredited), Murray Alper (uncredited), Walter Baldwin (uncredited), Margia Dean (uncredited), Edythe Elliott (uncredited), Otto Forrest (uncredited), Jack George (uncredited), Jack Gordon (uncredited), Frank Hagney (uncredited), I. Stanford Jolley (uncredited), Cy Kendall (uncredited), Kenneth MacDonald (uncredited), Nina Mae McKinney (uncredited), Sol Murgi (uncredited), Eddie Parker (uncredited), Paul Power (uncredited), Stanley Price (uncredited), Frank J. Scannell (uncredited), Forrest Taylor (uncredited), John Tyrrell (uncredited), Crane Whitley (uncredited) and Robert B. Williams (uncredited)
Director: Lew Landers
Producer: Leonard S. Picker
Screenplay: Aubrey Wisberg (original screenplay)
Composer: Paul Sawtell (uncredited) + Wilbur Hatch (Original Theme Music for The Whistler)
Costume and Wardrobe Department: Eugene Joseff (Costume jewellery) (uncredited)
Cinematography: L. William O'Connell (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black and White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 66 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Power House / INDICATOR
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ [1945] is a mystery film noir based on the radio drama of the same name. This is the third of the eight film noir series adapted from the radio drama produced in the 1940’s. Richard Dix reprises as the main character in the film with as usual Otto Forrest as The Whistler narrating in the background. Also Janis Carter is again cast as Richard Dix's leading lady in this film and Janis Carter was his leading lady in the second movie The Mark of the Whistler as well. Jean Lang [Janis Carter] is an amateur fortune-teller who ends up telling the forecast of a man William Everest [Richard Dix] in the restaurant that Jean Lang was dining with her sister Francie [Jeff Donnell] and her sister's boyfriend Charlie Kent [Loren Tindall], unbeknownst of the man. Jean Lang then follows this man to tell him what she read in the cards only to realise that the man doesn’t have any memory who he was or where he was coming from or where he was going to. Jean Lang volunteers to help him sort out by going through the stuff in his pockets. Thus begins a very strange journey of two different people that fate brought them together, especially with the cards I mean. Will Jean Lang be successful in helping this man find himself? Who is this man for real? Why is he wandering in the streets of Greenwich Village? Finally, ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film starts off in a very interesting mode almost giving it a feel of investigative mystery but then it goes on to become a bit more sinister. Jean Lang and William Everest characters come across with all kinds of omens along the journey and some causing you chills and thrills, and some making you wonder how odd. Story wise was well-made and told, and is another chilling episode in The Whistler series. On top of all that, I totally recommend this film because it has chills, fortune telling and lots of mystery and all packed in this little movie for a shivering time.
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VOICE OF THE WHISTLER [1945] A dying millionaire, trying to do good, marries his penniless young nurse so she can inherit his wealth and live in comfort. The then millionaire miraculously recovers, but the troubles for both husband and wife are just beginning.
FILM FACT: ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ is a 1945 American mystery film noir directed by William Castle and starring Richard Dix, Lynn Merrick and Rhys Williams. It was the fourth of Columbia Pictures eighth The Whistler films franchise produced in the 1940’s, all based on the radio drama The Whistler.
