"I..am the Whistler, and I know many things, fir I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes...I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak!"
So speaketh the mysterious host and narrator of this mystery anthology series, which teended toward the grim (although not always) and recorded the machinations of fate.
The Whistler ran from May 16, 1942 to November 22, 1955 on the West Coast CBS radio network. It also ran in chicago and on the Armed Forces Radio. A couple of brief attemps were made to air the program on the east coast (July through September 1946 and late March 1947 thtrough September 1948). In total, there were 692 episodes, nearly a quarter of them no longer available. The radio program spawned eight films from Columbia Pictures from 1944 to 1948 (half of which were directed by William Castle), and a syndicated television show in 1954, airing 39 episodes.
The character of the Whistler was portayed at various times by Bill Forman, Gale Gordon, Joseph Kearns, Marvin Miller (remember him from television's The Millionaire, whic I covered here two days ago?), Bill Johnston, and Everett Clarke. Writer-producer ran the program for theits first two yearss, folllowed by producer-director George Allen; other directors included Sterling Tracy, Stephen Marks. and William N. Robson. The actual whistling for the seriies was done by Dorothy Roberts.
In "Retribution," the premiere episode of the radio series, we meet John Hendricks, on trial for the brutl axe murder of his wife and his mentally challenged stepson. Hendricks supposed ly killed his wife for her money, but no money was found at the scene. Much to the dismay of the trila judge, because of a lack of evidence, the jury convicted Hendricks of manslaughter insteead of murder. Rather than face execution, Hendricks was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ten years pass and Hendricks is planning a jail break. Bill, his cellmate, has decided to go "straight" and refused to go with Hendricks.
We shift to a wild stormy night. George Kimball and his wife Joan are traveling through a remote Southern when their car breaks down, its distributor flooded. They take shelter in a dark, unkempt mansion that at first appeared to be abandoned, a one-time inn. The occupant of the creepy house is an equally creepy old lady who speaks crypticly and her simple-minded son. After some rather unusual conversation, the old lady shows the couple through the cobweb-infested house to a room upstairs.
Meanwhile, John Hendricks, who has escaped from prison, enters the house, goes to a room and recovers a large envelope of cash from a sectret hiding place. He is interuptted by the old woman and her son, who is carrying a large axe. Both now have bloody heads. They tell Hendricks that he had murdered them and now it is his turn. A shot is fired, waking the couple upstairs. They find Hendricks unconscious of the floor and the woman and her son missing. The police, who had suspected that Henricks might show up, burst in. They hear the couple's story and take Hendricks into custody. Although the old woman and her son are nowhere to be found, they do find the envelope of cash.
A nifty little ghost story, right? But there's a twist at the ned which changes everything...
The Whistler, because it appeared on only a few West Coast radio stations, has been called the most popular radio show that most people never heard. It was noted for its atmospheric and unique approach to formatting which ran counter to most radio dramas of the day, making it extremely popular to today's old-time radio fans.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au-Ak3o6Brc
It also ran here on KRLD in the late 1960s. For awhile there, and before I was a teen, they used run the old radio dramas in the evening. I used to sit in my room and do stuff with colored pencils and listen. I don't know if I heard this particular episode. I do remember Dad coming in my room, hear a part of it, and saying how his Mom used to listen to it when she was working in the kitchen.
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