MartinHafer The Whistler series was an excellent B mystery series from the 1940s. Each of the films had starred Richard Dix...but in 1947 he had a heart attack and was in ill health until his death in 1949. But the studio wanted to carry on the series and brought us "Return of the Whistler"...a similar but Dix-less installment in the series. It turned out to be the last in the series as well. Additionally, the exciting director William Castle directed most of the Whistler films...though not this one.The mystery in this film is a good one. When Ted (Michael Duane) and his fiancée, Alice (Lenore Aubert), arrive at a hotel, things seem pretty normal. But when Ted leaves and then returns, he finds Alice missing--and the hotel desk manager is lying about her leaving on her own. But who took her...and why?! Well, the solution turns out to be very interesting...and well worth seeing.Despite the stars of this film being pretty much complete unknowns, the film works well because the acting is good AND, most importantly, the mystery is very well written and engaging. Overall, actually one of the better entries in the series...and it's a shame this was the last.

mark.waltz by the end of the 1940's, the entrance of television into American households cause movie-going audiences to drop weekly box office since they could watch many of the same type of shows at home for free. One of the first movie genres to be affected was the crime series, low budget B pictures that often at the bottom of a bill. After eight films, "The Whistler" series ended its four year run with a new leading man, Michael Duayne, replacing Richard Dix. Obviously younger than Dix, Dwayne was more realistic being cast opposite the younger leading ladies, and in this film, he is quite good, having been in previous installments of the series in supporting roles.The plot is very film noir like in atmosphere, dealing with Duane on the verge of marrying his French sweetheart, Lenore Aubert, and various circumstances end up getting in the way of their getting hitched. Hwr sudden disappearance brings on more mystery, and along the way Duane is introduced to a series of odd characters who seemingly have sinister motivations that Duane completely understand. Among the standouts in the supporting cast are Ann Shoemaker as a seemingly sweet but devious matriarch and Olin Howland is a rather obnoxious hotel clerk. Hints of something big going on will keep you glued, making this one of the better entries in the series which deserved a longer run or at least a T.V. series of its own.

gridoon2018 The last film in the "Whistler" series, and the only one not to star Richard Dix. He probably missed this one due to health problems, but the truth is the main character here was too young for him - maybe he could have played the private detective instead. Anyway, "The Return Of The Whistler" is neither the best ("Mark Of The Whistler" or "Voice Of The Whistler") nor the worst ("Mysterious Intruder") of the series. It is well-produced (it looks more like an A- than a B+ movie), and has an intriguing first half where the viewer doesn't know who to trust or what to believe, but the second half is more straightforward, and just a tad underwhelming. On the whole, "The Whistler" series lived up to its reputation for me as being one of the best mystery series of old Hollywood. **1/2 out of 4.

gerdeen-1 The "Whistler" series of mysteries in the 1940s was one of the immediate ancestors of "film noir." The stories were usually dark, the characters were morally ambiguous, and the shadowy, anonymous narrator ("I am the Whistler") added an extra touch of creepiness.This last entry in the series is different from the others. It's lighter, in both senses of the word. Though it's an adequate "B" mystery, it's no grimmer than an Agatha Christie film. The difference is partly due to the writing and directing, but the absence of Richard Dix, the aging former star who played the leads in the previous films, is a big factor. Dix had a "noir" persona if ever there was one. He looked like a man haunted by the past and worried about the future. Here he's replaced by fresh-faced young Michael Duane, who just doesn't have the same gravitas.The plot is a variation on a familiar theme. A man's new fiancée vanishes, and he quickly realizes how little he really knows about her. The more he learns what seems to be the truth, the more it makes sense simply to forget all about her, but he can't get past the feeling that somebody is lying to him.The mystery woman is played by Lenore Aubert, who was sort of the poor man's Hedy Lamarr in the 1940s. She's supposed to be a French widow here, though she doesn't sound terribly French. (She was actually born in Slovenia and raised in Austria, and her Gallic-sounding screen name was dreamed up by Hollywood.)This is a decent little crime story, but it's not representative of the "Whistler" movies. If you don't happen to like it, at least give another film in the series a look.