Whistling in the Dark

Wally (a crime writer) and Toby (his bride to be) are out for a drive, and break down in front of a house where big time crook (Jake Dillon, played by E. Arnold) and his cronies are planning evil deeds. The author talks and talks, insulting the "gang" more and more with each sentence. He gets caught up in Dillon's schemes, and tries to figure a way out. Strong leading roles by Ernest Truex and the pro Una Merkel. Directed by Elliott Nugent, who had directed a couple of Bob Hopers.... so he should know a thing or two about making movies. Viewers will recognize "Joe", Olympic athlete turned actor Nat Pendleton, who frequently played the mug. Good, entertaining fun. The story must have something to it, since it has been remade as film and TV shows several times.

This film starts out as a serious drama and then becomes a comedy in parts. In some respects it is dated, but worth watching.

A dull, uninspired script that mixes comedy with suspense is the main reason why WHISTLING IN THE DARK gets stuck in a very dated '30s groove and stays there. Elliot Nugent's slow moving direction isn't light enough to keep the comedy aspects in focus.

MGM's later remake starring Red Skelton and Ann Rutherford was a much better variation on this tale told at a much faster pace.

Ernest Truex and Una Merkel are the hapless couple who happen to fall into the clutches of crooked mobsters headed by C. Henry Gordon, Edward Arnold and Nat Pendleton. Truex is a mystery writer forced to invent a perfect murder for Edward Arnold so they can rid themselves of a fellow gangster they want out of the way.

The plot involving a tube of poisoned toothpaste and turning a radio into a two-way connection is not only foolish but improbable, making the story incredible long before the finish.

For some, this will be a trifle easily forgiven and forgotten. Others may find it an uninspired B-film with little to offer in the way of real entertainment even though it began as a play that had a substantial Broadway run.

In any case, the remake with Skelton and Rutherford was far easier to take and was so successful that it became a "Whistling in the Dark" series for several years, to the delight of Red Skelton fans.

At 5 feet, 2 inches tall, Ernest Truex was hardly the guy to play a macho male hero or leading man in any type of film. He was suited well to play the meek, mild-mannered, and brow-beaten characters that he often did. Yet, this actor who played mostly villains and hen-pecked husbands in silent films, could act in a variety of roles, and he transitioned well into sound pictures. He appeared in supporting roles in adventure, comedy, drama, musical and mystery films in the 1930s and 1940s; and then moved mostly into TV for his last two decades, with roles in a number of series.

Truex was most adept at comedy, and "Whistling in the Dark" is the only male lead he had, after a decade-long hiatus from the silver screen that covered the last years of silent and first years of sound pictures. It's as though this movie and plot were designed for him - the small, mild-mannered character. Indeed this role was tailored for a Donald Meek-type character - or, Ernest Truex.

This film has a good comedy and crime plot; and Truex is the hero by using his brains. His girlfriend, Toby Van Buren, is played by Una Merkel who's at least half a head taller than our hero. The couple are engaged but her father doesn't approve of Porter. When their car breaks down on a country drive, they fall into the hands of a gang of crooks. A very good supporting cast rounds out this picture with Edward Arnold, Nat Pendleton ad Henry Gordon at the top of that list.

Truex has some demure expressions at times, reflecting somewhat the hammy look of him and many others in silent films. Only here, It's adds some to the humor. Truex plays Wallace Porter, a renowned author of murder mysteries. When Jake Dillon's (Edward Arnold) gang holds him to force him to plot the perfect murder so they can bump off a brewer who won't pay for protection, Porter has to use his brains to outsmart the gang.

This is an entertaining film that modern audiences should still enjoy. My favorite line in the film is by Edward Arnold's Jake Dillon. He asks Wallace Porter, "Now what would you rather be at a funeral - a mourner or a corpse?"

I happened to come across Elliott Nugent's "Whistling in the Dark" in the classic comedy section of a local video store. Knowing nothing about it, I decided to rent it. While an okay movie, it wasn't what I would think of as comedy. Ernest Truex and Una Merkel play an eloping couple who end up in the house of a gangster plotting a murder.

While there are some humorous scenes, I would've called the movie a thriller-drama. It manages to stay intense all the way to the end. There was apparently a 1941 remake; made under the Hays Code, it no doubt it reined in one particular scene of the fiancee (you'll know it when you see it).

Anyway, this movie is okay, not great. Enjoyable enough for its brief run.

As to the thing about Carol Post (the wife on "Mister Ed"), Una Merkel looks like her portrayer Connie Hines, while the movie has a cast member named Johnny Hines.