Whispering Smith

Last updated

Whispering Smith
Whispering Smith poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Leslie Fenton
Written by Frank Butler
Karl Kamb
Based onnovel by Frank H. Spearman
Produced by Mel Epstein
(associate producer)
Starring Alan Ladd
Robert Preston
Brenda Marshall
Donald Crisp
Cinematography Ray Rennahan
Edited by Archie Marshek
Music by Adolph Deutsch
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Paramount Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • December 9, 1948 (1948-12-09)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million [1]
Box office$2.8 million (US) [2]

Whispering Smith is a 1948 American Western film directed by Leslie Fenton and starring Alan Ladd as a railroad detective assigned to stop a gang of train robbers. The supporting cast includes Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall and Donald Crisp.

Contents

The picture is based on a novel by Frank H. Spearman and a previous 1926 film adaptation starring H.B. Warner.

Plot

The bad Barton boys—Blake, Leroy and Gabby—rob a train and shoot a guard. Luke Smith, known as "Whispering" to some for his quiet ways, is a detective for the railroad sent to investigate.

Murray Sinclair, an old friend of Smith's, is in charge of the railroad's wrecking crew. He's glad to see Smith, who shoots Leroy and Gabby and is saved when a bullet is deflected by a harmonica in his pocket, given him long ago by his sweetheart Marian, who is now Sinclair's wife.

It saddens Smith to find out that Sinclair might be in cahoots with Barney Rebstock, a rancher with a bad reputation. Rebstock has been hiding the remaining Barton brother, Blake, who is tracked down by Smith.

Whitey DuSang is a hired gun for Rebstock, who wants to see Smith dead. When the railroad's boss gives Sinclair an order, Sinclair rebels and is fired. Rebstock hires him to pull off a string of daring train holdups.

Smith forms a posse. Whitey kills a guard and betrays Rebstock, shooting him. Sinclair is wounded. Smith does away with Whitey but gives his old friend Sinclair a last chance. When Sinclair rides home, he finds Marian packing and strikes her, accusing her of leaving him for Smith.

Smith shows up and Sinclair apologises for his actions. He seems sincere, but when Smith's back is turned, Sinclair pulls a hidden gun. Before he can fire, Sinclair falls over and dies from his wound. Smith leaves town, his work there done.

Cast

Production

The film was announced in early 1947 as a vehicle for Alan Ladd. [3] It was Ladd's first Western and his first movie in colour. [4] [5]

The script made a number of changes to the original novel including changing the double love story to one. [6]

Brenda Marshall was given her first screen role in four years. Filming began on 14 April 1947. [7]

The role of Whispering Smith was partly based on Jake Lefors. The part of Murray Sinclair, Smith's friend who turns to crime, was supposedly inspired by Butch Cassidy. [8]

The filmmakers built a Western town on five acres (2.02 ha) of the backlot at a cost of $70,000. [9] [10] It included 2,000 feet (609.6 m) of railroad track, on which authentic 1870 locomotives owned by Paramount were operated. The trains were converted from their original wood-burning fuel system to oil by their original owner, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad of Carson City, Nevada. The set was later re-used in many later TV shows and films, including Bonanza . [8]

Reception

The film was not released until 1949, by which time Paramount had made and released another Ladd film, Beyond Glory .

The film was popular with audiences. According to Variety it was the 20th-most popular film in the US and Canada in 1949. [11] It was also one of the most watched films of the year in the UK. [12]

Possible follow-up

Sol Lesser, who had rights to ten Whispering Smith stories, wanted to film some of them with Robert Mitchum, [13] who had begun his career as a leading man in a pair of Zane Grey Westerns. These films were not made. However, Audie Murphy later starred in a Whispering Smith TV series.

Related Research Articles

<i>Shane</i> (film) 1953 film by George Stevens

Shane is a 1953 American Technicolor Western film starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, and Van Heflin. Released by Paramount Pictures, the film is noted for its landscape cinematography, editing, performances, and contributions to the genre. The picture was produced and directed by George Stevens from a screenplay by A. B. Guthrie Jr., based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Jack Schaefer. Its Oscar-winning cinematography was by Loyal Griggs.

<i>The Blue Dahlia</i> 1946 American crime film by George Marshall

The Blue Dahlia is a 1946 American crime film and film noir with an original screenplay by Raymond Chandler directed by George Marshall and starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and William Bendix. It was Chandler's first original screenplay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Ladd</span> American actor (1913–1964)

Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films noir, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Whispering Smith (1948) was his first Western and color film, and Shane (1953) was noted for its contributions to the genre. Ladd also appeared in ten films with William Bendix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Lynn</span> American actor (1905/1906–1995)

Jeffrey Lynn was an American stage-screen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time. Throughout his acting career, both on stage and in film, he was typecast as "the attractive, reliable love interest of the heroine," or "the tall, stalwart hero."

<i>This Gun for Hire</i> 1942 film by Frank Tuttle

This Gun for Hire is a 1942 American film noir crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan Ladd. It is based on the 1936 novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank H. Spearman</span> American novelist

Frank Hamilton Spearman was an American writer.

<i>Virginia City</i> (film) 1940 film directed by Michael Curtiz

Virginia City is a 1940 American Western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott, and a mustachioed Humphrey Bogart in the role of the real-life outlaw John Murrell. Based on a screenplay by Robert Buckner, the film is about a Union officer who escapes from a Confederate prison and is sent to Virginia City from where his former prison commander is planning to send five million dollars in gold to Virginia to save the Confederacy. The film premiered in its namesake, Virginia City, Nevada. The film was shot in black and white (sepiatone).