Cast: Richard Dix, Lynn Merrick, Rhys Williams, James Cardwell, Tom Kennedy, Sam Ash (uncredited), Charles Coleman (uncredited), Max Davidson (uncredited), Otto Forrest (uncredited), Byron Foulger (uncredited), Martin Garralaga (uncredited), Kay Garrett (uncredited), John Hamilton (uncredited), Stuart Holmes (uncredited), Wilbur Mack (uncredited), Charles Marsh (uncredited), Harold Miller (uncredited), Mike Morelli (uncredited), Forbes Murray (uncredited), Gigi Perreau (uncredited), Frank Reicher (uncredited), Clinton Rosemond (uncredited), Frank J. Scannell (uncredited), Scott Seaton (uncredited), Minerva Urecal (uncredited), Dorothy Vernon (uncredited), Chalky Williams (uncredited), Robert B. Williams (uncredited) and Douglas Wood (uncredited)
Director: William Castle
Producer: Rudolph C. Flothow
Screenplay: Allan Radar (story), Wilfrid H. Pettitt (screenplay) and William Castle (screenplay)
Composer: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (uncredited) + Wilbur Hatch (Original Theme Music for The Whistler)
Cinematography: George Benjamin Meehan Jr. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black and White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 59 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Power House / INDICATOR
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ [1945] is a story is set in flashback in the thoughts of Joan Martin Sinclair [Lynn Merrick] and it goes back to the time when a millionaire John Sinclair [Richard Dix] was on the verge of dying. As a last good faith of act, John Sinclair decides to marry his penniless nurse, so that he can leave something for Joan Martin Sinclair to make her life better. But then the unexpected events happen that changes the course for both Joan Martin Sinclair and Joan Martin Sinclair. What happens to them afterwards? Why is Joan Martin Sinclair living alone? Where does this change of course take them? The plot starts off with a rather sympathetic note towards the leading characters, but then it takes a really sinister turn as the plot proceeds, and makes you wonder what a man could do for greed, jealousy and mistaken feelings of love. 59 minutes of intense human emotions tossed around between four key characters that form a nice web of intrigued. On top of all that, I totally recommend this film because it has lots of twists and turns of human emotions and what happens when the darker side of these human emotions come out, which will shock you.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Columbia Pictures, Power House + INDICATOR presents us the films ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ + ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ with a brand new wonderful 1080p digital restoration and both shown in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The black-and white-images are truly wonderful and was sourced from SONY’s 35mm High Definition Masters and excluding a few minor density fluctuations and shaky darker nuances, this will likely be its only image definitive presentation and most of all there is great clarity and depth that is extremely very good for both films made in 1945. Most of all there are no traces of any problematic digital work and image stability is also extremely good. All in all, both films ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ + ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ really looks totally wonderful and especially for both films made in 1945. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Columbia Pictures, Power House + INDICATOR brings us the films ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ + ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ with a really good quality 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio experience. The audio dialogue for both films is very clear, sharp, and especially very stable. For both films made in 1945 you would think and expect to hear rather substantial audio fluctuations in terms of dynamic intensity and stability because of the age of both ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ + ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ films. But all in all, everything sounded really good, superb and most of all, its audio qualities are definitely retained as best as possible throughout both movie soundtracks, which were sourced and remastered at the same time.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
High Definition presentation of ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ + ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’
Special Feature: ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ Audio Commentary by Josh A. Ney [2024] [1080p] [1.37:1] [66:24] With this featurette, we get to hear from Professor and Film Scholar Josh A. Ney and is here to talk about the film ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ and as the film begins, Josh A. Ney introduces himself and says he is here to talk about the film noir Columbia Pictures 1945 film ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ and also informs us that he is also a writer for a publication entitled NOIR CITY Magazine and when Josh A. Ney speaks, says that this film was included in the Columbia #6 Blu-ray Box Set, and he insisted on wanting to do this in-depth audio commentary, because genuinely quite a bit of what the 1945 film has to offer and says that throughout this featurette, he will talk about the film’s routes, especially the popular American radio series The Whistler that has been adapted for this 1945 film, which fits in with The Whistler film franchise series at Columbia Pictures at the same time, also Josh A. Ney will be doing an in-depth production information and behind-the-scene anecdotes, also how the film was received by the general public and especially the film critics. Now Josh A. Ney talks about the monologue at the start of the film from The Whistler which of course we see as a dark shadow on a wall at the start of the film and maintaining his character off screen to maintain the mystery of the character and also his air of mystery, and being a B picture we get the opening voice from The Whistler that is laden with all kinds illogical and philosophical significance, but Jason A. Ney also feels the script has one recurring short coming, which he says he will discuss further on in this audio commentary. Also