XhcnoirX Due to circumstances, Michael Duane and Lenore Aubert have to check into a hotel so they can get married the next day. Still unmarried, and needing to get his car fixed, Duane decides to search for a garage and pick up Aubert the next morning. The next morning however, he discovers his fiancé checked out of the hotel minutes after he left, which he cannot believe. Private detective Richard Lane overhears the conversation and decides to help him track down his fiancé. They drive back to Duane's apartment for some photos to help Lane. At the apartment Duane finds Aubert's old marriage license, she's a widow. When he hands over the photos and the license to Lane, Lane knocks him out cold and takes off! When he comes to, Duane realizes Aubert must be caught in something dangerous and heads for the estate of her dead husband, to find a clue...Based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich, this was the last of the Whistler movies, and the only one without Richard Dix, who was in bad health (and would die the next year). It's still a worthy entry in the series, even if some of the twists are not too surprising. Duane, who had already co-starred in a another Whistler movie ('The Secret Of The Whistler') and Aubert do a decent job, as does the rest of the no- name cast. Aubert, who plays a French woman, does tend to forget her French accent quite often. Random trivia: uncredited actor Fred F. Sears would go on to direct many movies himself including a few noirs like 'Chicago Syndicate'.While it's a B-movie, it's very lean and fast-moving thanks to director D. Ross Lederman ('Strange Alibi', 'Key Witness'), and it has above-average production values with some nice sets. The chiaroscuro cinematography by DoP Philip Tannura ('Key Witness', Edgar J. Ulmer's 'Strange Illusion') is really nice, and also features the necessary shadow of 'The Whistler' in some key scenes. All in all, not a bad way to end the series.

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.

Spondonman This was the eighth and final Columbia Whistler film and the only one without Richard Dix who had retired from movies and was to die the following year. It's still a competent thriller, the machine carried on without him perfectly, but – something was missing: Dix! The stories in the Whistler series were always interesting, sometimes brilliant, the screenplays often noir always atmospheric, but it wasn't only the Whistler himself that hung it all together on screen, Dix did too.Young couple stepping out for a whole fortnight get the urge to marry in the pouring rain but are thwarted when the potential bride first disappears then is discovered to already be married before she apparently goes mad. Is the potential groom put off, even when the private dick he's hired to find her suddenly slugs him and lams, or is love blind? Who's twisting who is the question. Michael Duane in his penultimate film is OK if a bit of a wimp, lovely Lenore Aubert's finest moments came next film in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, and Richard Lane was wonderful as ever on loan from Boston Blackie. Also the only outing where the Whistler himself must have got wet from slouching about in the rain, unless he got sprayed with sea foam in Voice.A lot happened in this last hour, well worth watching over and over again as usual to fans of the genre like me. The Whistler radio series begun in 1942 carried on until 1955 clocking up nearly 700 half hour shows, nearly all of which are available on mp3 and based upon what I've heard so far nearly all of which are well worth listening to as well.