Whistle Stop (1946)

When beautiful Mary returns home to her "whistle stop" home town, long-standing feelings of animosity between two of her old boyfriends leads to robbery and murder.

Director:

Léonide Moguy (as Leonide Moguy)

Writers:

Maritta M. Wolff (novel), Philip Yordan (screenplay)

Stars:

George Raft, Ava Gardner, Victor McLaglen

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George Raft	...	Kenny Veech
Ava Gardner	...	Mary
Victor McLaglen	...	Gitlo
Tom Conway	...	Lew Lentz
Jorja Curtright	...	Fran
Jane Nigh	...	Josie Veech
Florence Bates	...	Molly Veech
Charles Drake	...	Ernie
Charles Judels	...	Sam Veech
Carmel Myers	...	Estelle
Jimmy Conlin	...	Al - the Barber
Jimmy Ames	...	Mr. Barker
Mack Gray	...	Bartender

Storyline

Beautiful Mary returns to her small hometown after many years from Chicago wearing a mink coat and carrying an expensive cigarette case. Her arrival causes long standing enmities to surface between two of her old boyfriends, Kenny Veech, a loafing gambler, and debonair Lew Lentz, owner of a local nightclub. Their deep-seated animosity repeatedly results in antagonism and fights as they compete for Mary's affections. Kenny's friend Gitlo, a bartender in Lentz' club, enlists Kenny in an aborted plan to rob Lentz of $15,000 in profits from sponsoring a local carnival. Lentz retaliates by framing both men for murder.

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Plot Keywords:

mink coat | bartender | nightclub | carnival | arm sling | 

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Taglines:

You'll go for Raft - and the girl he goes for!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Whistle Stop

Filming Locations:

San Fernando, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nero Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mack Gray, who plays the replacement bartender, was an old friend of George Raft and his film career consisted mostly of cameos in Raft films.

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Quotes

Kenny Veech: I'll take a double.
Bartender: How can you drink alone on a Saturday night?
Kenny Veech: I'm getting exclusive, haven't you heard?

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Connections

Featured in Killer Joe (2011)

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Soundtracks

She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
(uncredited)
Traditional
Heard as a theme when Kenny is working

User Reviews

Another wooden and unconvincing performance from George Raft.

In the late 1930s, George Raft was at the top of the movie business. He had a lot of prestige at Warner Brothers and looked destined for greatness. However, after a very long string of insane career choices (rejecting the lead in such films as "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon"--all of which made Bogart a top star), his clout suddenly vanished and he played out the 1940s in a string of progressively less prestigious and uninteresting films. When "Whistle Stop" debuted, he was already well on the way to becoming a second or third tier actor--and unfortunately, his performances generally looked second or third-rate as well. I've seen quite a few of these later films and can only describe his performances as 'wooden'.

"Whistle Stop" has a major handicap at the onset. Raft is cast opposite Ava Gardner as the love interest--though he was over 20 years older and seemed ill-suited and ill-at-ease in this romantic role. And, frankly, this wasn't all Raft's fault. I especially cringed at the flashback scene where they tried to make Raft and Gardner look like teenagers--his hairstyle was pretty funny and he looked like a 45 year-old man trying to be young and hip (which he was).

The film begins with Gardner returning to the small town where she grew up but had left in order to live in the excitement of Chicago. It soon becomes apparent that she and Raft (oddly cast as a small-town sort of guy) had a past history together...but was distracted by both the lure of Chicago and the tough and rich Tom Conway. And, ultimately, Conway and Raft fought it out for her. Raft won the fight, but she left with Conway...but now, years later, she is back. But can she pick up where she and Raft left off? One thing getting in their way is the directionless way Raft's life has become--as if he didn't care about tomorrow. Can he clean up his act and win the girl? And, will Conway make trouble for Raft now that he's apparently won Gardner? In addition to these actors, Victor McLaglen is on hand to play a bartender and Raft's pal. His character, frankly, is a bit hard to understand. Who his is and why he's there is pretty vague. Fortunately, this all becomes clear at the end--and it is a nifty one--making up for the general blandness of the rest of the film. The film has a few nice twists but also gives Raft a mostly passive sort of role for the leading man--and not a film that would help him regain his past prestige on the screen.