we see the Richard Dix character William Everest falls and hit his head and says he has lost his memory, but of course this is a rues, as William Everest has a really nasty evil plan against one particular person, because William Everest was made to be put in a very secure mental asylum against his will and is out for total revenge, but of course we do not know the final tense outcome at the start of the film. Jason A. Ney also says The Whistler films enjoyed employing implausible set ups and challenging the audiences to suspend its disbelief, on top of all that, Jason A. Ney goes into detail about the scenario of the first two The Whistler films, that were of course The Whistler and The Mark of The Whistler, and Jason A. Ney now talks in-depth about ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film scenario where the character Jean Lang is able to predict someone’s fortune by reading with a set of playing cards and eventually predicts William Everest’s character is going to die and now the audiences have to wonder how the film will give the final payoff premise, and Jason A. Ney thinks this is so much fun to stay engaged with the film right until the final revelation, but of course as we get deep into the film, we ask ourselves about Jean Lang’s character informing William Everest’s fate, and of course unfortunately Jean Lang’s character gets seriously dangerously deep into William Everest’s final destination where Jean Lang’s character might be murdered, and of course you will have to view to the end of the film to find out the final outcome, and again you do not suspect William Everest’s real hidden characters motive, because throughout the film William Everest acts like an innocent gentle man who keeps saying he had lost his memory and cannot remember his name, and of course as we view the film, Jean Lang’s character tries all types of avenues to find out the Richard Dix’s character real name through all kinds of endeavours. Jason A. Ney asks us the audiences, how you would react if a woman came up to you at night and informed you that the reading of some playing cards would predict you was going to die in a 24 hour period, you would probably smile and nod, and frankly really think through what has just been said to you, and how I would personally immediately put as much distance as possible, between yourself and this woman. Then at one point in the film, Jean Lang’s character asks William Everest’s character to turn out all of his pockets to see if there are any possible clues to who he is, but unfortunately the mystery goes even deeper and so we have to stick out to the rest of the film to finally get to find out the nasty endeavour William Everest’s character mission is really on, while all the time us the audience thinks William Everest’s character has lost his memory, but eventually of course we get the real mission of William Everest’s character and Jason A. Ney thinks this 1945 film is so totally different from other films where the male character has lost his memory, and acting out that they are innocent. At one point in the film, Jean Lang and William Everest end up in a stranger’s automobile and the owner of the automobile comes back to find these stranger’s in the back of his automobile, and Jason A. Ney feels the stranger of the automobile is the most understanding gentleman in the world, and seems readily excepts their explanation why they are in his automobile and offers to drive them to their destination like a taxi service. Now Jason A. Ney now talks about the ballerina character Constantina Ivaneska played by actress Tala Birell who was a Romanian-born stage and film actress and had stage and screen experience in Vienna and doubled for Marlene Dietrich in German films, and was a star of the stage in Europe, and Tala Birell became popular in American films, including a small role in the film Bringing Up Baby [1938]. But Jason A. Ney now says that the actress Tala Birell had appeared in a string of successful shows in Los Angeles when the ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film went into production and one of the production crew saw Tala Birell’s several performances and was so enraptured and entranced with her performance and felt Tala Birell would be so perfect for the Russian ballerina character Constantina Ivaneska in the 1945 film. Now Jason A. Ney talks in-depth about Harry Cohen who was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation and informs us that Harry Cohen had a very strict work ethic and what it consisted off, and also talks in-depth about Columbia Pictures and its work ethic and what type of films they wanted to produce. Now Jason A. Ney talks about actors and what they get up to when not being filmed, and says what actor Richard Dix got up to between filming scenes in ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film and what Richard Dix did was to spend time looking through the books on the shelves you see in the 1945 film and that is when Richard Dix struck gold because he pulled of the book shelf the first edition of Joseph Conrad’s novel Lord Jim [1900] and on top of all that, Richard Dix was a collector of first editions of author Joseph Conrad and could not believe his luck in finding this first edition novel of Lord Jim and of course Richard Dix did not want to steal the novel from the set, so Richard Dix did the right thing, and asked permission of Columbia Pictures for him to be able to keep this first edition novel of Lord Jim and the answer that came back, is that one of the Hollywood executives said to Richard Dix, “Sure, you can keep this first edition novel, as long as you can swap it out with any other book, the same weight and size,” and of course Richard Dix took to the deal. Story number two, was that during this era with the Hollywood studios would regularly allow columnist to visit the sets and write about what they witnessed as a means of drumming up publicity, well one of these columnist was looking around Columbia Pictures studio and came across some of the female actors were rifling through the books on the shelves and were looking at one book in particular, and one of the female actors said her Aunt would not keep a male and female author on the same shelf in her house. At certain points in the film, mysteriously animals start to get killed and Jean Lang does not seem to think this is strange, on