The Return of the Whistler (1948)
Director:
D. Ross Lederman
Writers:
Edward Bock, Maurice Tombragel
Stars:
Michael Duane, Lenore Aubert, Richard Lane
This final entry in Columbia's "Whistler" series is also the first to dispense with the services of star Richard Dix. This time around, hero Ted Nichols (Michael Duane) tries to ascertain the whereabouts of his wealthy fiancee Alice Barclay (Lenore Aubert). Finally locating the girl in a mental institution, Nichols discovers that she's been placed there at the behest of a man named John (James Cardwell), who claims to be her husband. Private eye Gaylord Travers (Richard Lane) suspects there's more to this than meets the eye-especially when all records pertaining to Alice's previous existence mysteriously vanish. Return of the Whistler was scripted by Cornell Woolrich, who was doing this sort of Alfred Hitchcock stuff long before he ever worked with Hitchcock himself.