Wuchak
Released in 1948, "Whispering Smith" stars Alan Ladd in the eponymous role of a train detective who's starts to suspect that his friend, Murray (Robert Preston) may be involved with a gang that wrecks and loots trains. Murray's wife, (Brenda Marshall), is concerned about her husband hanging with ne'er-do-wells and wishes she had a righteous man, like Smith.I was surprised at how much I enjoyed "Whispering Smith." It lacks that goofy humor and wacky characters that plague many old Westerns; plus the ancient score is more bearable than usual. Ladd is stunning as the noble and determined protagonist and so is Preston as the amiable husband gone bad. Can Murray be redeemed or has he gone too far? The film runs 88 minutes and was shot in California.GRADE: A-
oldblackandwhite
Don't we all love trains? Railroads as a crucial element in the settlement of the West and the general prosperity of 19th century America seldom get their due in the western movie genre. Whispering Smith, a beautifully crafted 1948 Technicolor Allan Ladd vehicle, fills the gap nicely. Almost every character in this handsome horse opera -- or should I say "locomotive opera" -- makes his scratch either by working for the railroad or robbing it. The town saloon is called "The Roundhouse" and features a mural of a train coming. When soft-spoken, straight-shooting railroad detective Smith (Ladd) goes after the bad guys, he and the posse take a train with their horses riding penned flat cars.Frank H. Spearman's long, complex 1916 novel, which yours truly read as a youngster 50-some years ago, has been distilled down by the Frank Butler/Karl Kamb screenplay to concentrate on a love triangle of Smith, his good friend Murray (Robert Preston), and Murray's wife Marian (Brenda Marshall) who is Smith's lost love. Murray is a heel who doesn't deserve the pretty, gentle Marian. Even worse, when he gets fired from his job as foreman of the railroad wrecking crew, he becomes deeply and inextricably involved with a gang of rustlers, train robbers, and general baddies. Though Smith is very proper and stand-offish with Marian, it's obvious he still loves her. But she poorly hides her love for Smith, fueling Murray's volatile temper and wanton disposition with jealously.While there is plenty of action, Whispering Smith, like most of the better westerns, concentrates on character development, period color, and cinematography. Ladd, though known as a stone-face, was very expressive with his soulful eyes. He plays the stern, upright, and fearless, but friendly, kind, and loyal Smith to perfection. Preston, always fun to watch, essentially reprises his boisterous, happy-go-lucky good guy gone bad character from the even bigger and better train picture Union Pacific (1939). Brenda Marshall plays her tormented role with sensitivity, never forgetting that she is portraying a Victorian lady. In fact one of the charms of this movie is that little of the time period (1940's) in which it was made creeps in to spoil the late 19th century atmosphere. Thanks to the script and Leslie Fenton's expert direction, supporting and even minor characters show robust personalities. William Demarest as Smith's friend and the wrecking crew straw boss is allowed to play it straight, instead of hamming it up as he so often did, and he comes off very nicely. Donald Crisp, seldom a villain in the sound era, is colorful and dastardly as the smarmy, ruthless leader of the outlaw band. Frank Faylen gives a chilling performance as Crisp's main henchman Whitey, an evil, weird-looking albino. Kudos also to Fay Holden as Demarest's boarding house proprietress wife, who sings a duet on the porch with Ladd in a charming scene of 19th century Americana.The splendid three-strip Technicolor cinematography is provided by Ray Rennahan, who put on film a number of grander Technicolor oaters, such as the exotic Duel In The Sun (1946) and California (1946) (see my review), as well as another very interesting railroad epic The Denver And Rio Grand (1952) (see my review). He no doubt got much good advice, wanted or not. from the Technicolor Corporation's top adviser Natalie Kalmus. She had a reputation for intruding herself into set decoration and costuming, but she usually knew what she was doing. In Whispering Smith it seems everyone's revolver is a nickle-plated one, and the same can be seen in many of Natalie's Westerns. No doubt she thought the nickeled pistols looked prettier in Technicolor than the blue ones! Sets and decorations in this picture, provided by Sam Comer/Betram Granger, and costumes by Mary Kay Dodson are superb. My wife, who claims to know about such things, says the women's dresses were perfectly accurate to the time period.Editing was silky smooth as in most 'forties productions. All-important pacing was perfect. The story moved fast, but took plenty of breathers for color, character development, and tension building. Credit Fenton and editor Archie Marshek. My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that Adolph Deutsch's score was perhaps slightly too pat and restrained. It was good, but could have been better. Western movies practically demand grand, operatic scores like those of Steiner and Tiompkin. They should be horse operas literally as well as figuratively!Colorful, authentic, thrilling, and dramatically absorbing, Whispering Smith is a top-notch, adult, "A" western, an under-appreciated classic from Hollywood's Golden Era.
Jay Raskin
I was very impressed with the direction of this film. Everybody is acting believably and sincerely in their roles. The film's main Love triangle stars, Alan Ladd, Robert Preston and Brenda Marshall, are hitting every line out of the ballpark. Actors with stock character, smaller roles such as Donald Crisp, William Demarest (My three Sons), and Frank Faylen (Dobie Gillis' father)are taking their parts seriously and making them interesting. It is sad that director Leslie Fenton seems to have retired a few years after this film at the age of 50. As a former actor, he knew how to direct actors and get excellent performances out of them. The cinematography is another plus. Ray Rennahan won Academy Awards for "Gone with the Wind" and "Blood and Sand" and was nominated for five others. He was among the very best color cinematographers in the Golden Age of Hollywood. He also worked on the television series "Whispering Smith" starring Audie Murphy, in 1961. While there are no dazzling scenes, every scene is sharply lit and a pleasure to watch.There is a slight hitch in the script in that a dramatic climax comes about half way into the 88 minute film. This story involves Whispering Smith chasing outlaw Barton. There is then a switch to a second story involving the previously mentioned love triangle and Whispering Smith having to face his old friend Murray who has married Marion, the woman that Smith was in love with.The movie does drag a bit after the first climax. There is also a ridiculous montage where the villains cause three trains to crash inside of one month and they loot the wrecked trains. It seems silly that the railroad did not send Smith back to investigate after the first crash.What lifts the movie over this jerkiness is the great chemistry between the three leads. It is sad that this was Brenda Marshall's next to last picture. Her career ended two years later at age 38 after she married William Holden. Ladd went on to do "Shane"(1953) and Preston was fantastic in "Music Man" (1962) and "Victor Victoria" (1982).Not quite a classic Western, but a good, solid well-acted and beautifully photographed one.
westerner357
This is a standard actioner about railroad detective Luke Smith (Alan Ladd) who has to track down an old buddy Murray Sinclair (Robert Preston) whom he believes is involved in a series of railroad hold ups. Murray also happens to have a fine spread and is married to Smith's old love interest, Marion (Brenda Marshall).Smith cut's Murray a lot of breaks and gives him the benefit of the doubt until someone is killed in a railroad hold-up and he can no longer turn a blind eye towards his old friend. Donald Crisp plays the leader the gang that led Murray astray and we have bad guy Whitey (Frank Faylen wearing a blond wig) as the heavy. Paramount gave it an "A" picture look with excellent Technicolor production values, but it deserves a better plot. Preston merely repeats his good-guy-gone-bad role from BLOOD ON THE MOON, and Ladd is capable but low-key to the point of almost being monotonous. Crisp as a bad guy makes no impression while Faylen's blond wig, looks ridiculous.It starts off being filmed up in the beautiful Sierras but winds up towards the end at the same ranch locations that Paramount used for most of it's programmers. Same old locations.It's not bad, but it's nothing special, imo. Average.5 out of 10
