Chiller-dillers for the shiver-and-shudder set: The Whistler film series

Krutnik, Frank (2018) Chiller-dillers for the shiver-and-shudder set: The Whistler film series. Film Studies, 17 (1). pp. 49-72. ISSN 1469-0314

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Abstract

This article explores the serial dynamics behind and within the succession of B-films Columbia Pictures developed from the popular CBS radio program The Whistler. It examines how this anthology series developed within Columbia’s ongoing strategy of low-budget production, while responding to specific industrial challenges facing 1940s B-films. Besides looking at broader synergies between radio and cinema during this period, the article also qualifies the tendency to categorize the Whistler movies as films noir, suggesting it is more productive to view them as products of a broader pulp serialscape that is shaped by alternative cultural and industrial logics.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: B-film, film series, US radio, film noir, William Castle, Val Lewton, Cornell Woolrich
Schools and Departments: School of Media, Film and Music > Media and Film
Subjects: E History America > E151 United States (General) > E0740 Twentieth century
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation. Leisure
N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
Depositing User: Frank Krutnik
Date Deposited: 23 Oct 2017 08:18
Last Modified: 08 Feb 2018 11:57
URI: http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/70590

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