Whistle Stop (1946) User Reviews

Ava Gardner is Amazing

[ZenVortex · 5/10 · 19 September 2008]

This movie doesn't quite make it into the ranks of noir. Although it's interesting to watch George Raft and Ava Gardener, there isn't any chemistry between them and their relationship is not believable.

Nevertheless, Gardner is amazing eye candy, a screen goddess, and steals every scene she is in. Frankly, she is so gorgeous that she is completely miscast in this little melodrama about small town hicks.

The story takes place in the post-depression era and contains a few nice plot twists. Victor McLaglen delivers a terrific performance as Raft's drinking buddy and partner in crime, but the rest of the cast don't do much for the movie except provide forgettable characters.

The direction and cinematography are okay but the biggest problem is the casting. None of the main characters except McLaglen fit their roles. The DVD (Classic Film Noir, Volume 2) is worth watching for Gardner and McLaglen, who sparkle in a movie that is otherwise quite ordinary.

A ton of potential squandered by some bad direction and writing

[secondtake · 5/10 · 5 August 2012]

Whistle Stop (1946)

The style is pure film noir but the plot is not. A curious blend at the time of the first noirs at the end of WWII (this one is actually copyright 1945). It has two strong headliners, though some might argue this--George Raft is always a bit less than he wants to be and Ava Gardner is simply young and charming, before her great later roles. It does have a great idea--a beautiful woman has returned to the simple little town where she grew up wanting to see if her true love was still what she thought.

And so Gardner steps off the train at the whistle stop wearing furs, and mentioning her rich lovers left behind in Chicago. She looks at George Raft and thinks he's still a handsome guy, maybe it'll work. But she soon learns Raft is still a loser. And that another guy in town, with lots more money, still has the hots for her. It takes about one scene to switch her game plan.

It's called "Whistle Stop" because it's such a small town on the train line the train doesn't stop unless a signal is put out that a passenger is waiting. Then it blows its whistle and stops. (It also blew its whistle when it had a passenger, Gardner, who wanted to get off, so the whole town, if listening, would say, "Oh, the train's stopping." This becomes important later when Raft gets involved in a way to both make some quick major cash and get even with his rival.

But I should finally say the plot and direction are horribly put together. After awhile the four of us watching were speaking out, after a half hour of really rapt silence, saying, "What?" Or, "Now way." That is, the most improbable flip-flopping of emotions and inconsistent characters keeps adding up until you just can't quite get it. What's worse is it was all really avoidable with some minor thinking. You get the sense that maybe it got re-edited after shooting was done, maybe to create a different flow, or shorten it, or change the ending, and they just didn't have the pieces that needed to make it make sense. Whatever the reason, all these heartfelt, gritty, intense situations fall slightly flat. Just slightly--the movie is sort of watchable--but you have to like this period of movies to see all the great things going on otherwise.

Like the filming--great noir-ish darkness and high contrast, wonderful tight framing, and a few shots in a few scenes that you could study for their simple effectiveness. This is what keeps it going. And the whole scene is great, the little town, the back rooms and odd characters, the family at home. None of it is fully fleshed out, but it's all there to look at at least.

And a last point--the only copy I could find was streaming on Amazon, and it's a terrible print--there must be a hundred little gaps and jumps where both the sound and picture skip a second. Beware of that. Too. But Ava, well, she's got a career ahead of her, and she brings her scenes alive.

Watch this one for Victor McLaglen's monologue on how to steal thousands and get away with it

[Terrell-4 · 6/10 · 27 January 2008]

It takes twenty minutes to reach the reason to watch Whistle Stop, a semi-noir, semi- melodrama starring George Raft as a small-town loser and Ava Gardner as a small town...loser. That's when Victor McLaglen as Gitlo, a big, aging bartender and friend of Kenny Veech (Raft), visits him in the lonely train station at Ashbury, pulls out a deck of cards for two or three hands of Casino, and starts to talk to Kenny. McLaglen's three-minute monologue is a masterful combination of friendliness, wooing and manipulation. Up to then we've seen Gitlo only as Kenny's buddy. Gitlo works as a bartender in the up-scale (for Ashbury) Flamingo Club, owned by the suave and condescending Lew Lentz (Tom Conway). Both Kenny and Lew want Mary (Ava Gardner), Kenny's old girlfriend who has just returned from two years working in Chicago. She left Kenny once because he was a loser, always gambling but with no money, a tough guy still living at home. "You know Kenny," his adoring Ma says, "he's always on the go. Why, I bet right now he's working on a big deal." The "big deal" is a crummy poker game in a closed bar. Mary, however, kinda loves the lug; Kenny certainly loves her in a boss-around, alpha dog kind of way. But Lew Lentz, with his hairline moustache and white tux, detests Kenny (the feeling is mutual), and Lew has the class and money that Mary wouldn't mind having.

