The Whistler
Volume 3
“I am the Whistler and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales 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!”
Haunting stories of fate, dramas of crime, deception, and manipulation building to a sudden and shocking denouement...and, through it all, the sardonic, mocking laughter of — The Whistler!
One of radio's most memorable thriller anthologies, The Whistler was a west-coast favorite for over a decade but, despite two attempts to go nationwide, never was able to achieve the same success as a coast to coast feature. But for listeners across the western states served by the Signal Oil Company, the program's eerie theme music opened a weekly window into the very darkest corners of the human soul. It was so popular, in fact, that Columbia Pictures produced eight second-feature films based on the concept, all but one of which starred Richard Dix.
Bill Forman was just another staff announcer at CBS Hollywood when he was assigned the title role as The Whistler - a role which he would play for over a decade on west coast radio.The Whistler himself was an omniscient narrator -- the voice of Fate itself, one might suggest, or perhaps of conscience. And his stories revolved around ordinary people, pushed by the pressures of daily life into taking drastic actions. Or perhaps a sudden circumstance, an unexpected twist of life's path, suddenly placed these protagonists on a road leading inexorably to their own destruction. Greed, lust, and perfidy of every kind figure in the plots -- and when Fate inevitably catches up with these unfortunate, driven souls, The Whistler is always ready, at the very end, to see that the knife is properly twisted.
Produced by George W. Allen, with hauntingly evocative musical scores by Wilbur Hatch, The Whistler was a prime outlet for the cream of Hollywood's top radio performers - actors such as Wally Maher, Cathy and Elliott Lewis, Gerald Mohr, Lurene Tuttle, and Betty Lou Gerson, who emphasized skill over star power - as well as announcer Bill Forman in the title role, with Marvin Miller voicing the commercials.
Hear more of The Whistler's strange stories in this third Radio Archives collection - all original CBS broadcasts, just as originally aired between June and November of 1942, restored to Sparkling audio quality by Radio Archives.
#5 Shrunken Head
Saturday, June 13, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#7 Notes in the Night
Saturday, June 27, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#15 Death Has a Thirst
Saturday, August 22, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#16 The Letter
Saturday, August 29, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#17 House Of Greed
Saturday, September 5, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#19 Fog
Sunday, September 20, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#20 Jealousy
Sunday, September 27, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#21 The Urge To Kill
Sunday, October 4, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#22 Malice
Sunday, October 11, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#23 Death Comes At Midnight
Sunday, October 18, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#24 The Alibi
Sunday, October 25, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
#27 Apparition
Sunday, November 15, 1942 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
Excellent series 
