O Crime do Farol Abandonado

Richard Dix is a big, not very nice industrialist, who has nearly worked himself to death. If he takes the vacation his doctors suggest for him, can he find happiness for the last months of his life? Well, he'll likely be better off if he disregards the VOICE OF THE WHISTLER.

This William Castle directed entry has some great moments (the introduction and the depiction of Richard Dix's life through newsreel a la Citizen Kane), and some intriguing plotting in the final reels. Dix's performance is generally pretty good. But, unfortunately, the just does not quite work because one does not end up buying that the characters would behave the way that they do. Also, the movie veers from a dark (and fascinating beginning) to an almost cheerful 30s movie like midsection (full of nice urban ethnic types who don't mind that they aren't rich) and back again to a complex noir plot for the last 15 minutes or so.

This is a decent movie -- worth seeing -- but it needed a little more running time to establish a couple of the characters and a female lead capable of meeting the demands of her role.

Like the other entries in the Whistler series, this one has an intriguing premise (not far removed from "Indecent Proposal") with a couple of nice twists. Unfortunately, it doesn't make for good cinema due to its static nature -- it's much more suited to the series' original medium, radio. The grungy setting of the first entry in the series (also directed by the fledgling William Castle) is sorely missed, though he does introduce a few oddball characters in passing. Nonetheless, it is worth sitting through the dull parts for the clever climax and the haunting aftermath. And there's one of those nice little walk-across-the-room bits by a sexy waitress to keep the guys alert (reminiscent of Lana Turner's rookie appearance in "They Won't Forget" or Yvette Vickers' eye-catching serveuse in "Hud"). A similar tale of a lighthouse-bound ménage-a-trois occurs in PRC's semi-noir appropriately entitled "Lighthouse".

A truly great "B" and the best "Whistler" series film I've seen so far. It's true that the plot doesn't make much sense, but there's a marvelously surrealistic quality about the exercise and Richard Dix's performance is one of the most haunting of his career, harking back to his great epics of the 1930's ("Cimarron," "The Conquerors" and "Reno"). William Castle's direction shows his marvelous command of atmosphere — he really was a first-rate suspense director when he wasn't throwing things at the audience or giving them electric shocks — and also is distinctly influenced by Orson Welles even before they worked together on "The Lady from Shanghai," especially in the fake newsreel used to introduce Dix's character and his backstory and the long scenes of the semi-retired tycoon and his blonde trophy wife living a joyless existence in a remote residence. Lynn Merrick is superb as a morally ambiguous character, and though James Cardwell is weak, Rhys Williams is a far better than average comic-relief sidekick even though his sudden appearance makes it seem at first as if that train took Dix not to Chicago but to London via the transatlantic tunnel Dix was constructing in the film of that name. "Voice of the Whistler" is an especially good entry in a series that on the whole maintained a high level of quality and holds up better than the rather dated, tricky "Whistler" radio shows. Please, Sony, follow the example of Universai's release of the "Inner Sanctum" films and put out all eight "Whistler" movies as a DVD boxed set!

RICHARD DIX was nearing the end of his career in "The Whistler" series and this one was made just four years before his untimely death from heart attack. He plays a rich industrialist who takes the advice of his doctors and seeks relaxation away from the pressures of work which are killing him.

LYNN MERRICK is a blonde nurse who takes an interest in the strangely quiet man. She's in love with a young doctor but gives in to the idea of marrying Dix (at his suggestion) so that when he dies within a few months, she would be a rich woman inheriting all of his wealth. She presents the plan to her fiancé (JAMES CARDWELL) but he rejects it flatly and she goes ahead with her plan to marry Dix for his money.

What happens after that is what makes the film interesting, since the plot is anything but predictable. Suffice it to say that Cardwell returns to the lighthouse where Merrick is living her married life to Dix, and the plot thickens as a murder plan develops that goes awry.

Interesting "Whistler" story with the loneliness theme nicely played out amid the lone atmosphere of a Maine lighthouse.

Summing up: Intriguing and better than average entry in this series.

This film is really like two separate films morphed together near the very end. The first 85% is a nice film about a rich but lonely man who is able to find himself. He seems like a very nice guy and you want him to succeed. I liked this very, very much and Richard Dix played an extremely sympathetic character. Then, as if out of left field, near the end of the film, the plot took a HUGE detour in an entirely different direction and this change made little sense. As I said, it seemed like an entirely different movie. Plus, once the film changed and the plot took a very dark turn, there was no sense of irony or suspense--leaving the viewer with a very flat and downbeat ending. While those who created this anthology series wanted to create a series with many of the characteristics of the later Twilight Zone TV show, the writing in the case of several of the installments just was too spotty. For a suspense-type film, it was gravely lacking in suspense.