In those three minutes, talking to Kenny while they play Casino with Kenny distracted because Mary has just gone off with Lew, Gitlo tells what it's like being under Lew's thumb...about a "mistake" he made that the police don't know about but that Lew does...what it would be like having the money Lew has...how it would be possible to take a lot of Lew's money from him...and how to murder Lew and get away with it. McLaglen plays these three minutes almost softly, with a gentle smile. He's showing Kenny how things could be, sharing Kenny's resentment over Lew. He's sly but sincere. The camera seldom leaves McLaglen's face and the director lets McLaglen take his time. McLaglen delivers a marvelous moment. It's unsettling to think that very soon, under John Ford's tutelage, McLaglen will turn himself into an over-acting Irish buffoon in a series of Ford films.

George Raft at 51 is as wooden as ever. Still, he has a serious screen persona that's interesting to observe. When he looks like he wants to beat up someone, he's believable. Ava Gardner at 24, after lots of unbilled bits, is now getting the studio treatment to become one of the last of the studio-built glamour screen queens. She can barely act better than Raft, and their scenes together are something to see. "I never promised you anything before," Raft as Kenny says, "but I'm making a promise now. Wait. We'll go together." "Go where?" Gardner as Mary asks. "Anywhere," Raft says. "It's a long walk to anywhere," Gardner says. "This time," Raft says, "we'll ride." Still, Gardner is gorgeous and she learned.

With movies this clunky in acting, writing and directing it's all to easy to give in to sarcasm or two-bit wit when writing about them. Victor McLaglen, however, reminds us that surprises happen and that it doesn't hurt to keep an open mind.

Noir Just Doesn't Jell

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 11 December 2006]

This film is all about Ava Gardner, you have to realize that in writing a review. MGM was about to launch her on her career and Whistle Stop was a low budget independently produced noir film that United Artists released. If it and she flopped it was no loss to MGM who saw their money up front in a loan out fee.

Fortunately Ava was also doing things like The Killers and The Hucksters right around the same time that really launched her career. And she is stunningly beautiful here. So stunningly beautiful that why she was wasting her time with a lummox like George Raft is beyond me.

Raft is a lazy lout who's stuck in a small town who drinks and gambles his time away and is indulged in it by his mother, Florence Bates. Ava purportedly comes back from the big city hoping he'll have changed his ways and is looking to be upwardly mobile. When that doesn't occur she starts taking up with Tom Conway, a local club owner.

Victor McLaglen who is Conway's bartender tries to get Raft in on a scheme to rob and kill Conway. Raft doesn't go through with it, but Conway out of jealousy murders his own bouncer and frames Raft and McLaglen. I'm still not quite sure why Conway just ups and murders an innocent man just to frame these two.

The script leaves a lot to be desired. Some characters are created who quite frankly don't particularly have the audience's sympathy. I certainly can't get worked up over their plight.

Victor McLaglen reaches back to his Oscar winning performance in The Informer. Most of the time he's far more subdued than the McLaglen we've come to expect in John Ford films. Yet in his final moments it's a total ripoff from The Informer.

I don't think the film hurt Ava Gardner's career, but I'm not sure it advanced it all that much.

Likeable noir, especially if you appreciate the leads

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 28 January 2023]

George Raft, Ava Gardner, Tom Conway star in an overheated, half-baked, semi-campy but enjoyable crime flick. Ava, Georgie's old flame, has just returned to their small hometown ofAshbury from two years in Chicago. George is not happy to see her wearing a mink coat and other costly trinkets given to her by her "gentlemen admirers" in Chi town. Raft plays what must be one of the laziest characters in the movies. He lives with poor old mom and pa who give him a few bills so he can go out at night and play poker and drink. During the day he sits around not doing much of anything.

