Whispering Smith **** (1948, Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall, Donald Crisp) – Classic Movie Review 6,990

Whispering Smith (1948) is notable as Alan Ladd’s first Western and first colour film.

Whispering Smith (1948) is notable as Alan Ladd’s first Western and first colour film, moving him on from the film noir movies such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942) and The Blue Dahlia (1946) and on to Shane (1953).

Ladd stars in Leslie Fenton’s 1948 mystery Western as Luke ‘Whispering’ Smith, the railroad detective with the dulcet tones, who is assigned to stop a gang of train robbers and becomes forced to speak up against an old buddy’s involvement in the train robberies.

Whispering Smith is an enjoyable Western which brought Ladd to the public eye as an action and Western tough guy star, although Robert Preston almost out-toughs him as Murray Sinclair, the buddy turned bad guy and to a life of crime (supposedly inspired by Butch Cassidy).

Ray Rennahan is the man responsible for the impressive Technicolor cinematography.

Also in the cast are Brenda Marshall, Donald Crisp, William Demarest, Fay Holden, Murvyn Vye, Frank Faylen, John Eldredge, Robert Wood, J Farrell MacDonald, Don Barclay, Will Wright, Gary Gray, Ashley Cowan, Jimmie Dundee, Bob Kortman, Ray Teal and Eddy Waller.

The screenplay by Frank Butler and Karl Lamb is based on a novel by Frank H Spearman and a previous 1926 film adaptation starring H B Warner, and the character was also previously played by George O’Brien in 1935’s Whispering Smith Speaks. It makes considerable changes to the novel, including making the double love story just one.

Whispering Smith’s character as a railroad detective here is based on real-life frontier railroad detectives Joe Lefors and Tim Keliher. Murray Sinclair’s character is supposedly inspired by Butch Cassidy.

Whispering Smith is directed by Leslie Fenton, runs 88 minutes, is released by Paramount is written by Frank Butler and Karl Lamb, based on a novel by Frank H Spearman, is shot in Technicolor by Ray Rennahan, is produced by Mel Epstein and scored by Adolph Deutsch.

A Western town was built on five acres of the backlot at a cost of $70,000, including 2,000 feet of railroad track, on which authentic 1870 locomotives operated.

Filming began on 14 April 1947 but it was not released until 9 December 1948.

It was successful enough to warrant a British follow-up (Whispering Smith Hits London) with a different star (Richard Carlson).

Audie Murphy stars as Tom ‘Whispering’ Smith in the 1961 TV series Whispering Smith, which premiered on NBC on 8 May 1961, running for 26 30-minute episodes. Murphy’s character operates within the municipal police and is not based on any real-life figure, unlike the 1948 film where Whispering Smith is a railroad detective based on real-life railroad detectives. One episode called The Grudge features Robert Redford and Gloria Talbott.

The cast

The cast are Alan Ladd as Whispering Smith, Robert Preston as Murray Sinclair, Brenda Marshall as Marian Sinclair, Donald Crisp as Barney Rebstock, William Demarest as Bill Dansing, Fay Holden as Emmy Dansing, Murvyn Vye as Blake Barton, Frank Faylen as Whitey Du Sang, John Eldredge as George McCloud, Ward Wood (as Robert Wood) as Leroy Barton, J Farrell MacDonald as Bill Baggs, Will Wright as Sheriff McSwiggin, Don Barclay as Dr Sawbuck, Eddy Waller as Conductor, Ashley Cowan as Brakeman, Jimmie Dundee as Karg, Ray Teal as Seagrue, Bob Kortman as Gabby Barton.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6,990

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