THE WHISTLER: STEPPING INTO THE SHADOWS (paperback)
The Whistler film series consisted of eight motion pictures produced by Columbia Pictures between 1944 and 1948 starring legendary, Academy Award-nominated actor, Richard Dix. Although manufactured quickly and cheaply to fill the bottom half of a mandatory double bill, The Whistler films were suspenseful and well-made, engendering wide popularity and surprising critical acclaim. The series was based on J. Donald Wilson's hit Old Time Radio suspense program that featured ironic tales of terror spun by a mysterious host.
Today, historians and movie aficionados frequently cite them for their innovation and style as early examples of Film Noir. This is the story of the making of this landmark Columbia series and the many extraordinary individuals that pooled their singular talents to make eight low-budget movies that later became film classics.
Including rare profiles of fifty actors, directors, writers, and technicians.
Legendary film director Robert Wise called The Whistler features ". . . examples of budget filmmaking at its very best."
Noted B movie historian Don Miller cited them as ". . . the best B pics of the period from Columbia."
Famed film critic/historian Leonard Maltin referred to the series as ". . . one of the most unusual and one of the best mystery series of the 1930s and 1940s . . . ."
"You have created a masterpiece for not only The Whistler movies but as a historian in your beautifully crafted, The Whistler: Stepping Into the Shadows. . . It's a trip back into history that will be a great treasure to the Dix Family for generations to come." -Robert Dix
"A fantastic read. What a wonderful tribute to my dad . . . Our family will cherish it forever." -Nicholas McKinney (son of actor, Michael Duane)
"Engagingly written, exhaustively researched . . . Do yourself a favor. Step into the shadows and buy this book!” -The Dark Pages
". . . a valuable and engrossing work that benefits from solid research and should be of great interest and appreciated not only by fans of the show but by 'B' film aficionados in general." -Scarlet Street Magazine (Bruce Dettman)
ISBN 9781593934026
Interview with the author at RadioSpirits.com