The Voice of the Whistler is the fourth film in the Whistler series, where each film has a different theme. This time it is loneliness.  In his opening narration, The Whistler introduces us to a woman who supposedly lives all alone in an abandoned lighthouse.  But she’s holding some kittens and, let me tell you, you’re never alone with a cat.

Once again Richard Dix stars and, once again, in a completely different role than the preceding films.  This time, he’s a wealthy entrepreneur who has no friends or hobbies—only his work.  He won’t even come to a banquet being held in his honor.  Supposedly, he doesn’t have any interest in relationships because he doesn’t want anything to interfere with his personal life.  The person he says this to responds with, “What personal life?”

Admittedly, he is an astounding success, owning banks where none of the depositors lost their savings during the Great Depression.  But all that work comes at a price, and he collapses from the stress.  A doctor tells him he must take a vacation out of town, and recommends he go with a friend.  As Dix’s right-hand man tells the doc, “There isn’t anyone in the world who can call him a friend.”

And so he goes to Chicago alone and ends up passing out in the street.  A cabbie played by Rhys Williams comes to his aid and puts him up in the room next his at a boarding hotel.  Awfully nice of the guy but, if I was Dix, I’d have preferred to have just been taken to the hospital.  But Williams even watches over the man while he sleeps, and then takes him to a nearby clinic.

He even advises Dix to bring a bouquet for Lynn Merrick, the nurse who is working there.  She seems pleasant enough, though it is soon revealed she only intends to marry a rich man.  Admittedly, her reason is pretty rational: she was born poor and she wants to ensure a better life for her eventual children.

Dix is the right man to win her heart, through such gestures as not simply sending her flowers next time he sees her, but an entire vendor’s cart full of them.  There’s a pretty funny bit where a woman goes to buy some of the flowers that were just sold and the vendor goes through the motions of the usual transaction, only revealing none of them are for sale after a couple of minutes of just jerking this potential customer around.

Dis convinces Merrick to marry him and even accepts her admission of not being in love with him.  He says he only has a few months to live and then, after that, she’ll be wealthy and can do whatever she wants.  It’s no surprise he will defy the doctor’s prognosis and become Johnny Live-a-lot.

This revelation only comes after the couple has relocated to Maine and taken up residence in a lighthouse.  It’s really nice and surprisingly spacious inside their unusual abode.  Even more curiously, there are a lot of rooms with right-angle corners to them in this cylindrical structure. 

She’s miserable, convinced that he deceived her with his earlier claims of his imminent demise.  Things soon become ugly enough that it is no surprise murder will figure in the third act.

The Voice of the Whistler is yet another serviceable entry in this series.  What I like most in this installment is the rapport between Dix and Williams, and I would have likely enjoyed a film that was only them hanging out together without a plot. 

But what I found most interesting is how everybody baffled by Dix’s aloofness.  I think he would fit perfectly in today’s world.

Dir: William Castle

Starring Richard Dix, Lynn Merrick, Rhys Williams

Watched as part of Powerhouse/Indicator’s blu-ray box set Columbia Noir #6: The Whistler (region B)