Tom Conway is the well off owner of a nightclub and Ava pings pongs back and forth between him and lazybones Raft. An employee comes up with a plan to rob Conway with Raft as his partner in crime. This doesn't work out too well, but Conway is killed and this leaves the door open for Georgie. At the finale he and Ava make up and hand in hand walk off into the sunset and into a future that looks mighty ambiguous. If anyone is going to earn the couple's daily bread, it likely won't be Raft. The paint by the numbers crime plot is aided by the small town setting and the unintentionally humorous mega shiftless character played by Raft.

Ava looks very good in this early role and Tom Conway makes a good rival for George. George Raft, whatever his limitations as an actor may be, is someone whose presence I enjoy.

Victor McLaghlin steals the show

[Ace_Moonshot · 11 September 2005]

George Raft and Ava Gardner seem like a surefire hit but somehow it just doesn't turn out that way. The relationship between the two seems contrived. I think there may have been screen writing problems or something. Taking a decent plot and a good idea for a story and weighing it down and forcing it. It always seemed like there was something missing. But have no fear, Victor McLaghlin saves the show. His character is not only the only one that is interesting enough to care about but McLaghlin gives a really wonderful performance and one well worth watching. I wish the entire movie had been about him with Raft and Gardner as the peripheral characters.

Without Victor McLaghlin I give the film 3 or maybe 4 out of 10 but his screen time brings it up to a fairly solid 6 out of 10.

Whistle Stop It Already!

[normknott-554-382078 · 3/10 · 13 October 2009]

Ava Gardner looks delectable and the character actors are wonderful in this preposterous soaper with noirish tendencies. No hint is ever given why Ava should fall for such a schmuck as portrayed by Raft. Why she should dally with the sort of weasel as portrayed by Tom Conway is a head scratcher as well. Perhaps they're the best that this one track town can offer in the way of available men. One would think that Chicago, the town Ava leaves to return to this burg, would present a more palatable platter of gents. But, thought doesn't play much of a part in this story. It is improbable, turgid and despite the fact that a train rolls through town, goes nowhere. There is some interesting camera work and nice lighting. The secondary actors are the only reasons to keep watching this bore. Well, that and the various shots of dreamy-looking Ava attired in her robe, nightgown and clinging dresses. Ultimately, though, this flick can be tersely summed up as being about a mope and a dope.

Derailed drama

[ROCKY-19 · 6/10 · 4 December 2006]

A badly constructed plot, clunky direction and a leading lady with unclear motivation sinks this film noir attempt.

Beautiful if slutty Mary returns to podunkville after working in Chicago because ... well, we really never know why for certain, but apparently her whole purpose is to be a problem between two local guys. She has a history with Kenny, a good-for-nothing, but immediately takes up with Lew, the oily big wheel in a small town. Nothing much happens until Kenny's bartender buddy (a terrific Victor McLaglen) plots to rob and kill Lew and draws Kenny in on the action. Their plot putters out but somehow Mary ends up back with Kenny, so Lew sets up the ultimate revenge.

Though sympathetic, Kenny is an odd role for Raft, who was hardly one to play a drunk let alone a real bum. Gardner tries to make sense out of Mary but it's a tiresome part. McLaglen gets the best part in the movie, but everything is so choppy and unexplained there is no real arc to the story.

Russell Metty's cinematography is appropriately moody but it's hard to discern if he really meant to make McLaglen look old, Raft look haggard and Gardner look so cheap.

Victor McLaghlin steals film from Gardner, Raft

[bmacv · 5/10 · 18 July 2000]

Returning from Chicago swathed in fur, small-town gal Ava Gardner precipitates a crisis for ne'er-do-well George Raft, who stayed behind to moulder. Gardner hadn't yet reached the apex of her insolent sexuality (she looks close to plain in some scenes), and Raft plays, what else, George Raft. Whistle Stop is no masterpiece, but it intermittently sparks into life, generally when Victor McLaghlin shows up, trying to lure Raft into a murderous scheme or taking revenge on his sneering boss. The Madacy video of this movie is recorded at cheap EP speed taken from a scratchy print (standard practice for the firm). But then this movie isn't worth more than the three or four bucks it takes to pick up a copy.

Fun to see a movie of this period with stars in the early years of their careers.

