The Power of the Whistler

Columbia's B pictures were generally the worst of the major studios. It's hard to forgive them for those awful Jungle Jim films and producer Sam Katzman generally had no artistic quality in his product. Maybe his absence explains the relative excellence of the Whistler series, in particular this very early entry in the Psycho Killer stakes. More reminiscent of Val Lewton than Katzman, The Power of the Whistler foreshadowed many Hollywood psychological features of the next half century.

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.

Richard Dix plays...well, that's the secret. He gets hit by a car early on in the movie and gets one of those handy Hollywood cases of amnesia. Shortly after being hit, he's asked by a girl in a restaurant to be allowed to tell his fortune for a lark, to show her friends how it's done. The cards come up bad, and then his amnesia comes to light, causing the amateur fortuneteller to more or less adopt him so she can help him find out who he is. You'll notice that folks trust one another in this flick a lot more than they probably ever did in real life. With the results your parents probably warned you about. Dix, as usual, is great as this befuddled but somehow sinister stranger. This is perhaps the best of the Whistler movies. Warning: Implied violence to cuddly animals!

I really like The Whistler movies. Richard Dix plays a different role in each one. Sometimes he's a good guy, sometimes bad. The plot here has Dix as a man suffering from amnesia after being struck by a car. A woman (Janis Carter) playing around with tarot cards predicts death for Dix within 24 hours so she feels the need to warn him. She finds out he has lost his memory so she tries to help him figure out who he is so together they can prevent his death.

There is one part that amused me a great deal. It really has no significance to the plot or how much you will like the movie but I will share it anyway. During the first meeting of Dix and Carter, he feels faint so she opens a car door and they sit down in the back seat to talk. After their conversation, some guy gets in and is surprised to see them. He's the owner of the car! So the girl explains they just needed a place to sit down, to which the car owner replies "Oh okay" like it's perfectly normal. Then he offers to drive them some place! I don't know if this scene just shows how much times have changed or what, but it made me laugh when I watched it. I just can't see that scene playing out the same way in a movie today.

This is a fun B movie with some good performances and an interesting story. There are some bugs in the plot but nothing that detracts greatly from the entertainment level, at least for me. Fans of Dix and The Whistler series should like it a lot.

Jean Lang (Janis Carter) reads the Tarot cards for a man (Richard Dix) she sees sitting at a nightclub. The Death card (ace of spades) comes up twice. She goes to warn him and finds out he's got amnesia and can't remember who he is or how he got there. She searches through his wallet and finds various names and addresses which they visit to try to piece together who he is.

Fast-paced and VERY atmospheric (especially at the end) thriller. Just simply a good tight B picture that you can watch and kill time for about 70 minutes. The acting is good too--Carter is very good and even Dix (who I never liked) is pretty OK. This is worth watching just for the thunder and lightning final sequence--it really does work on you. My only complaint is the rather abrupt ending. It's very amusing to see how people in the movie readily help a total stranger without a care! How times have changed. Worth catching.