The Thirteenth Hour

Another entry in the 'Whistler' film series based on the radio series but not an adaptation of any of those plays (which were 30 minutes long) but an original story by Edward Bock and Raymond L. Schrock, only keeping the mysterious character of the 'Whistler' who narrates some of the story like he does on the radio. It is the tale of a truck driver Steve Reynolds who no fault of his own gets involved with diamonds and murder. Reynolds is played solidly by Richard Dix in his last film part. Supporting him is Karen Morley as his fiancee Eileen Blair, and that under rated actress does fine work as always in her role. Mark Dennis does well also as young Tommy Blair. The twist near the end took me by surprise but is plausible, unlike some film twists. Two questions do remain; what happened to the truck passenger who disappeared and why is the film called 'The Thirteenth Hour'?

A pretty nifty little murder mystery with Richard Dix making his last appearance in the series before his untimely death. Dix indictated in an interview that he was never happy in the series, he felt the characters were misfits and oddballs but I think a lot of his best work was found in the Whistler series. Dix plays a truck driver who breaks the truck driver's number one rule and picks up a hitchhiker - things go from bad to worse he is involved in a horrific crash, his passenger disappears and when he appeals to the motorcycle cop (Regis Toomey), the cop claims he never saw the joyriders who were careening all over the road. Reynolds misses out on a jail sentence but loses his trucking license for six months. Within 65 minutes a lot of improbable situations arise - of course, comes a night when all operators are out, a driver calls in sick and Reynolds finds himself driving through the byways and praying he can avoid the police. His truck is hijacked by a masked man and while Reynolds is knocked out the hijacker savagely runs down Toomey. It doesn't look good for Dix as the cop had a well known grudge against him for stealing his girl Eileen. With Reynolds on the run from a murder charge - the scene shifts to Eileen's Diner and Karen Morley (almost at the end of her career due to the HUAAC) is great as the practical Eileen. Reynolds has traced the trouble back to a rival trucking company who will stop at nothing to get his trucks off the road. Meanwhile back at the diner, Eileen thinks there's something amiss with her new waitress - she listens at keyholes, makes random telephone calls etc. From starting out as a trucker's war it now turns to diamond smugglers - and a mystery murderer who shows no fear or favour about taking out the mobsters also!! Recommended

"The Thirteenth Hour" is the final installment of The Whistler series which starred Richard Dix. Sadly, shortly after making the movie, Dix died of a heart attack at age 56. When the story begins, Steve Reynolds (Richard Dix) owns a small trucking company and life is just fine. However, he's in for a horrible time...and it all begins when he picks up a hitchhiker. His car is run off the road and there is no obvious evidence that another driver was involved. Steve tells the cops to ask the hitchhiker what happened...and the man disappeared! The court believes Steve was drunk and they take away his license...and it's obvious the cops have it out for Steve. Soon after, Steve is deliberately set-up for murder when an unknown person runs over a policeman in Steve's truck. Steve is knocked out and stuck behind the wheel...and the police think he's a killer. So, he runs away before the police can apprehend him and he spends the rest of the film trying to discover who is doing all this to him and why. The only clue he has is a glove. This is an enjoyable and well written installment of this B-movie series. Not among the very best but quite good and well worth seeing.

The penultimate entry in Columbia's Whistler series and the last to star Richard Dix. This final Dix Whistler movie isn't one of the best but it's still worth a look. The story is fairly straightforward with Dix playing more of a typical protagonist than in other entries where he played more morally ambiguous characters. This time he's a truck driver out to clear his name when he's framed for killing a policeman. Karen Morley is good as Dix's girlfriend. Regis Toomey plays a small but important part as the cop Dix is accused of killing. Mark Dennis is unintentionally funny as Morley's son, who reads books on necrophobia and warns cops "That's mama's and my bedroom. We don't like anybody going in there." John Kellogg, Jim Bannon, and Bernadene Hayes round out the significant roles in the cast. For his part, Dix is solid as usual. As I said, this is the last Whistler movie that Dix made, but it's also his last film period. He retired after this and died two years later. With a career stretching back over twenty years into the silents, he's probably best remembered for his Oscar-nominated role in Cimarron or for playing the crazy captain in Val Lewton's The Ghost Ship. Lantern-jawed with a somewhat stiff line delivery, Dix may not have challenged Gable or Grant or Flynn in charisma or sex appeal but he had an interesting screen presence all his own. He certainly made his mark in the films I mentioned, as well as many others including this fine series based off the popular radio series The Whistler. His last film may not have been an example of "going out on top," but it was definitely nothing to be embarrassed about. Which is, unfortunately, more than you can say for some of his contemporaries' final films.