[wilsull · 6/10 · 15 June 2005]

I wanted to see this movie because I had read the novel "Whistle Stop" which was written by Maritta Wolff when she was a college student and was recently republished. The novel gave a great presentation of the Post Depression era and Wolff's beautifully descriptive writing won her a prestigious award. The scriptwriter changed the story significantly. While one part would probably have been too sensitive for the time, I think today's movie writers would portray more of Wolff's imagery of life on both "sides of the tracks". I doubt if an author today would allow his or her book to be an inspiration to a screenwriter who would use some characters and some dialogue yet change the story so dramatically. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the movie AFTER reading the book as it was fascinating to see the similarities and the differences. I'd recommend reading the book and then enjoying the mid-1940's black & white film with the gorgeous Ava Gardner and a young Victor McLaghlin. This certainly isn't the best of '40's crime drama but it was fun to see. If you've already seen the movie, read the book!!

Melodrama lacks focus.

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 28 May 2008]

Ava Gardner returns from Chicago to her little home town of Ashburn. We're never made sure of the reasons. But she takes up with her old boy friend, George Raft, a semi-sot who seems to do nothing more than play nickle-and-dime poker and is supported by his doting mother. Raft is still in love with her evidently because he throws over his new girl friend who promptly dies of natural causes. Gardner's affections aren't exactly steady. A sharp exchange with Raft over something or other and she turns to Podunk's Mister Big, Tom Conway, who runs a fancy club, the Flamingo, and has lots of money, a pencil mustache, and a suave British accent. For much of the rest of the film she wafts back and forth, prompted by the slightest of gestures or perhaps by pheromones yet undiscovered.

That's the central weakness of the whole movie -- motivation. From the very beginning, we don't know why Gardner decided to return to Ahsburn. Nor what attracts her to the wooden and ordinary-looking Raft. We don't know why Raft's friend, Victor MacLaughlin, your basic friendly bartender, is plotting one minute to rob and kill Tom Conway with Raft's help. That plan fizzles out because Raft doesn't do his part, for some reason having to do with Gardner's figuring it out intuitively. We don't know why, the next minute, MacLaughlin wants to be Conway's best friend and help Conway patch up his differences with Raft. MacLaughlin was perfectly willing to murder the guy a little while ago.

And so it goes. The plot meanders from scene to scene, leaving ox-bow lakes behind, each incident linked to the others only by their shared ambiguity.

Ambiguity is okay in its place but it must be augmented by something else -- some directorial style or an admirable display of acting talent or epic sweep. (Think of the ambiguity in "Lawrence of Arabia.") But "Whistle Stop" has no such compensations. MacLaughlin is bulky, sounds dumb, and is sometimes photographed in close-up with a wide-angle lens that turns his face into something resembling a sea turtle with baggy eyes. Raft is simply Raft, a proletarian whose face seems to develop cracks when he's forced by the script into an agonizing smile.

Ava Gardner is difficult to criticize. Her performance may be the best of the bunch although it hardly matters since she's so stunningly beautiful in a conventional way. A little less glamorization from the make-up department wouldn't have hurt. Actually, Gardner was from a one-horse town herself, Smithfield, North Carolina. The town has built a tiny, slightly shabby museum in her honor. It's a poignant tribute. Gregory Peck has visited the place.

But, as for the movie itself, it doesn't work very well. "Clash by Night" had a similar story but serves as an illustration of what might have been accomplished with a little more effort and more talent.

Superb performances in this gripping noir

[robert-temple-1 · 8/10 · 3 December 2007]

It takes a lot to steal a film from the young Ava Gardner, but the amazing Victor McLaglen does it. Eleven years earlier he had won his Best Actor Oscar for 'The Informer'. Here he shows he has lost none of his power on screen. He starts in a lowly role of a bartender, but partly because the script requires it and partly because he dominates everything quite naturally, he ends up being the most powerful presence. Connoisseurs of acting genius need to see this performance. As for Ava Gardner, she is perfect for the part and delivers an excellent performance also, as this is when she was herself and before she started to become a pastiche of herself. She burns some holes in the celluloid with her sex appeal as easily as some gals put on their lipstick. And she has perfected a 'suggestive sway' so that she cannot even stand up or sit down without stirring the imagination. For once, Tom Conway is not a detective, and does an excellent job of playing an evil and ruthless nightclub owner. His pencil moustache positively forms ice from the frigidity of his cold heart. George Raft is the romantic lead, a bit too old for the part, but well cast otherwise because of his ability to suggest vague possibilities of some secret depths of character beneath the impassivity of his frozen face. He was never one for showing much emotion, except with a whip of an eye-flash, but here it is appropriate. This noir film would be called a 'morality tale' if the characters were moral, but as none of them are, we can perhaps call it an 'immorality tale'. It does has as its unlikely thread throughout, however, the undying power of love. The last line is: 'Hiya Beautiful!' and don't be surprised if sentiment triumphs over mere sordid details like worthless people whose love cannot be killed by vice and corruption. Even whores and card sharks can walk off into the sunset together. And why not? After all, 'it's the movies'.

