The Mark of the Whistler

Not long after the debut of the popular radio mystery series The Whistler, Columbia launched a series of adaptations, seven starring veteran actor Richard Dix as a disoriented every-man caught in a self-destructive spiral and mysteriously accompanied by the sardonic, almost sinister, commentary by the unseen whistling host taking obvious pleasure in the inevitable downfall and punishment of Dix’s sad-sack antiheroes. Co-scripted by the great Cornell Woolrich, THE MARK OF THE WHISTLER follows Dix as a fallen man reaching for a fallen star, a park bench derelict who happens upon an improbable scheme to impersonate the owner of an unclaimed bank account advertised in a local paper. The film was the second in the schadenfreude series directed by William Castle whose trademark stylistic gusto and vaudevillian flair is wonderfully evident in the boldly homoerotic close-up showdowns that give almost comic tension to Dix’s dangerous game, not to mention the over-the-top Cossack-themed night club complete with giant flaming shish-kebabs and knife wielding dancers. (Haden Guest)

With BEWITCHED