top of all that, her sister Francie [Jeff Donnell] is much more suspicious of events in wondering why her sister Jean Lang has brought this stranger William Everest character into their home, and later on in the film her sister Francie starts to put two and two together to make five, and the suspicion of this stranger William Everest character starts to add up, and the sister Francie really has her head on straight and totally suspicious of this stranger William Everest character. Jason A. Ney feels that the Columbia Pictures The Whistler film franchise series is not as well-known as Columbia Pictures mid 1940’s films like Gilda, and it is fair to say that The Whistler film franchise series laid the ground for Columbia Pictures studios future to embrace this film noir. Now Jason A. Ney feels the actor Richard Dix does great character role in ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film, particular his facial expressions, and he manages to convey a whole host of emotions in as little as one shot as we have just witnessed. Now Jason A. Ney talks about that if you were living on the West Coast of America on the 16th May, 1942 and turned on your radio to CBS radio station that evening, you would of heard an announcer words quote, “Tonight, CBS presents a new mystery series The Whistler,” then a man’s voice would identify himself as the shows titular character, a man who walks by night, who knows many things, and would tell you macabre tales of murder of John Hendrix who slaughtered his wife and step son, because he wanted their money all to himself and was then convicted 0f the crime, but escaped prison after a decade and went back to the house to collect the money that had been stashed away and eventually he is murdered by people in the house, but they were hired gunmen by John Hendrix’s cell mate, and eventually this type of dark story, set the tone for the 691 episodes that was broadcast on CBS Radio West Coast station right up to the 12th September, 1955. At around chapter 5, we see William Everest on a park bench and Jean Lang turns up and as they walk away, Jean Lang screams in horror in seeing a dead grey squirrel and now this is the third animal Jean Lang has witnessed and now her mind is working overtime in figuring out who the murders were being committed by. Jason A. Ney now starts to talk about the actor Richard Dix, who had a serious alcoholic addiction in 1946 and finishing The Whistler 7th film, he had a heart attack and was forced to retire and 2 years later broke his hip from a very serious fall and had another serious heart attack and was also battling with his alcoholic addiction and while on holiday in 1949 suffered another serious heart attack and died not long after that event, at the age of 56. Now Jason A. Ney does a brief talk about director William Castle, who in the late 1950’s goes the independent route, and became well known as the King of the Gimmicks, but in the early 1950’s only did five of The Whistler film franchise series, and so the director Lew Landers got the direct ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film, and Jason A. Ney also informs us that Lew Landers career began in 1934 and this ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film was his 79th feature film and in 1945 directed a total on nine feature films in total, and Jason A. Ney feels director Lew Landers brings a workman like ethic towards this ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film, and when film work dried up for director Lew Landers decided to go into television. When we get to chapter 9, Jason A. Ney mentions the actress Janis Carter’s character Jean Lang who is now getting seriously concerned and worried for her safety in the car being driven by William Everest, because two motorcycle police patrol has just stopped the car and questioned William Everest character, and her is when Jean Lang’s character knows she is in serious danger with the poison killer William Everest character and Jean Lang is wondering how to escape the moving vehicle, and Jason A. Ney feels it is the most suspenseful scene in the whole film, and as we get near to the climax of the last six minutes of the film, we finally set the ultimate pay off from the actress Janis Carter, and with her very quick thinking, in making Richard Dix’s character to get his ultimate and justified comeuppance for what he had done throughout the film, but of course you will have to watch the film, as it is a glorious end to the film. But what annoyed me, is that Jason A. Ney reads out some really nasty film critics reviews in giving the film a 100% negative reviews and it made me very angry, as ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film has the total opposite effect on me, as I felt the end of the film is a 100% edge of your seat suspenseful ending to ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film. On top of all that, Jason A. Ney is very critical to all the negative film critics’ review of ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film, whereas instead Jason A. Ney says that viewing this ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film today, this film is generally considered one of the strongest entries in The Whistler film franchise series. Jason A. Ney also says about ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film, in saying this now leads to my final observation, that at its heart ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ film, the story is about the divergence prospective of two sisters, the first is Francie who thinks of her decision acts very carefully and therefore doesn’t rush headlong into ill-conceived dealings with total strangers, whereas Jean Lang does the opposite, and as the story unfolds, its Francie’s more prudent approach to life that helps her avoid unnecessary danger, not just maintaining, but strengthening her healthy bond with Charlie Kent [Loren Tindall] along the way, meanwhile, Jean Lang is back where she started with no romantic partner, still hoping to find a shortcut to a human connection through more future telling. So whose says an expensive B picture can’t be profound? Until next time, and thanks for listening. So at that point this wonderful and informative Jason A. Ney audio commentary comes to an end, and it is in the class of one of the best audio commentary I have heard in a very long time.
