Whispering Smith (1948)

December 9, 1948 (US) • Western • 89m

Overview

Smith is an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railroad and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains, Smith must go after him. He also seems to have an interest in Murray's wife (and vice versa).

Director

Leslie Fenton

Writers

Karl Kamb, Frank H. Spearman, Frank Butler

Top Billed

Alan Ladd

Keywords

railroad detective

Where to watch

Check streaming options on TMDB

Top Billed Cast

Alan Ladd

Whispering Smith

Robert Preston

Murray Sinclair

Brenda Marshall

Marian Sinclair

Donald Crisp

Barney Rebstock

William Demarest

Bill Dansing

Fay Holden

Emmy Dansing

Murvyn Vye

Blake Barton

Frank Faylen

Whitey Du Sang

John Eldredge

George McCloud

Ward Wood

Leroy Barton

J. Farrell MacDonald

Bill Baggs

Will Wright

Sheriff McSwiggin

Don Barclay

Dr. Sawbuck

Eddy Waller

Conductor

Ashley Cowan

Brakeman

Jimmie Dundee

Karg

Ray Teal

Seagrue

Bob Kortman

Gabby Barton

Eric Alden

Irving Bacon

George Barton

Hank Bell

Danny Borzage

John Bose

George Bruggeman

Paul E. Burns

Nora Bush

Ann Cameron

Noble 'Kid' Chissell

Tom Coleman

Waiter (uncredited)

James Davies

Mike Donovan

Lester Dorr

Woody, Train Brakeman (uncredited)

Clint Dorrington

Tom Fadden

Telegrapher at Coyete Creek (uncredited)

Budd Fine

Terry Frost

Wrecking Crew Member (uncredited)

Gary Gray

Frank Hagney

Frank - Wrecking Crew Member (uncredited)

Earle Hodgins

Perry Ivins

Roberta Jonay

Jack Kenny

Milton Kibbee

Train Engineer (uncredited)

Ethan Laidlaw

Pat Lane

Don Lynch

William Meader

Anton Northpole

Broderick O'Farrell

Ed Randolph

Robert St. Angelo

Chalky Williams

Hank Worden

Fred Zendar

Crew

Karl Kamb

Screenplay

Leslie Fenton

Director

Frank H. Spearman

Novel

Frank Butler

Screenplay

Walter H. Tyler

Art Direction

Bertram C. Granger

Set Decoration

Hans Dreier

Art Direction

Sam Comer

Set Decoration

Wally Westmore

Makeup Supervisor

Mary Kay Dodson

Costume Design

Francisco Day

Assistant Director

Gene Merritt

Sound Recordist

Natalie Kalmus

Other

Robert Brower

Other

John Cope

Sound Recordist

Gordon Jennings

Visual Effects

Mel Epstein

Associate Producer

Farciot Edouart

Visual Effects

Ray Rennahan

Director of Photography

Archie Marshek

Editor

Adolph Deutsch

Original Music Composer

Reviews

John Chard

⭐ 7/10

October 8, 2017

Guys like Smitty they don't make anymore!

Whispering Smith is directed by Leslie Fenton and co-adapted to screenplay by Frank Butler and Karl Kamb from Frank H. Spearman's novel. It stars Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall, Donald Crisp, William Demarest and Frank Faylen. Music is by Adolph Deutsch and cinematography by Ray Rennahan.

Famed railroad detective Whispering Smith (Ladd) becomes conflicted when his latest case pits him up against one of his best pals.

It's somewhat surprising to find Whispering Smith is not more well known, given that it's Ladd's first full length Western feature and that it's really rather good. With its opening scene of Ladd riding towards camera, with glorious landscape in the background, and the thematics of how Smith operates around women and children, this signposts towards Shane five years down the line. In fact this very much works as a tasty appetiser for that superb 1953 picture.

Ladd cuts a fine figure as Smith, giving him the right amount of calm toughness so as to not over play the role, and Preston is on fine form, very ebullient and able to act heaps with only his eyes. Marshall on the surface doesn't impact greatly, in what is a key role, but the character is very shrewdly written and sits in the story as more than a token. The villains headed by Crisp are not very inspiring, while Faylen looks laughably out of place with a blonde wig!, but with Preston erring on the side of badness the good versus bad axis of plotting thrives well enough.

Pic is filled with a number of shoot-outs, banditry and awesome locomotive action, all set to the backdrop of beautiful - Technicolor enhanced - California locales. The running theme of railroad progression in the West is interestingly written, managing to not take sides and let the viewer enjoy both sides of the coin, though a moral equation that Smith ultimately arrives at doesn't quite add up. Add in Fenton's unfussy direction, Rennahan's location photography (see also night sequences) and Deutsch's pleasingly compliant score, and Western fans are good to go.

This doesn't pull up any tress or have the psychological savvy of what many Oaters of the next decade would explore, but it's very well mounted and engages from the get go. 7/10

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Whispering Smith (1948)

Karl Kamb, Frank H. Spearman, Frank Butler

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

John Chard

Recommended Movies

The Narrow Margin

The Great Train Robbery

Western Pacific Agent

Dogmouth

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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