''The Secret of the Whistler'' is a 1946 American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

noir based on the

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

The Whistler ''The Whistler'' is an American radio mystery drama which ran from May 16, 1942, until September 22, 1955, on the west-coast regional CBS radio network. The show was also broadcast in Chicago and over Armed Forces Radio. On the west coast, it w ...

''. Directed by George Sherman, the production features

Richard Dix Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

Leslie Brooks Leslie Brooks (born Virginia Leslie Gettman; July 13, 1922 – July 1, 2011) was an American film actress, model and dancer. Early life Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, her parents brought her to Southern California at an early age, where aroun ...

and Michael Duane. It is the sixth of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

' eight " Whistler" films produced in the 1940s, all but the last starring Dix.

Plot

Ralph Harrison (

) is married to Edith (Mary Currier), a rich woman who has been suffering heart attacks. Upset by her condition, he finds consoling companionship with an artist's model, the unscrupulous gold-digger Kay (

). He falls in love with Kay. Edith's health then improves. Edith overhears Ralph professing his love for Kay. Edith threatens Ralph, saying she's going to take him out of her will. He decides to poison her, with her own medicine, before she can meet with her lawyers. After Edith dies, Ralph marries Kay, who becomes suspicious of how Edith died and worried for her own fate. Finding incriminating diary pages and the medicine, she has the medicine analyzed, discovering that it was poisoned. Ralph overhears the phone conversation with the lab. Pretending to embrace her, he strangles Kay to death, just as the police arrive and arrest him for murder — a murder he didn't need to commit because Edith hadn't taken the poisoned medicine after all, but died of a heart attack, before she could take it.

Cast

as Ralph Harrison *

as Kay Morrell * Michael Duane as Artist Jim Calhoun * Mary Currier as Edith Marie Harrison *

Mona Barrie Mona Barrie (born Mona Barlee Smith; 18 December 1909 – 27 June 1964) was an English-born actress, active on stage in Australia before establishing a career in the US, and in Hollywood films. Career Born Mona Barlee Smith in London to comedi ...

as Linda Vail * Ray Walker as Joseph Aloysius 'Joe' Conroy *

Claire Du Brey Claire Du Brey (born Clara Violet Dubreyvich, August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films between 1916 and 1959. Her name is sometimes rendered as Claire Du Bray or as Claire Dubrey. Ear ...

as Laura - Harrison's Servant * Otto Forrest as The Whistler

Reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' rated it 3/5 stars and called it "engrossing as usual and well acted".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret of the Whistler, The 1946 films 1946 mystery films American mystery films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Film noir Columbia Pictures films Films based on radio series Films directed by George Sherman Films scored by Herschel Burke Gilbert The Whistler films 1940s American films