Pretty Ordinary Tale

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 8 May 2007]

Other than Ava Gardner's beauty, there isn't a lot here. We have the usually restless George Raft character, hanging around a small town. Apparently he has some earlier dealings with Gardner and when she crosses into his life, there's some pain involved. She is angry with him for his lack of motivation. Nevertheless, there is a bit of sexual tension. Personally, if she is the package, he should change and change quickly. She also has some baggage. How much we don't know, but it's obvious that she has sold out a few times herself. It all gets down to Victor McGlaglen getting his revenge on a guy he owes, who also is a sort of sugar daddy to Gardner. Things get pretty heavy handed and are resolved in rather an odd way. It is somewhat satisfying, not terrible, but both actors have done better work.

Generic Noir

[iquine · 5/10 · 3 March 2018]

(Flash Review)

Mary who lives in Chicago and has a desire for material possessions, returns home to her small town as she still has some buried feelings for Kenny. A drunk and a gambler without vision for a future. Upon her return, she also is drawn to a real man, Lew, who he has a nice career, suave persona and money. Kenny's friend, who works for Lew, dislikes Lew, hatches a plot to rob and murder Lew involving a train, hence the film's title. Will the plan work out? Which man will Mary end up with? While it had good bones for a plot, the editing and screenplay were clunky, choppy and felt disorganized; the flow was off. It had some nice portions here and there but needed a proper final draft.

Back to the Freight Yards with this One

[dougdoepke · 19 April 2008]

This turkey came as an entry in a set of eight noir DVD's. I almost returned the set on the basis of this single movie. Leonard Maltin's Film Guide charitably characterizes the 82 minutes as "stupid". In my little book, that's too generous. From the cheap sets, to the slack direction, to the incoherent script, the movie's nearly laughable, especially when a zombified 51- year old George Raft deadpans sweet nothings into the luscious ear of 24-year old Ava Gardner. It's enough to make you want to call the cops or check your eyeglasses. And that's when Raft's not playing the wayward son of parents maybe 10 years closer to retirement than he is. If he could show a little emotion, he might get away with it, but you almost have to stick a fork in him to make sure he's breathing. Raft doesn't so much walk through the part as blankly stare his way through. No wonder the script turns to McLaglen to carry the action through the last third. And the miscasting doesn't stop with Raft. The sleekly urbane Tom Conway of British accent fame is cast as a small town hood, no less. It's as if both Conway and Raft got confused about which movie they were supposed to be in, and wandered onto the wrong set. Of course, there's the compensation of a ravishing Gardner for the guys, and in a flimsy dressing gown, no less. Too bad, her ability to do anything with the muddled script sort of comes and goes. The sometimes brilliant Philip Yordan's name is on the screenplay, but I can't believe it's actually his. The plot simply meanders all over the page like a bottle of spilled ink. There's no need to go on. This may be somebody's idea of noir, but the shovel has to scrape bottom to find it. Too bad mine did.

Whistle Slop!

[strong-122-478885 · 2/10 · 24 October 2014]

After all was said and done - I honestly found it hard to believe possible that (following all of the utter nonsense that took place in Whistle Stop's truly preposterous story) director Leonide Moguy actually had the gall to twist its ending into a "happy" one.

And, if it wasn't bad enough being happy - This cheery "Hi-Ya, Handsome" ending actually had the 2 love-birds (hand-in-hand) smiling at one another as they (get this!) walked off into the sunset together. (Sheesh! Spare me!)

And, hey, speaking about Ava Gardner - Yeah. OK. She may have been something of a real hot looker in her heyday, but, man, her apparent skills as a competent actress were pathetically one-dimensional, at best.

And another thing - With Gardner always wearing damn shoulder pads that would rival those worn by any professional football player - I swear that this woman must have changed her outfits at least umpteen times throughout the course of Whistle Stop's 84-minute running time.

And, yes, speaking about actor George Raft - This greasy-looking creep was certainly no Humphrey Bogart. And at 45 I couldn't believe (for even a minute) that Gardner's character (regardless of her being a gold-digger, as well as being almost half Raft's age) could ever fall head-over-heels in love with such a sleazy, low-life loser as this slimy bugger.

Anyways - Had Whistle Stop, literally, not ground its unendurable, crappy "happy" ending into my face, then, yes, I probably would've rated this vintage piece of junk somewhat higher. But, as it stood (happy ending, and all), this 1946 picture was a Hollywood film-noir-wannabe at its absolute stinkiest and stupidest.

Nostalgia be damned!!

"It's a long walk to anywhere."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 2 September 2012]

A lot of head scratchers here, the main one being why lovely Mary (Ava Gardner) ever returned home to Ashbury in the first place, especially after seeing her decked out in the mink fur she managed to hustle from a flame in Chicago. It could have been for love, but one look at ex-boyfriend Kenny (George Raft), and one wonders how this tough guy/petty gambler comes by his cash with no job or other visible means of support. No matter, it's once again off to the races with Kenny, and when he's not being cooperative, the big shot owner of the Flamingo, Lew Lentz (Tom Conway).

The character to keep your eye on here is Kenny's buddy Gitlo (Victor McLaglen) who on the surface appears to be your average good old boy, but soon enough reveals the malice in his heart for boss Lentz. I have to admit, I was distracted the entire movie by hearing what I thought to be Gitmo whenever Mclaglen's character was around. You know what else was weird? Didn't it look like The Flamingo was a combination barber shop, pool room and saloon hall? Very strange.

Speaking of very strange, who's hand was it that alarmed the police after Kenny and Gitlo discovered the body? Did that make any sense at all? There was never any reference back to that occurrence later on.

But you know, even with all this odd stuff going on I was curiously intrigued by the film. Raft looked cool, Gardner looked hot, Conway looked sleazy and McLaglen looked, well I don't know how to describe it. A lot like Gitmo.

It takes a long time for this whistle to blow....

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 1 March 2014]

Slow moving at first and extremely convoluted, this finally curves into the train station at full blast about half way through the film as plot twists explode like the engine jumping the track. For a seemingly small town, a lot happens here, even with the nearby nightclub run by the crooked Tom Conway. He lusts after the lusty Ava Gardner who is really in love with George Raft, but she can't commit to anybody, seemingly anxious to escape the small town life she is too big to find thrilling. Leaving her home in the hands of caretaker Raft and his housekeeper mother (Florence Bates), she comes home out of the blue and brings intrigue with her shadow. Conway and Raft go neck and neck to get her for themselves, while the seemingly slow-witted sidekick Victor McLaglen becomes involved in a dangerous scheme to avenge himself on Conway.

There are a handful of moments that make this film noir somewhat intriguing, but there is too convoluted of a plot to be believable and a too neatly wrapped ending. Gardner, just coming into her own as a film noir vixen, seems far too savvy to fall for the two much older men who are after her. There's a very violent sequence where one of Raft's female admirers is suddenly hurt at a town dance and an extremely graphic fight between Raft and Conway, and later an even more violent confrontation between Conway and McLaglen. Florence Bates has a great part as the warm-hearted mother figure to Gardner who is obviously just a stone's throw from stardom here. All she needed was a better film to get her out there, and with the same year's "The Killers", that would be soon, creating a legend that continues to shine.

Ava Shines in Her Early Work!

[Sylviastel · 6/10 · 21 August 2009]

There was a time when the studio system had the actors and actresses like Ava Gardner and Victor McLaglen making about 5 films a year. Actors and actresses in the studio system worked hard and some films never became brilliant but did entertain audiences. This film was on my compact disc with three other fair films with other actresses like Jane Wyman, Marilyn Monroe in a small role but still, and Joan Crawford in "Rain." One cannot stop looking at Ava Gardner playing Mary, a girl who returns to her small town life from the big city of Chicago which she left in a mystery. She returns to her boyfriend who is unmotivated gambler and meets a rich businessman who takes a liking to her. Ava steals this film hands down. It's not a great film but it's more about characters and story lines than anything else.

Don't whistle, don't stop, just go as far away from this movie as you can.

