The Whistler - More Than 500 Radio Shows!, Volume 3

By: J. Donald Wilson

Narrated by: Bill Forman

Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

The Whistler was a radio mystery anthology that debuted on CBS Radio on May 16, 1942. The show was heard only on the West Coast and had Signal Oil as the main sponsor. There were attempts to broadcast the show on the East Coast, one in July to September 1946 and the other in March 1947 to September 1948, with Campbell Soup and Household Finance as the suggested sponsors.

The show centered on a character called The Whistler, the mysterious narrator of various murder stories. The role was given to popular radio announcer Bill Forman, although there were occasions where the other personalities, like Marvin Miller, Bill Johnstone, Gale Gordon, Everett Clarke, and Joseph Kearns, took over.

Despite the show being broadcast on the West Coast only, The Whistler was able to become one of the most popular and longest-running crime mystery dramas. It ended on September 22, 1955.

Enjoy the most complete collection - more than 500 shows. This is volume three of three.

©2016 J. Donald Wilson (P)2016 BN Publishing

Very good radio show

While overall the value is still terrific for entertainment value. I do have a few issues.
1. Some of the episodes are way too filled with static to enjoy. Even factoring that in, the overall series is worth the listen. I'm now a fan of the Signal Oil Company.
2. There are quite a few repeats. I'm not certain if they are repeating volume 2 or if it is vol 3 repeating itself. In any case, vol 2 is the best deal around. Volume 3, has many fewer episodes, repeats, and I believe a few more with audio quality issues.
However, the series is very good in my opinion. Often predictable but still entertaining for me to listen to and a good value per listening hour. I enjoy listening to them while fly fishing or working on the ranch.

Poor Quality

What disappointed you about The Whistler - More Than 500 Radio Shows!, Volume 3?

The problem is not with the author or performers. The audio is hissing so badly, you can't hear the story.

What could J. Donald Wilson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Nothing

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

okay

way, way to many spots and chapters that we're not clear. The stories and performance we're good when you could hear them, but the bad sound dropped the quality.

A few were hard to hear but still great value

The second volume was better clearer and larger but I still loved this volume. I wish volume one was available.

Poor signal to noise ratio.

Some episodes have static that's louder than the dialog. Unlistenable. Wish I could get a refund.

Poor Editing Quality

I understand the programs were recorded back in the 1940s and 50s, but the sound quality is so poor overall that many storylines cannot be followed because you cannot hear what the actors are saying. Several episodes are cut short with the ending missing or portions of other episodes are suddenly playing. Overall very poor editing by whoever put these episodes on Audible. And of course the storylines are all the same. Macho tough guy male roles and submissive, can’t think for themselves female portrayals. Spend your credit elsewhere.

About 35% Poor Audio Quality

Although I'm enjoying the story lines from THE WHISTLER VOL 3, about 35% is inaudible.

I can't believe how some of the chapters (shows/episodes) made it past quality control because there are some where the static is so loud you can't hear the narration at all. Others are muffled and then there are some that start off passable but when they get to the final act the sound is either choppy, full of static, or muffled.

I've been listening to many old time radio plays so I'm well aware of the source limitations and age of these broadcasts, but the 35% or so the source material is so deteriorated that they should have been left off of THE WHISTLER VOL 3.

This also happened to the 40+ hours on the SUSPENSE RADIO SHOWS (that's another great mystery/crime radio show that's available on Audible), that I couldn't listen to it. It doesn't seem to happen on the lower (under 10-hour compilations) running time of SUSPENSE and I'm sure that it's the same for THE WHISTLER since I see that there are other comps available not in the 40+hour Volumes. I think those were compiled with stricter quality control since you're paying the same price as the 40+hour shows, but you're only getting 10-11 hours of episodes tops.

Another thing to mention is that some of the stories repeat. I'm wondering if maybe this was my user error but I could've sworn that some stories repeated; some were right after one another and some occurred after an episode or so in between.

Anyway, I'm going to listen to the end I'm at about 14-hours left, which is why I can say that about 35% is inaudible, and then request a credit so that I can try the shorter THE WHISTLER series.

Other than that the story lines are really clever and always involve people who make bad decisions, most of them trying to get out of bad circumstances, and just when you think they're going to get away with it the rug is pulled out from under them and they get caught!

I would recommend that you try one of the other versions of THE WHISTLER radio shows (the ones that are less than 11-hours) because those are probably better quality than what's offered here.