The Thirteenth Hour

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.

I'm not a fan of Richard Dix. Here he is in The Thirteenth Hour, from 1947, the seventh Whistler story.

I would love to know what the Whistler does to help these people. I wasn't aware of him doing anything but narration. What a gimmick. And he had a radio and film career. Otto Fortest is the uncredited Whistler.

This is Dix's last film as he suffered a heart attack during filming. He died in 1949.

Steve Reynolds (Dix) owns a trucking company, which he refused to sell to a rival who plays rough.

Steve picks up a hitchhiker and winds up framed for a cop killing, plus his truck is stolen. He only has a glove with diamonds stuck in the thumb as clues.

He has to clear himself since evidently this Whistler doesn't do anything. The Shadow at least intimidates people.

Dix started in silents. He had 123 credits when he died at the age of 56. He was nominated for an Oscar for the film Cimarron.

Not a favorite, but obviously a hard worker who died young.

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.

... is how I describe Richard Dix's final film and the last of the Whistler series of B films in which he starred with twists and turns like the California roads over which his trucks roll.

Dix plays trucking company owner Steve Reynolds, who has just gotten engaged to diner owner Eileen Blair. He has a single alcoholic drink to celebrate his engagement and, while driving his truck, picks up a hitchhiker simply because he is in a good mood. That less than a minute it took to pick up the hitchhiker causes Steve to be at a point on the road where he has a near collision with a reckless driver who simply keeps on driving. Steve crashes into a gas station to keep from hitting the reckless driver. But Steve is readily written up for drunk driving by a cop who is resentful of the fact that Steve got Eileen. Steve says the hitchhiker can verify what happened, but he is gone. Nobody at the site of the wreck saw the reckless driver, and nobody else saw the hitchhiker. It is like he disintegrated. This is the Twilight Zone part of the film.

From there things just go horribly wrong for Steve. He is framed for murder, runs away making himself look guilty, and in attempting to clear himself runs across a major criminal enterprise. To tell you more would be to tell too much, but it is a very entertaining B film. Dix was great in this Whistler series of films, here playing somebody who is not a gray character, but a straight shooter who just got caught up in events.

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.