Whispering Smith (1948)

Alan Ladd is Luke “Whispering” Smith, a railroad detective sent to Medicine Bend to investigate a series of robberies committed by the three Barton brothers.

Sure enough, the Bartons attempt to hold up the train he’s aboard. By the time the shooting stops, two Bartons are dead, a third is on the run and “Whispering” Smith has been wounded again.

He winds up recuperating at the ranch of an old buddy Murray Sinclair (Robert Preston), who just happens to be married to a woman Smith was once in love with (Brenda Marshall as Marian Sinclair).

As she helps nurse him back to health, it’s clear they still have deep feelings for one another.

Meanwhile, Smith is determined to nab the other Barton brother. And getting increasingly worried about Murray’s circle of friends, which includes a known scoundrel named Barney Rebstock (Donald Crisp) and his cold-blooded hired gun Whitey Du Sang (Frank Faylen).

He’s also beginning to wonder how Murray can afford such a large ranch on his railroad pay as a train wreck investigator.

The answer to that soon becomes clear: Murray’s looting the wrecked trains, taking even the undamaged goods to resell. When a new railroad boss named McCloud balks at the practice, Murray balks back and winds up being fired.

After that, train wrecks begin happening far more frequently with cargo disappearing before salvage crews can even reach the scene. And everyone knows who’s responsible.

Nabbing the guilty parties becomes Smith’s next assignment.

Alan Ladd as Whispering Smith, a man trying to get to the bottom of a string of railroad accidents in Whispering Smith (1948)

Robert Preston as Murray Sinclair, a man used to doing what he wants at the scene of train accidents in Whispering Smith (1948)

Review:

Ladd’s first Western is a great looking film with a plot original enough to gloss over the fact that things become pretty predictable once the love triangle and Murray Sinclair’s unsavory friends are introduced to viewers.

Brenda Marshall does a fine job as the wife who puts duty before love, party at the urging of the man she truly loves. The supporting cast includes William Demarest as an old friend of Whispering Smith and Murray. He becomes Smith’s partner in trying to get Murray back on a lawful path. John Eldredge plays McCloud, the new railroad boss who tangles with the hot-headed Murray.

Marshall, by the way, hadn’t appeared in a film for two years and made just one more, “The Iroquois Trail” with George Montgomery in 1950. She was married to William Holden for 30 years and they had two children together.

Silent versions of the Whispering Smith story were made in 1906 and 1926. And in 1961 “Whispering Smith” became a TV series on NBC starring Audie Murphy that lasted for 26 episodes.

Brenda Marshall as Marian Sinclair, the woman Whispering Smith never got around to marrying in Whispering Smith (1948)

William Demarest as Bill Dansing, the aging railroad employee fond of both Whispering Smith and Murray Sinclair in Whispering Smith (1948)

Directed by:
Leslie Fenton

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
Ashley Cowan … Train brakeman
Jimmie Dundee … Karg
Ray Teal … Seagrue
Bob Kortman … Gabby Barton

Runtime: 88 min.

Donald Crisp as Barney Rebstock, thrilled to hear Whispering Smith was wounded in Whispering Smith (1948)

Frank Fraylen as Whitey Du Sang, the fast gun on Barney Rebstock’s payroll in Whispering Smith (1948)

Memorable lines:

Murray Sinclair, about train wrecks: “Bigger they are, the better I like ’em. Ain’t like the old days, Bill. Rail beds as flat as a pool table. All this new equipment. Inspections every time you turn around. In a few years, we’ll be railroading in a dress suit the way things are going.”

Railroad man #1, about Smith: “What’s he like?”
Railroad man #2: “He’s kind of quiet, gentle like.”
Murray Sinclair: “Til somebody spits in his eye.”
Bill Dansing: “Then he’s like a rattler. He just naturally unwraps himself.”

Bill Dansing: “I know that Whitey. He’s as cruel as a soft-nosed bullet. He’d shoot a dying man just to see him squirm.”

John Eldredge as railroad district manager George McCloud, getting a report on the latest train mishap from Murray Sinclair in Whispering Smith (1948)

Fay Holden as Emmy Dansing, Bill’s wife, hoping Whispering Smith can talk sense into Murray Sinclair in Whispering Smith (1948)

Railroad man: “Why do they call him Whispering Smith?”
Murray Sinclair: “Sonny boy, if you ever run off with a company payroll and you hear somebody behind you talking low and quiet, well that’s Whispering Smith and you’re in trouble.”

Redstock: “This Smith, he’s going to start crowding us. Alright, we’ll see who can crowd hardest with the most.”

Whispering Smith: “Murray, if there had been any other way, I’d have played it differently. You know that, don’t you? The only cards I had were the ones you dealt me.”

Alan Ladd as Whispering Smith and Brenda Marshall as Marian Sinclair, wondering about her husband’s changed attitude in Whispering Smith (1948)

Murvyn Vye as Blake Barton, being goaded into a showdown with Whispering Smith by Barney Redstock in Whispering Smith (1948)

Brenda Marshall as Marian Sinclair, recoiling from one of her husband’s fits of anger in Whispering Smith (1948)

Robert Preston as Murray Sinclair, being chastized over the quality of his friends by Bill Dansing (William Demarest) in Whispering Smith (1948)

Alan Ladd as Whispering Smith, forced to investigate longtime friend Murray Sinclair (Preston Foster) in Whispering Smith (1948)

Alan Ladd as Whispering Smith, trying to figure out who tried to ambush him in Whispering Smith (1948)