Whispering Smith (1948)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Leslie Fenton

Writers:

Frank Butler (writer)
Karl Kamb (writer)

Release Date:

9 December 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Smith as an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railraod and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains...

Plot Keywords:

Train | Railroad Detective | Romantic Rivalry | Morality | Outlaw Gang

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Alan Ladd	...	Luke '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 (as Eddy C. Waller)
Ashley Cowan	...	Train Brakeman

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after 23 minutes into the film, Whispering Smith is given a harmonica, the box of which he drops to the ground, only to have it immediately reappear in his hand.

Quotes:

Murray Sinclair: Barney heard you'd been shot up. He asked after ya.
Bill Dansing: Yeah, he seemed mighty disappointed when he heard you wasn't buried yet.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Living Steam: Virginia and Truckee Then and Now at the Nevada State Railroad Museum (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Laramie

Whispering Past the Railroad

Colorful, but dull, tale of two friends "working on the railroad." Alan Ladd plays the friend who falls a little more to the good side of the tracks - and Robert Preston plays the friend who bends over more on the wrong side of the tracks. Of course, there is a Woman between them… she married one, but longs for the other - or, maybe she loved/loves them both? The sets and photography are lovely. There is a big railroad and train running through town, which means robbers, and a lot of shooting, are obligatory. I guess the ending could be interpreted as a little open-ended, but I think Mr. Preston decides whether Mr. Ladd lives - or dies...

***** Whispering Smith (1948) Leslie Fenton ~ Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall