Whistle Stop

1946

Drama, crime, Film-Noir, Ava Gardner

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

Whistle Stop is a 1946 black and white crime film noir directed by Léonide Moguy and featuring starring George Raft and Ava Gardner. The screenplay is written by Philip Yordan, and based on a novel by Maritta Wolff. The supporting cast includes Victor McLaglen and Tom Conway<>.</>

Plot

Away for two years, a woman named Mary (Ava Gardner) returns to her home in a small town (a 'whistle stop'). She attempts to reconcile with Kenny Veech (George Raft), her former romantic interest, but he is jealous and bitter, particularly after she takes up with Veech's mortal enemy, nightclub owner Lew Lentz (Tom Conway).
Gitlo (Victor McLaglen), a friend of Kenny's who works for Lentz, talks him into a scheme to rob and kill Lentz at a train station as he leaves for Detroit, then hide his corpse to make Mary believe he chose not to return. Mary manages to foil Veech's plans, but she remains torn between the two men.
Seeking vengeance, Lentz tries to pin a murder on Veech and Gitlo, who barely make a getaway. Gitlo and Lentz end up killing one another, and Mary finds Veech recovering from a gunshot wound to the arm he had suffered while making his and Gitlo's escape. The movie ends with them arm-in-arm, walking away to live happily ever-after.

Cast

George Raft as Kenny Veech
Ava Gardner as Mary
Victor McLaglen as Gitlo
Tom Conway as Lew Lentz
Jorja Curtright as Fran
Jane Nigh as Josie Veech
Florence Bates as Molly Veech
Charles Drake as Ernie

Production

The film was financed by a bank in Palm Springs.

=Notes=

=Bibliography=

Franz Marksteiner: You Don't Know Mary. Whistle Stop, von Leonide Moguy (1946). In: Christian Cargnelli, Michael Omasta (eds.): Schatten. Exil. Europäische Emigranten im Film noir. PVS, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-901196-26-9.