This is the seventh Whistler film and the last one to star Richard Dix. (There would be one more Whistler film the next year with another lead actor: THE RETURN OF THE WHISTLER, see my review). This film as directed by William Clemens, who had directed several of the Falcon films, a Philo Vance film, and several of the original Nancy Drew films with Bonita Granville. This time Dix plays a trucker who has worked hard to start up his own trucking business but made enemies amongst the established truckers, some of whom are dangerous. Dix is involved with a woman named Eileen who owns a truck stop café, played by Karen Morley. She has an engaging teenage son played by Mark Dennis who has a considerable role in the film. (He was 14 at this time and had appeared in one film the year before; he is very good.) A lot of this film was shot at night on dark roads and it thus has considerable atmosphere. The story is not particularly odd or unusual, and it does not take place in a city like most Whistler films. Basically, this is a drama about setups, murders, betrayals, greed, and innocent victims. Dix is an innocent victim. There is no explanation within the film of the title, as there is no "thirteenth hour" in the story. So someone just thought up a catchy title. The story gets very tense and involved, as Dix is accused of murder after murder, none of which he has committed. And there is an interesting twist of a clue which seems to indicate that the murderer was missing a finger on his left hand. But to say more would be to say too much. This is a good noir. And it is sad to take one's leave of the amazing Richard Dix, who in seven Whistler films played characters so far apart it is astonishing that he could so easily do so. He was a most engaging and fascinating actor. He suffered a heart attack during the filming and died in 1949 of his heart condition. This was his last film appearance. He was only 56 years old, and his early death was a great loss to the screen.

Richard Dix is lorry driver "Reynolds" who is going about his business when he gets slugged by an unknown assailant whilst out on a job. He and his truck are taken, but they are pursued by a motor-cycle cop. When they stop, the driver allows the truck to roll backwards squashing the cop under it's wheels, then he absconds leaving "Reynolds" with only a glove to help him track down the true criminals before he falls victim to them - or to the police... Williams Clemens keep the film moving along swiftly. No, there is nothing much new here and there is little, if any, jeopardy about the conclusion but we remain in ignorance about the identity of the baddies for a fair while, and the cat and mouse elements are enjoyable enough for an hour.

The seventh 'Whistler' movie and Richard Dix's last screen performance has him as an independent trucker. He's just cleared all debts and is about to start making money and to marry Karen Morley when he gets involved in an accident. It's not his fault, but his witness vanishes. He winds up paying compensation and having his license suspended. He continues taking jobs, but when a driver fails to show up, he drives the truck himself; a mysterious stranger saps him and kills motorcycle cop Regis Toomey. Dix panics and runs, but realizes that he has to prove his innocence, with no clue but a glove. It's also the last film directed by William Clemens, a decent journeyman, He had entered the movies as an editor, switched to directing in 1936 and made 33 features in a dozen years. He would die in 1980 at the age of 74. Like the other movies in the series, it's a decent little B feature, taking advantage of Dix's longtime star power. He had been a middling star at Paramount in the silent era, then shifted to RKO with the coming of sound, as one of their major stars. His career began to decline in the middle of the 1930s. When RKO let him go, he switched to Columbia and settled into the comfortable routine of this series. A series of heart attacks caused his retirement, and he would die in 1949 at the age of 56.

Probably the most "Hitchcockian" of the "Whistler" series (an innocent man framed for murder, trying to evade capture from the police and bring the real killer to justice), "The Thirteenth Hour" is also notable for being the last film in the series for Richard Dix, as well as his last film in general. And it is an appropriate farewell: it has one of the very few happy endings in this series, and Dix has his warmest, most loving relationship with a woman (the likable Karen Morley). Dix died shortly after completing this film, but at least the fictional character he played in his last film seemed like he went on to live a long and happy life. The one major problem with "The Thirteenth Hour" is that the one big surprise of the plot is not very surprising for mystery fans. But it's still a well-done B-movie, and even features a particularly competent child's performance (from Morley's son). **1/2 out of 4.

1st watched 5/29/2000 - (Dir-William Clemens): Interesting story that keeps you attached till the end in this obvious "one in a series of films" surrounding mysterious things that happen around a whistler that shows up in shadows.Very much like "The Fugitive" TV series and movie that followed.

The 13th Hour was Richard Dix's 7th and final hour with the Whistler films; in fact he retired and died 2 years after this. It's not the best or the worst in the series, but still more than an adequate engrossing potboiler. It had the usual tight Columbia b picture budget yet atmospheric sets and photography plus the usual twisty story. Honest and dependable truck firm owner Dix suddenly finds himself guilty of causing damage through driving whilst under the influence of alcohol, but of course he's innocent. This being the Whistler means it goes from bad to worse, and wanted murderer Dix really has his back up against the wall for most of the picture trying to find the real culprits. If you're familiar with the tenor of the previous entries you can probably see the big twist a-coming, but the beautiful little twist just after will get you! Favourite bits: the atmospheric shots outside Eileen's café; the denouement inside and outside Mabel's apartment, unfortunately leading to a bit of a trite end. It wasn't quite the end of the dimly-lit road though – there was one more film to come (sans Dix) which wasn't too bad but the Canon is the 7 with him. All well worth watching if you prefer a simpler more complex world, when a b&w mystery film was just that and not a sex, violence, cgi cartoon riddled gimmick and hype fuelled socially inclusive seedy work of Art like nowadays.