Special Feature: Audio Commentary with Lee Gambin on ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ [2024] [1080p] [1.37:1] [59:43] With this featurette, we get to hear from Film Historian Lee Gambin and is here to talk in-depth about the 1945 Columbia Pictures film ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ and as the film begins, Lee Gambin introduces himself and informs us that he wants to do an in-depth talk, as well as lots of information about the film ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ and as the film begins, feels this film is a great fun entry in The Whistler film franchise series and delivered by the legendary director and screenplay by William Castle and produced by Rudolph C. Flothow and Lee Gambin feels this 1945 film is totally fascinating and it is all about a film about loneliness which he says was prevalent in America post Second World War and points out the three types of loneliness at the time of the 1945 films release, which was social loneliness, emotional loneliness and extensional loneliness, and the two main characters in the film both suffer from emotional and social loneliness, and feels William Castle is clearly on form with this film and is showcasing all things spooky and moody atmosphere and a somewhat curtain raiser that has just stepped out of a horror movie, especially with the start of the film is a shot of an isolated lighthouse and a woman living on her own as a recluse with her two cats, and feels director William Castle is always attracted to these types of characters who have been neglected, mentally depressed or even alienated from the family and left alone to tot, which again William Castle thrives on with these types of driven characters. Next we see a group of men watching an old movie newsreel covering many years on the Industrial Millionaire John Sinclair [Richard Dix] and the highlights of his life, and shows John Sinclair like the character out of the film ‘Citizen Kane’ who of course was played by the late great actor Orson Wells, and funny enough Orson Wells and Richard Dix both were involved in the film ‘The Lady from Shanghai’ [1947]. Now Lee Gambin mentions that the John Sinclair character maybe a multi-millionaire, but is a very lonely and isolated multi-millionaire and this is the start of where John Sinclair starts searching for a particular woman to share his massive fortune for life, but sadly only if the woman agrees to the deal, and she has to live a life of loneliness in the isolate lighthouse with her two cats as companions, but of course the crux of the film is that John Sinclair is extremely ill and has only a very short period of time before he dies, that is why he is seeking a woman to inherit his massive wealth. When we see John Sinclair on a train travelling to his destination, you get a glimpse of a Train Porter played by the black actor Clinton Rosemond and Lee Gambin informs us that Clinton Rosemond has appeared in at least 40 films from 1930 to 1953 and some of those films were ‘The Mask of Fu Manchu’ [1932], ‘Hollywood Hotel’ [1937], ‘Midnight Shadow’ [1939], ‘Dark Command’ [1940], ‘Santa Fe Trail’ [1940], ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ [1942], ‘Cabin in the Sky’ [1943], ‘I Walked with a Zombie’ [1943], ‘Sport of Kings’ [1947] and ‘The Burning Cross’ [1947]. As we get more into the 1945 film, we see John Sinclair character’s illness is steadily getting worse, and he meets the taxi driver character who originally was a boxer in a previous career and he is Ernie Sparrow who is played by the actor Rhys Williams who is a Welsh actor and has appeared in massive amounts of films from 1941 until 1970, anyway Ernie Sparrow takes John Sinclair under his wings to look after him, especially in his home. Lee Gambin now talks about William Castle and the way he uses atmospheric lighting to set the mood of the film, even right to the end of the film. Now we see John Sinclair entering the East Street Clinic and this is where he first meets the young doctor Fred Graham played by James Cardwell and Fred Graham will be totally pivotal character later on in the film, where John Sinclair is 100% jealous towards his character in a very nasty fashion and sadly something nasty happens to Fred Graham near the end of the film, but now John Sinclair finally meets the nurse Joan Martin Sinclair played by actress Lynn Merrick who enters his life without realising it and also does not know how her fortune will change dramatically, but at the same time will end up a really lonely isolated person in the lighthouse. Now Lee Gambin now talks about the actress Lynn Merrick who has just come face to face with John Sinclair who is going to offer her a chance of a lifetime that will change her life forever, but again Lee Gambin carries on talking about the actress Lynn Merrick and says he thinks the actress is very beautiful and feels the camera like this actress and also feels the actress is a wonderful dynamic performer and also feels the actress is great to look at and is also totally mesmerising and says that Lynn Merrick worked for Republic Pictures and also worked quite a bit with Columbia Pictures, and again Lee Gambin felt the actress Lynn Merrick was very talented, and also appeared in a lot of film noir films, lots of crime movies, also di film musicals and again feels the actress was an all-round performer, and also feels Lynn Merrick chemistry on screen in this 1945 film with Richard Dix was totally dynamite and wonderful to watch and eventually both characters are totally