The Last Whistle

 

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THE RETURN OF THE WHISTLER-1948-A man (Michael Duane) and woman (Lenore Aubert) want to get married but the minister is away. Meanwhile someone sabotages their car. Since this is the 1940's they can't stay together in one room. The next day he goes to her room and she's disappeared. A private eye (Richard Lane)) tries to help him and flashbacks reveal how the two lovers met. Double crosses, evil in-laws and an inheritance all figure in the wild plot. Uncredited roles go to Trevor Bardette, Ann Doran, Wilton Graf and Olin Howland. 

This last installment into the series was directed by D. Ross Lederman. 

Lead actress Lenore Aubert was in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN the same year.

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Secret Whistler

 

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THE SECRET OF THE WHISTLER-1946-After the usual intro, a woman (Mary Currier) buys a headstone for herself (from Byron Foulger). Her husband Ralph Harrison (Richard Dix) is called away from a party he's throwing because his wife, Edith has a heart attack. He meets a model Kay (Leslie Brooks) and begins to romance her while waiting for his wife to die. Somehow, his wife gets better and overhears Harrison telling Kay how much he loves her. Edith throws him out but he returns at night and switches her meds with poison. She dies and he marries Kay. Everyone suspects him of murder but Kay finds the old wife's diary that has an entry that seems to clear Ralph. Both wind up dead and the Whistler keeps whistling. John Hamilton and Arthur Space have uncredited roles. 

This is another weird entry into the series (the sixth installment), this time directed by George Sherman (THE LADY AND THE MONSTER (1944)). Star Dix would make one more film in the series, which be his last film appearance as he died in 1949 at age 56. His death may have been hastened by alcoholism.

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Still Whistling

 

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THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER-1945-In this strange drama, Richard Dix is a man who suffers a blow to the head and can't remember his name or the purpose of an important mission he knows he has to perform. Jean Lang (Janis Carter)) reads his fortune in a Greenwich village cafe and deduces he's in danger. She and her sister (Jeff Donnell) decide to help him from clues he has on him. (a lighter, a Canadian dollar, a bakery slip and a doctor's prescription). It all comes together when it's discovered he's an escaped lunatic out for revenge. John Abbott is a book shop owner and I. Stanford Jolley, Kenneth MacDonald, Nina Mae McKinney, Eddie Parker and Frank Scannell have small roles. 

Screenwriter Aubrey Wisberg later wrote and produced THE MAN FROM PLANET X (1951) and wrote THE NEANDERTHAL MAN in 1953. Prolific low-budget film director Lew Landers made this sometimes eerie film noir mystery. It's the third in the series.

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The First Whistler

 

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THE WHISTLER-(1944)-In the first of the series, Earl Conrad (Richard Dix) is a businessman who blames himself for the death of his wife and decides to have a hit man knock him off. Later, when it appears his wife is still alive, Conrad changes his mind and doesn't want to die. His journey takes many twists. A psychotic hit man (J.Carroll Nash in standout performance) tries to scare him to death. Conrad almost winds up as a stowaway on a ship bound for Japan. 

Nice little film noir directed by William Castle. Also with Gloria Stuart, Byron Foulger as a flophouse attendant, William Bennidict as a mute delivery boy, Trevor Bardette, Ralph Dunn and George Lloyd. It's based on a CBS radio show created by J. Donald Wilson. This was the first of 8 Whistler films produced by Columbia Pictures. Richard Dix was the star of the first 7. The titular character is the narrator (Otto Forrest). 

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Alfred as a Scientist

 

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ISLAND OF LOST WOMEN-1959-Two pilots Mark Bradley (Jeff Richards) and Joe Walker (John Smith) have plane trouble enroute to Melbourne and are forced to land near a mysterious island where just before they crash a disembodied voice tells them to stay away. They are greeted by Dr. Paul Lujahn (Alan Napier; later Alfred in the Batman TV series) and his three beautiful daughters: Mercuria (June Blair), Venus (Venetia Stevenson) and Urana (Diane Jergens). They live in a cave with furniture, books and lighting. Lujahn was one of the scientists who help create the A-bomb and decided to get away from reality with his wife and kids. 

Unfortunately, his wife died. He's now invented a newer, quicker way to enrich uranium. Bradley wants to blab the doc's story to the whole world so Lujahn destroys their plane with a flame thrower pistol so they can't leave. The two older sisters help the guys build a raft. They become sweet on each other and Walker kills a shark. Things go awry when a fire breaks out and Walker is locked in a nearby room. Lujahn gets conked on the head but Walker is rescued just before a complete meltdown of the island. Needless to say, the atomic explosion gets the world's attention and they are saved. 

Crazy low-budget sci-fi romance from director Frank Tuttle (THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942)) who's career went back to silent movies. He was blacklisted in the late '40's and struggled to get work, This was his last movie.

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Undercover

 

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BORDERLINE-1950-A woman cop, Madeline Haley (Clare Trevor) goes undercover to infiltrate the dope smuggling operation of Ritchie (Raymond Burr) and Deusik (Don Diamond). She winds up with Ritchie's rival drug runner Johnny (Fred MacMurray). They travel from Mexico to the US falling in love along the way. Surprise! Johnny is an undercover cop too! Roy Roberts is Johnny's gang boss. Morris Ankrum, Gregg Martel, Chris Pin-Martin and Charles Lane are in it too. 

Director William Seiter was more at home with comedy having made DIPLOMANIACS (1933) with Wheeler & Woolsey, SONS OF THE DESERT (1933) with Laurel & Hardy, ROOM SERVICE (1938) with The Marx Brothers and many others.

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Orlof (f)

 

THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF-1962-Jess Franco's famous horror opus about Dr. Orlof (Howard Vernon), a mad doctor in 1912 Paris trying to cure his daughter Melissa's (Diana Lorys) disfigurement. He is assisted by abused blind servant Morpho (Ricardo Valle)) who goes out at night and kidnaps females to fuel his boss's skin transplants. He likes to bite victims on the neck before taking them. Only Orlof's female servant Arne (Perla Christal) shows the guy any sympathy. After some experiments fail, Orlof notices a woman Wanda (also Lorys) who looks very much like his comatose daughter. She's the fiancé of Tanner (Conrado San Martin), the inspector who's investigating the disappearances! 

After Orlof kills Arne accidentally, he kidnaps Wanda (she'd been posing as a hooker) and takes her to his castle. But things go awry for the doc when Morpho discovers Arne's dead body. He kills Orlof and takes the unconscious Wanda for a stroll on top of the castle. Tanner and a drunk (and former suspect) save her. Morpho is killed and somehow Wanda who was up on the castle is suddenly on the ground embracing her husband to be. 

When WPIX in NYC showed this on TV in the early '70's, it was a kind of incoherent mess but since it's been restored, it's a nice mix of dark horror, medical experiments and Morpho! Orlof would return (usually played by Vernon) in several “sequels” by Franco.

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