<i>Variety Girl</i> 1947 film by George Marshall

Variety Girl is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, DeForest Kelley, Frank Ferguson, Glenn Tryon, Nella Walker, Torben Meyer, Jack Norton, and William Demarest. It was produced by Paramount Pictures. Numerous Paramount contract players and directors make cameos or perform songs, with particularly large amounts of screen time featuring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Among many others, the studio contract players include Gary Cooper, Alan Ladd, Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, Robert Preston, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Barbara Stanwyck and Paula Raymond.

<i>Two Years Before the Mast</i> (film) 1946 film by John Farrow

Two Years Before the Mast is a 1946 American historical adventure film directed by John Farrow and starring Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, and Barry Fitzgerald. It is based on Richard Henry Dana Jr.'s travel book of the same name and was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The Glass Key</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Stuart Heisler

The Glass Key is a 1942 American film noir based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The picture was directed by Stuart Heisler starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. A successful earlier film version starring George Raft in Ladd's role had been released in 1935. The 1942 version's supporting cast features William Bendix, Bonita Granville, Richard Denning and Joseph Calleia.

Whispering Smith Rides is a 1927 American silent Western film serial directed by Ray Taylor. The screenplay was written by Arthur Henry Gooden, based on a novel by Frank H. Spearman. The film is considered to be lost, but a trailer is held for this serial at the Library of Congress.

<i>Footsteps in the Dark</i> (film) 1941 film by Lloyd Bacon

Footsteps in the Dark is a 1941 American comedy mystery film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall and Ralph Bellamy. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. Flynn plays a novelist and amateur detective investigating a murder. It takes its title from the 1935 play Footsteps in the Dark by Ladislas Fodor and also used material from the 1937 play Blondie White by Jeffrey Dell.

<i>Captain Carey, U.S.A.</i> 1950 film by Mitchell Leisen

Captain Carey, U.S.A. is a 1950 American crime thriller film noir directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Alan Ladd and Wanda Hendrix. An American returns to post–World War II Italy to bring a traitor to justice. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the 1948 novel After Midnight by Martha Albrand. It was filmed under the title O.S.S. and then the title After Midnight.

<i>Whispering Smith</i> (TV series) American Western television series

Whispering Smith is an American Western television series that originally aired on NBC. It has the same ultimate source material as the 1948 film of the same name, but differs in some significant respects.

<i>Thunder in the East</i> (1951 film) 1951 film

Thunder in the East is a 1951 American war film released by Paramount Pictures in 1953, and directed by Charles Vidor. It was based on the 1948 novel The Rage of the Vulture by Alan Moorehead; the book title was the working title of the film.

<i>Saigon</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Leslie Fenton

Saigon is a 1948 American crime film directed by Leslie Fenton starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, in their fourth and final film together. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and was one of the last films Veronica Lake made under her contract with the studio. Ladd and Lake made four films together; This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key, both in 1942, The Blue Dahlia in 1946 and Saigon. While the earlier films all proved to be big box office successes, Saigon did not do as well financially. Ladd continued to remain one of Paramount's top male stars, while Lake's career was in decline. By the end of 1948 her contract with Paramount had expired and the studio chose not to renew it.

<i>Wild Harvest</i> 1947 film by Tay Garnett

Wild Harvest is a 1947 American drama film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour and Robert Preston. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Calcutta</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by John Farrow

Calcutta is a 1947 American film noir crime film directed by John Farrow, and written and produced by Seton I. Miller. The drama features Alan Ladd, Gail Russell and William Bendix.

<i>China</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by John Farrow

China is a 1943 film directed by John Farrow and starring Loretta Young, Alan Ladd and William Bendix. Ladd's character David Llewellyn Jones, wearing a fedora, a leather jacket, khakis and a beard stubble, was an inspiration for Indiana Jones. Aside from Tala Birell as one of Jones' paramours at the beginning of the film, the entire supporting cast is Asian, including Philip Ahn and Richard Loo.

<i>The Big Land</i> 1957 film by Gordon Douglas

The Big Land is a 1957 American Western film in Warnercolor directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo and Edmond O'Brien.

References

  1. ↑ Variety 18 February 1948 p7
  2. ↑ "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. January 4, 1950. p. 59.
  3. ↑ Hedda Hopper (January 25, 1947). "DRAMA AND FILM". Los Angeles Times. p. A5.
  4. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (February 7, 1947). "DRAMA AND FILM: Ladd Gains Coveted Role in Color Western". Los Angeles Times. p. 9.
  5. ↑ THOMAS F. BRADY (February 7, 1947). "PARAMOUNT TO DO 'WHISPERING SMITH': Studio Will Remake Western Story by Frank H. Spearman, With Alan Ladd in Lead". New York Times. p. 29.
  6. ↑ "Whispering Smith in TV & Film | Frank H. Spearman". Frankhspearman.wordpress.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ THOMAS F. BRADY (April 5, 1947). "BRENDA MARSHALL SIGNS FOR WESTERN: Returns to Screen, After Four Years, in Paramount Remake of 'Whispering Smith'". New York Times. p. 13.
  8. 1 2 "Whispering Smith". Tcm.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  9. ↑ Frank Daugherty (May 2, 1947). "Western Railroad Film In Prospect for Screen". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 5.
  10. ↑ "SCREEN AND STAGE: Old Western Town Built in Hollywood Paramount Spends $70,000 to Locate 'Whispering Smith'". Los Angeles Times. June 15, 1947. p. C3.
  11. ↑ Variety 4 January 1950 p 59
  12. ↑ Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32, no. 3. p. 258.
  13. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (March 17, 1949). "Revue Beckoning Webb; Lesser Planning Series; Rains 'Barricade' Star". Los Angeles Times. p. 23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.