doomed by the end of this 1945 film. Now Lee Gambin talks about William Castle, and when people like fans, critics and scholars or historians, always think about the director William Castle as a genre of horror films and rightly so, because each one of those types of films were totally wonderful and also a great deal of fun, but William Castle also worked on a lot of film noir genre and very economically made and also very punchy films, but surprisingly William Castle worked on American radio plays, that were very popular, and had brilliant characters in those plays that were also very complicated and also very dynamic. But Le Gambin feels watching a William Castle film that the director worked only on five of The Whistler film franchise series and feels there is real, high dynamics and super performance energies of the actors in again only five of The Whistler film franchise series that William Castle directed and also feels that he suspects that the actors really enjoyed working with William Castle as the director, and also feels it was the way William Castle directed the film ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ and packed so much mystery, intrigue and dynamics in the 59 minutes running time that was a great and massive achievement. Lee Gambin also says about the film ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ that it is about an ultimate doomed couple, with a relationship that is plagued with insecurity, that is not presented at the start of the movie, but as time goes on, this situation slowly reveals itself, and feels the whole set up is so dark and grim, especially in war torn America in 1945 where couple are falling apart that is a major factor and of course in World War Two women were left on their own and their men were fighting for freedom which was a crucial factor in that period, and there was also great anxiety in America in that time period. Le Gambin now talks again about the actress Lynn Merrick and her character in the film, which we now see the actress is now living in the lighthouse and feels her characters fate is now worse because of having to become a recluse with the deal with John Sinclair and lives in a shadowy realm of the lighthouse and especially with her two cats and as we see near the end of the film, her character has changed 100% in becoming an isolated recluse, and there is a shocking revelation at the end of the film and with the prologue spoken by the actress Lynn Merrick and is like a shadow of her formal self to what she was like at the start of the film, and Lee Gambin says Lynn Merrick’s character eventually and totally resents and despises the location of the lighthouse, she also hates where she lives, and feels totally and utterly trapped, and of course there is a devastating climax to the end of the film. But again the character that Lynn Merrick portrays at the end of the film, changes completely and becomes monstrous, cold and mean, elusive and nasty, and betrays John Sinclair because of what he has done to her character, because her character feels she has been trapped by John Sinclair. Then suddenly at around 53:37 you see the young doctor Fred Graham pick up a poker to murder someone in bed, but instead something very vicious and nasty happens to Fred Graham in the lighthouse, but then we see John Sinclair trying to dispose of a body out of one of the windows in the lighthouse, but is thwarted because Ernie Sparrow sealed up all of the windows, so John Sinclair now has to carry the dead body all the way down the spiral staircase and dump the dead body somewhere on the rocks by the sea, and Lee Gambin feels the Cinematographer George Benjamin Meehan Jr. (Director of Photography) captures the spooky atmosphere extremely well, and George Benjamin Meehan Jr. started his career in the silent film era and had a very prolific career in being a Director of Photography and Lee Gambin feels the cinematography in ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ is just totally divine, especially with the use of wonderful light and shadow and also feels it is very powerful and also very dynamite. Le Gambin also says that the last words of The Whistler at the end of the film, really sums up ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ really well, and gives a judgement about the film as well, and a deep insight into the characters, especially John Sinclair in guiding his evil character to the bitter end, and of course having The Whistler that has a very gothic chiller aspect to his voice. Also Lee Gambin sums up by saying, that he feels what is great about ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ film is the performance of the actor Richard Dix as John Sinclair, that is so painful in his performance and his deliverance in the film and how in tune the actor is with his character, which he thinks is so great in what the actor delivers on his performance level, and also with the other actors giving it there all, and as we come to the end of this audio commentary with Lee Gambin, he says, “So I just want to say, thank you for listening and it has been an honour to have you listening to me with my audio track and to hear me talking about ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ film, and I would like to give a high five to William Castle, in delivering such a brilliant film in such a wonderful perfect wat for a film noir, and ecumenically delivered in total artistry, and so once again, it has been a total pleasure.” So at that point this Le Gamin audio commentary comes to an end.
