24 hours to live. The cards have it, twice, shocking an amateur fortune teller (Janis Carter) who out of the blue looks over at total stranger Richard Dix sitting at a bar and on a whim deals his future from her deck. Shocked by this, she decides to warn him, and after discovering that he has no idea of who he is makes it her mission to find out. Is she going to find danger as she helps him along his journey? Only the whistler knows for sure!Absolutely superb mystery with enough twists and turns to fill out a map of the east, west and Greenwich Village where much of this takes place. As Carter gets in deeper, her sister Jeff Donnell finds out her share of information, and like a train whistle, it is a warning of approaching danger.Deliciously complex but never convoluted, this could rank as a B film noir if it wasn't for its radio history and certain other elements that aficionados argue over. Miss Carter, who appeared in a few film noir as femme fatales, is noble here as she digs herself in deeper. The exotic Tala Birell also fits in to the fast moving nail biter that is delightfully atmospheric and gripping.

"The Power of the Whistler" is notable for the quite interesting acting of the aging Richard Dix. At the beginning of the movie, he plays a genuinely friendly and cornily charming fellow with amnesia, not knowing who he is. But slowly, as he comes to remember his past, his dark side begins to reassert itself; and the great fun comes in watching how his face begins to register such diabolical hatred and evil that he becomes quite frightening. A great job by the hulking Richard Dix (it is also really funny how different characters must repeatedly keep referring to how "handsome" he is).The other think that makes this film so enjoyable is how absolutely unrealistic and inane so much of the dialogue is. For example, in the beginning of the movie Janis Carter's character is trying to help a dizzy Richard Dix, as he has just been hit by a car. Looking for a place to sit, she suggests they sit in the back seat of nearby parked car, hilariously remarking, "I'm sure the owner won't mind"! And when the owner does return moments later to find two strangers in his car, he immediately accepts their explanation, and even offers to drive them somewhere! The film is full of delightful morsels such as this.As an aside, fans of the Three Stooges will recognize Kenneth MacDonald, who plays the warden of a mental hospital. MacDonald served as the heavy in numerous late "Shemp" films.To be honest, enjoyable as the film is, its not very tight, and, frankly, the timing of the various strands of plot don't really fit. But, at a run time of barely over an hour, those faults don't really matter.

Far from the best of the series. The first twenty minutes or so are intriguing, after which the film trails off into a conventional suspenser. Dix plays a mysterious man who's suffered memory loss following an accident. Lovely Janis Carter steps in to assist after a prophetic portent from an ordinary deck of cards. Dix appears a decent sort eager to uncover his lost identity, but as events unfold the situation becomes darker, with an ending that would warm feminist hearts of decades later.Some nice touches that build ambiguity, such as the frilly apron as Dix prepares breakfast for the girls, or his saying grace before the chatty sisters can dig in. On the other hand, there are the mysterious deaths trailing behind. The Whistler makes several shadowy commentaries, a neat carry-over from the radio series of the same name. Nonetheless, the material cries out for a stylish director who can lift the last half beyond the merely familiar, and create the kind urban nightmare of the original (William Castle).Dix is again effective as the mystery man. However, Carter's high-energy smile and bubbly personality seem better suited to a Betty Grable musical than this slice of psychic noir. I just wish the imagination of the first half had carried over to the second. Still, worth a look-see from an outstanding series.

Columbia's B pictures were generally the worst of the major studios. It's hard to forgive them for those awful Jungle Jim films and producer Sam Katzman generally had no artistic quality in his product. Maybe his absence explains the relative excellence of the Whistler series, in particular this very early entry in the Psycho Killer stakes. More reminiscent of Val Lewton than Katzman, The Power of the Whistler foreshadowed many Hollywood psychological features of the next half century.