[hitchcockthelegend · 3/10 · 12 January 2011]

Whistle Stop is directed by Léonide Moguy and adapted by Phillip Yordan from the Maritta M. Wolff novel of the same name. It stars Ava Gardner, George Raft, Victor McLaglen & Tom Conway. Russell Metty is on cinematography and Dimitri Tiomkin provides the music score.

One look at the people involved in Whistle Stop raises hopes that the film has a lot going for it. From the actors involved: Gardner (The Killers), Raft (Each Dawn I Die), Yordan (The Big Combo), McLaglen (The Informer) and Conway (Cat People), to the technical department: Metty (Touch of Evil) & Tiomkin (High Noon), it's a promising gathering from which to launch a film noir pot boiler featuring a love triangle, robbery and murder. It's as false a hope as a false hope gets.

Maritta Wolff's best selling novel had caused quite a stir, a sizzling tale featuring incest and prostitution. Yordan of course had to tone the story down for the screen, but he maintained that the script he turned in was a good one. Certainly not the dumb final product that has very little rhyme and practically no reason about it. That it doesn't work, he attributes to producer Seymour Nebenzal making some bad choices, most notably the casting of Raft. A statement that carries weight given that Raft is too old, too stiff and totally unbelievable as a love interest for Gardner (who was on loan from MGM). But it's not just Raft that sinks (bad pun I know), everybody else is hamstrung by being unsympathetic characters in a convoluted story. A story that aimed to be a seamy piece with noirish overtones, but ultimately ends up a dull low life melodrama with a ridiculously happy ending. There's a little value in McLaglen's efforts as the muscle, and Metty at least knows how to light the delectable Gardner, but really, all told, this smells bad. 3/10

Another wooden and unconvincing performance from George Raft.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 31 August 2010]

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.

Waste of Time

[WankerReviews · 3/10 · 15 June 2020]

A woman bounces between 2 men, because she can't make up her mind despite one being a drunk, and still living with his mother. Both men fight over this woman.

Clunky plot that takes forever to get to the point. It sets up like something else is going to unfold, and I was looking forward to that. But has a twist, and I guessed who was involved in the ''twist''. Overall BOTH these men are TRASH. Why is she wasting her time with either of them?

Ava Gardner break through role

[sjanders-86430 · 10/10 · 26 January 2021]

In 1946 Ava Gardner made Whistle Stop and The Killers with Burt Lancaster. Here George Raft is her old boyfriend rediscovered when she moves back home. George loves Gardner, Mary. Lew Lentz who also loves Mary owns the local bar. He has money. Both men fight for Mary. Lew sets Raft up. Victor McLaglen works for Lew but loves his friend Raft. When Raft is in trouble Victor, Gitlo, get him out. The sub plot involves the mother Veech and her daughter who is marrying. Father Veech is a drunk. They rent Mary's house. Raft is a Veech. The best scenes are with Ava Gardner and Raft. Gardner's star quality shines out in this her break out role. It is exciting to see a big stars' first role that spotlights their greatness.

Whistle Stop (1946)

[MartinTeller · 7/10 · 3 January 2012]

A beautiful gal returns to her small town and has to choose between the local big shot and an old flame loser. I've been a little down in the dumps today (not the best time to watch noir) so you'll have to forgive me if I don't feel like writing much. The film is a little on the dull side, but has a gentle, poetic mood to it that reminded me of Borzage, a sort of lush but doomed romanticism. Gardner, Raft and McLaglen are all pretty good, Conway perhaps a little too obviously slimy. I feel like this is on the borderline between "Fair" and "Good" but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Whistle Stop - 7/10

Make this plot make sense - but stupidly watchable.

[declancooley · 5/10 · 8 January 2022]

A woefully miscast mahogany Raft stars in a creaky and ramshackle small town intrigue with flashes of brilliance from Ava Gardner. I started to simply laugh while scratching my head in genuine misapprehension as this movie moved to a disjointed final act, with characters having personality/motivational shifts at breakneck G forces, all to what end exactly remains a mystery. Having said all that, there is a vacuous charm to the ludicrousness of it all, buoyed up by moments of genuine very-OK-ness plus inadvertent comedy, soap opera and melodrama. If you are really bored, and don't mind getting more bored while getting increasingly confused and amused in equal measure, plus Ava Gardner in her near-prime, I almost recommend it; just don't come crawling to me when you need more films recommendations like this.