I suspect that a number of modern day viewers who watch this particular entry in the 1940s "The Whistler" B movie series will find some plot turns quite unbelievable by today's standards. Would you, upon finding a person with amnesia, quickly invite him or her to stay at your home instead of guiding them to a hospital? If you came across two strangers sitting in your car, would you offer to drive them anywhere they wanted? And would you lend the use of your automobile to someone you know nothing about? These are just some things that happen in this movie that would never happen today. But if you look at the movie through a 1940s perspective, you can overlook such unbelievable plot turns as those, and you'll probably find the movie to be a serviceable B feature. As the amnesia- stricken character starts his trek to find out who he is, you'll quickly find yourself curious enough to follow him to find out the answers to who he is and what he was up to. The journey is a little padded at times, I admit, but it's never dull. About the only real weakness is the ending - it needed a bit more punch. But apart from that, this is a decent series entry.

This 40s b movie boasts mediocre acting, awkward dialog and a fairly ridiculous story, but it all sort of works, generating genuine suspense and moving at a fairly quick pace. The premise is interesting, with an amnesiac helped by a a stranger, but it requires you to accept that a bunch of people think it's a better idea to figure out a stranger's identity by searching his pockets than by seeing a doctor or contacting the police.One interesting thing about this movie is how trusting everyone is. Some people get into a stranger's car to rest, and when the stranger shows up he offers them a ride. Stuff like that keeps happening throughout the movie. Were people really that trusting back then? If so, the movie suggests it might not be such a good idea.

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.

A typically spooky entry in the Whistler series [3/8] held together well by the inimitable Richard Dix in this outing as an amnesiac madman; the plot is well outlined in a previous post. Why Janis Carter falls for him and stays fallen until near the end is the biggest mystery in this film. I'd hoped that she would meet a grisly end in One Mysterious Night when she played an annoying reporter spying on Boston Blackie, and it's a pity that in this Dix couldn't have reached the pitchfork before her.A well crafted story, as were most of the Whistler films (as was the original radio series) which keeps you thinking and second guessing all the way through. My favourite moments are Dix in the park killing the squirrel - he did didn't he? And would you have let a man as creepy and wild eyed as him sleep on the couch, but of course only the viewer would know what the man was like in the dark.Well worth watching, but to those of you who worry about such things: don't worry about the whistling disembodied shadow - that's all it is - with a sneering voice and some choice comments.