Special Feature: The Noir City Interview with Robert Dix [2010] [1080p /1080i] [1.37:1 / 1.78:1] [18:54] With this featurette, we get an in-depth interview with Robert Dix who is the son of the leading actor Richard Dix, which was conducted by Writer and Film Historian Alan K. Rode following the screening of the film ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ that was recorded at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles 0n the 17th April, 2010 in front of an audience. The Alan K. Rode introduces Robert Dix and talks about his father Richard Dix and his career in the 1920’s in the silent film era and felt his father could play all kinds of characters really well and also talks about what it was like to have Richard Dix as a father and how well known Hollywood stars would visit their home and had great Birthday Parties with the Hollywood actors children and also talks about what it was like to live in the era when Richard Dix was a movies actor and found it a really fascinating times. One sad moment with the Robert Dix interview, is that when he was 14 years of age, his father Richard Dix had a massive heart attacked and dies and just before Richard Dix past away, they both had a real man to man serious talk about the pitfalls of an acting career, because Richard Dix was serious about not wanting Robert Dix to go into the acting profession, but despite this, talks abou the films he has appeared in and they were ‘Forbidden Planet’ [1956], ‘Five Bloody Graves’ [1969], ‘Young Jesse James’ [1960], ‘Wild Wheels’ [1969] and ‘Live and let Die [1973] and Robert Dix said that when he met people they informed him that they loved and respected the actor Richard Dix and loved all of his films he appeared in. So all in all, this has been a very interesting Robert Dix interview. One bit of sad news I have found out, is that Robert Dix died on the 6th August, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Special Feature: Stuart Holmes Oral History [Audio only] [1958] [1080p] [1.37:1] [68:42] With this featurette, we get to hear a rare 1958 archival recording of the prolific character actor Stuart Holmes in conversation with Curator and Film Historian George Pratt. Intended for archival purpose, rather than commercial distribution, the recording exhibits some technical limitations and is present unedited in accordance with the wishes of George Eastman Museum. Its importance as a unique document makes its inclusion both essential. We hope you agree. While viewing this unique audio interview between Stuart Holmes and George Pratt, we get to view the Columbia Pictures 1945 ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ film, but when we get to the end of the film at 59:46, so with the rest of the audio interview you get to view a black screen.
Special Feature: ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ Image Gallery: With this featurette, we get to view 18 stunning black-and-white and colour images of promotional and publicity material related to the Columbia Pictures ‘THE VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ 1945 film. So happy viewing folks!
Special Feature: ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ Image Gallery: With this featurette, we get to view 19 stunning black-and-white and colour images of promotional and publicity material related to the Columbia Pictures ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ 1945 film. So happy viewing folks!
Finally, most importantly, ‘THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER’ + ‘VOICE OF THE WHISTLER’ has been justified in being given a 1st class World Premiere on this wonderful Columbia Pictures, Power House + INDICATOR Blu-ray release. Plus, it features an array of fascinating contextualising extras, including newly recorded commentaries, critical appreciations, and rare archival short films. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
