The Whistler is a 1944 American mystery film noir directed by William Castle and starring Richard Dix, Gloria Stuart and J. Carrol Naish.

[2] Industrialist Earl C. Conrad, who failed to rescue his wife at sea and now suffers from grief and guilt, arranges to have a hit man end his life.

Unfortunately, the underworld go-between who made the deal with him has been killed in the meantime, leaving Conrad unable to learn the identity of the actual hit man.

"[4] Castle says he also made Dix give up smoking and go on a diet to make the actor more irritable, and keep him waiting on set and force him to redo scenes in order to increase the sense that he was haunted.

"[8] Film critic Leonard Maltin gave it three out of four stars, writing: "[This] tense and moody tale of fate sets the ironic tone for the rest [of the Whistler series].