Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
IMDbPro

Whistle and I'll Come to You

  • TV Movie
  • 20102010
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 52m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
878
YOUR RATING
Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010)
Horror
After finding an intriguing ring on a deserted beach, retired academic James Parkin soon becomes the victim of a supernatural revenge. But who is the avenger?After finding an intriguing ring on a deserted beach, retired academic James Parkin soon becomes the victim of a supernatural revenge. But who is the avenger?After finding an intriguing ring on a deserted beach, retired academic James Parkin soon becomes the victim of a supernatural revenge. But who is the avenger?
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
878
YOUR RATING
    • Andy De Emmony
    • Neil Cross
    • M.R. James(short story)
  • Stars
    • John Hurt
    • Gemma Jones
    • Lesley Sharp
    • Andy De Emmony
    • Neil Cross
    • M.R. James(short story)
  • Stars
    • John Hurt
    • Gemma Jones
    • Lesley Sharp
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 26User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Hurt
    John Hurt
    • James Parkin
    Gemma Jones
    Gemma Jones
    • Alice Parkin
    Lesley Sharp
    Lesley Sharp
    • Hetty
    Sophie Thompson
    Sophie Thompson
    • Carol
      • Andy De Emmony
      • Neil Cross
      • M.R. James(short story)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Lost Hearts
    6.9
    Lost Hearts
    The Stalls of Barchester
    6.8
    The Stalls of Barchester
    A Warning to the Curious
    7.3
    A Warning to the Curious
    The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
    6.9
    The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
    The Tractate Middoth
    6.7
    The Tractate Middoth
    Number 13
    6.4
    Number 13
    A View from a Hill
    6.7
    A View from a Hill
    The Signalman
    7.6
    The Signalman
    The Ash Tree
    6.4
    The Ash Tree
    Whistle and I'll Come to You!
    6.9
    Whistle and I'll Come to You!
    Whistle and I'll Come to You
    Whistle and I'll Come to You
    Stigma
    6.4
    Stigma

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      James Parkin: I wish you'd seen her when she was herself. I was a very lucky man. The only thing is, you do begin to think, with no children, that when you're gone, there's nothing left. A whole lifetime of loving someone just finished up. And forgotten. It all seems strangely wasteful to me. Inelegant. The universe is usually so parsimonious; conservation of energy and so on. But not when it comes to love. When it comes to love, the universe is oddly profligate.

    • Connections
      Version of Omnibus: Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)

    User reviews26

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A very sad and beautiful piece of work
    I recently saw both versions of "Whistle and I'll come to you" for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed both but was somewhat surprised to come on here and see all the negative reviews for the remake. So this may help to redress the balance a little. Certainly, I am no fan of remakes. The vast majority are utterly pointless vanity projects and crucially, their major flaw is that they extract and dilute content, often removing a central motif, character or complexity found within the original work. Some of these criticisms have been levelled at the remake of "Whistle", however I feel this is unfair. I am no expert on MR James and I appreciate this prevents me from having a full picture of why people value this story so much.

    It seems that the themes of the original 1968 TV production are best summed up by muldwych in another review posted on IMDb:

    1. "The heart of the story is the folly of arrogant presumption, that there will always be realms of understanding beyond mortal man, and to believe you can quantify existence is to invite downfall".

    2. "The rapid destruction of Parkins's self-assured, almost autistic world is almost as disconcerting as the unknown forces he has unleashed".

    This take on the 1968 version is fascinating and there is no doubt that this is the central theme of the piece. However, with the wonderful Michael Hordern playing the role, I just don't get the sense of his world crumbling in this way. He seems intrigued by these "unknown forces" but never particularly troubled by them (with the exception of the last 30 seconds). In a scene five minutes before the end, he is still fussing about not liking tomatoes and generally bumbling around in his own world. The events hardly seem to depict the dismantling and discrediting of an intellectual mindset as other reviews have described.

    So what is it about the John Hurt version that irritates fans of the original adaptation? Well, it is indeed a very different character with different circumstances. Hurt has just taken his incapacitated wife, suffering from dementia, into a care home and then gone on a therapeutic holiday alone to revisit places where they spent time together. While this twist raises the ire of many fans of the original tale, for me on first viewing without any background knowledge, it was utterly compelling and sublime. There is a palpable sense of loss, loneliness and bereavement running throughout, as Hurt appears to be pushing himself into this new life of solitude, forcing himself to function and revisit the past, a place that is both comforting and gut wrenchingly bittersweet. The film just seems to throb and reverberate with a glow of sadness and a kind of bleak fortitude.

    And this is perhaps where the two adaptations link together. Both men have been cut loose from their moorings and their belief systems, and the way they understand and relate to the world around them is being called into question. Michael Hordern's version of the character is not put into this situation until he blows into the whistle. John Hurt is already adrift when he arrives at the hotel and the supernatural events send him further into this spiral. But they are both lost souls in different ways and for this reason, they are both equally valid as a lead character.

    The two versions are exquisitely filmed and both are utterly beautiful. I did find more tension in the 2010 remake, I have to say, and I found myself nervously scouring the edges and background of each frame for any ghostly figures or disturbing detail. So for this reason, maybe the John Hurt version just edges it for me. Admittedly though, perhaps the title of the remake should've been changed, as it is a little clumsy considering the plot changes involved.
    helpful•8
    2
    • john-morris-964-856483
    • Apr 2, 2014

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 24, 2010 (United Kingdom)
      • United Kingdom
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Botany Bay, Thanet, Kent, England, UK
    • Production company
      • BBC Drama Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 52 minutes
      • Color
      • Stereo

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.