Whispering Smith

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Leslie Fenton directs. Ray Rennahan behind the camera. Adolph Deutsch scores. Archie Marshek cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 278 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Leslie Fenton, shot by Ray Rennahan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Adolph Deutsch. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Archie Marshek shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Alan Ladd and Robert Preston and Brenda Marshall carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "A new Ladd thrills the Old West !".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0040965 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 24 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Ray Rennahan

Original score

Adolph Deutsch

Editing

Archie Marshek

Costume design

Mary Kay Dodson

Makeup / hair

Wally Westmore

Runtime

89 min · 1h 29m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Whispering Smith (1948) ↗

Also by

Leslie Fenton

• 
  The Forgotten Step

  1938 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Tomorrow, the World!

  1944 · ★ 8.1
• 
  A Criminal Is Born

  1938 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Pardon My Past

  1945 · ★ 6.7
• 
  Saigon

  1947 · ★ 6.0
• 
  Streets of Laredo

  1949 · ★ 6.0

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  WHISPERING SMITH (Trailer)

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2017-10-08
  ★ 7/10

  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

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Paramount Pictures

  US

Key crew

• NovelFrank H. Spearman
• Art DirectionHans Dreier
• Art DirectionWalter H. Tyler
• Set DecorationSam Comer
• Set DecorationBertram C. Granger
• OtherNatalie Kalmus
• Visual EffectsGordon Jennings
• OtherRobert Brower
• Visual EffectsFarciot Edouart
• Assistant DirectorFrancisco Day
• Associate ProducerMel Epstein
• Costume DesignMary Kay Dodson
• Makeup SupervisorWally Westmore
• Sound RecordistGene Merritt
• Sound RecordistJohn Cope
• EditorArchie Marshek

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• railroad detective

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1948-12-09NR

Also known as

International titles

• Whispering SmithUS