Mysterious Intruder

The Whistler serial of the forties was a forerunner of the anthology series that would become so popular on television from the fifties onward, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. Like those, The Whistler has a connecting narrator, the Whistler (voiced by Otto Forrest in all eight productions), who moved about unseen (by the characters in the story as well as the viewing audience), relating the events to the viewer and commenting on the action as a kind of omniscient chorus. In the 1946 entry, The Mysterious Intruder, the Whistler once again shows the viewer the underbelly of society in a noir tale of greed, deceit, and murder. Is there any other kind?

As the movie begins, the Whistler informs us that Edward Stillwell (Paul Burns), an elderly music shop owner, is about to have his life go from the mundane to the intriguing. Stillwell shows up at the office of detective Don Gale (Richard Dix) and informs him he's looking for a missing person, Elora Lund (Pamela Blake). There's just one catch: She's been missing for seven years, ever since her mother died when Elora was only 14 years old. There's one other thing, too: Stillwell alludes to the fact that Elora is now rich, though she doesn't know it and Stillwell won't tell Gale how he knows it. Gale, who seems seedy from the start, is desperate to find out exactly how Elora is now wealthy and hires an actress named Freda Hanson (Helen Mowery) to pose as Elora and find out about the money. He figures Stillwell won't recognize the 21 year old Elora from the 14 year old Elora and he's right. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, before Stillwell can tell Elora about her newfound wealth, he's murdered and Gale's a suspect.

Directing the action is William Castle, veteran of four Whistler movies (there were eight total and this was his last behind the camera), who learned the skill of getting short, assembly line product in the can quickly and efficiently under the guiding hand of Columbia Picture head Harry Cohn. This tight, suspenseful entry is not only Castle's best of the series but arguably the best of the series by any director, period. Castle would later become famous for his showmanship as he employed one gimmick after another to promote his movies (The Tingler [1959], vibrating seats, House on Haunted Hill [1959], flying skeleton over the audience, 13 Ghosts [1960], special glasses to see the ghosts) but he also worked with many great stars and directors, including Rita Hayworth, Paulette Goddard, Orson Welles, Vincent Price, and Joan Crawford. Another great to add to that list was the star of seven out of the eight Whistlers, Richard Dix.

Richard Dix began acting in movies in the teens and, unlike many other silent stars, strode confidently into the sound era, his imposing build and rich voice making it an easy transition. In 1931, he starred in and was nominated for Best Actor for the Best Picture winning Cimarron, the epic about settling the west adapted from the best-selling novel by Edna Ferber. Dix worked well in that role but he soon found himself getting lower budget offers as his tough grimace worked against the kind of Hollywood leading man look that audiences loved. The Whistler movies were the perfect vehicle for him because the story changed each time, allowing him to play a wide variety of characters from movie to movie. His best role comes here, as Don Gale, a private eye so ethically slippery the toughest gumshoes in the movies look like angels compared to him. At one point in the movie, his secretary tells him she likes the real Elora and doesn't want him to shake her down. He asks, incredulously, "When have I ever stolen from a client?" to which she responds, "Any time you've seen the opportunity." And yet Dix's Gale is no simple, black and white shakedown artist. He even tries to do the right thing by the end but falters at a crucial point. It's a credit to Dix that he brought so much to characters written with very little background or motivation and intended only to advance the plot and make room for the next installment.

The Whistler series is a good one, not only packing in a lot to each hour installment but often outdoing the more expensive feature noirs released on the A bill. And of the series, The Mysterious Intruder is easily one of the best.

Producers: Rudolph C. Flothow
Director: William Castle
Writer: Eric Taylor
Cinematography: Philip Tannura
Film Editing: Dwight Caldwell
Art Direction: Hans Radon
Cast: Richard Dix (Don Gale), Barton MacLane (Detective Taggart), Nina Vale (Joan Hill - Gale's Secretary), Regis Toomey (James Summers), Helen Mowery (Freda Hanson), Mike Mazurki (Harry Pontos), Pamela Blake (Elora Lund), Charles Lane (Detective Burns), Paul E. Burns (Edward Stillwell), Otto Forrest (The Voice of the Whistler)

By Greg Ferrara