Whispering Smith Hits London [Whispering Smith vs Scotland Yard] ** (1952, Richard Carlson, Greta Gynt, Herbert Lom, Rona Anderson, Alan Wheatley, Dora Bryan, Reginald Beckwith, Stanley Baker, Danny Green) – Classic Movie Review 12,886

Hammer Films’ capable, strongly cast 1952 British black and white mystery film Whispering Smith Hits London [Whispering Smith vs Scotland Yard] stars Richard Carlson, Greta Gynt, Herbert Lom, Rona Anderson, Alan Wheatley and Dora Bryan.

‘MAD KILLERS STALK YANK SLEUTH!’

Director Francis Searle’s capable enough, strongly cast 1952 British black and white crime mystery film Whispering Smith Hits London [Whispering Smith vs Scotland Yard] stars Richard Carlson, Greta Gynt, Herbert Lom, Rona Anderson, Alan Wheatley, and Dora Bryan, along with Reginald Beckwith, Danny Green, James Raglan and Stanley Baker in small role as reporter. It is an oddity as a British Hammer Films follow-up to Alan Ladd’s first Western and first colour film Whispering Smith (1948).

The lisping lad (but not Ladd), American railroad detective Whispering Smith, pops across the Atlantic on a vacation to London, but soon finds himself looking into an apparent suicide case, which is not all that it seems. Scotland Yard calls it suicide but Mr Smith knows it’s murder and he has to chase a gang a gang of killers before he even finds a body, unearthing a plot with a ring of blackmailers.

In this follow-up to the 1948 Alan Ladd film Whispering Smith, connected with it only by the original character created by Frank H Spearman, Richard Carlson takes over the lead from Alan Ladd as Luke ‘Whispering’ Smith and is surrounded by a glut of super British-based talent, notably including the contributions from villainous Herbert Lom and Alan Wheatley, plus Dora Bryan and Reginald Beckwith. Carlson makes a good Yank sleuth here, Greta Gynt is an indispensable femme fatale, and Rona Anderson is a nice, sweet heroine.

Whispering Smith Hits London is enjoyable vintage entertainment, if strictly unoriginal and unsurprising, and definitely of secondary stature. The screenplay by John Gilling and Steve Fisher, based on a character by Frank H Spearman, is not too bad, but the film’s main recommendations are the feisty, game performances and the brief London location shooting.

It was shot from 14 May 1951 to 21 June 1951.

It was released in the UK as Whispering Smith Hits London on 31 January 1952 at 82 minutes and then in the US on 20 March 1952 by RKO Pictures slightly edited at 77 minutes as Whispering Smith vs Scotland Yard.

It is made at Bray Studios, Berkshire, England, with London location shooting, including Golden Square, Soho, Westminster, and Maitland Court, Lancaster Terrace, Westminster.

The screenplay is by John Gilling and Steve Fisher (uncredited), based on a character by Frank H Spearman. Gilling said he had to sue to get his writer’s credit, angering Hammer boss James Carreras who wanted only to credit Spearman. His son Michael Carreras started to write a sequel but it was dropped.

The cast

The cast are Richard Carlson as Whispering Smith, Greta Gynt as Louise, Herbert Lom as Roger Ford, Rona Anderson as Anne, Alan Wheatley as Hector Reith, Dora Bryan as Miss La Fosse, Reginald Beckwith as Manson, Daniel Wherry as Dr Taren, Michael Ward as Photographer, Danny Green as Cecil Fleming, James Raglan as Superintendent Meaker, Stuart Nichol as Martin, Laurence Naismith as Parker, Christine Silver as Mrs Penston, Vic Wise as Maxie, Stanley Baker as 1st Reporter, June Bardsley as Maid, Tony Frost as Secretary, Lionel Grose, Michael Hogarth, John Kyle as 2nd Photographer,  John Singer, Sidney Vivian,  Anthony Warner, Ben Williams, Ian Wilson, Middleton Woods, Arthur Mullard and John Wynn.

Whispering Smith Hits London [Whispering Smith vs Scotland Yard] is directed by Francis Searle, runs 82 minutes (UK) or 77 minutes (US), is made by Hammer Film Productions, is released by Exclusive Films (UK) and RKO Radio Pictures (US), is written by John Gilling and Steve Fisher (uncredited), based on a character by Frank H Spearman, is shot in black and white by Walter J Harvey, is produced by Julian Lesser and Anthony Hinds, and is scored by Frank Spencer.

TV series Whispering Smith

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 Whispering Smith where Whispering Smith is a railroad detective based on real-life railroad detectives. One episode called The Grudge features Robert Redford and Gloria Talbott.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,886

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