Whispering Smith is a 1948

1948 in film

The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...

 western film starring Alan Ladd

Alan Ladd

-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...

 as a railroad detective assigned to stop a gang of train robbers.

It is based on a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Frank H. Spearman

Frank H. Spearman

Frank Hamilton Spearman was an American author.He was known for his books in the Western fiction genre and especially for his fiction and non-fiction works on the topic of railroads....

 and a previous 1926

1926 in film

-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....

 film adaptation starring H.B. Warner in the title role, with Lillian Rich

Lillian Rich

Lillian Rich was an English actress of the silent era. She appeared in 66 films between 1919 and 1940.She was born in Herne Hill, London and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.-Selected filmography:...

, Lilyan Tashman

Lilyan Tashman

Lilyan Tashman was a Brooklyn-born Jewish American vaudeville, Broadway, and film actress. Tashman was best known for her supporting roles as tongue-in-cheek villainesses and the bitchy 'other woman'...

, John Bowers

John Bowers

John Bowers was an American stage and silent film actor who starred in ninety-four films including short subjects.-Biography:...

, and Eugene Pallette

Eugene Pallette

Eugene William Pallette was an American actor. He appeared in over 240 silent era and sound era motion pictures between 1913 and 1946....

 as supporting cast.

In 1961, Whispering Smith became a 20-episode NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 series of the same name

Whispering Smith (TV series)

Whispering Smith is a short-lived American Western series that aired on NBC. Based on a 1948 movie, the series stars Audie Murphy as Tom "Whispering" Smith, a police detective in Denver, Colorado...

, with Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy

Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...

, a film star and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 hero, in the title role.

Cast

Alan Ladd

Alan Ladd

-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...

... Luke 'Whispering' Smith

Robert Preston

Robert Preston (actor)

-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...

... Murray Sinclair

Brenda Marshall

Brenda Marshall

Brenda Marshall was an American film actress.Born Ardis Ankerson in Negros, Philippines, Marshall made her first film appearance in the 1939 Espionage Agent. The following year, she played the leading lady to Errol Flynn in The Sea Hawk...

... Marian Sinclair

Donald Crisp

Donald Crisp

Donald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...

... Barney Rebstock

William Demarest

William Demarest

Carl William Demarest was an American character actor. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles.-Early life and career:...

... Bill Dansing

Fay Holden

Fay Holden

Fay Holden , was a British-born American-based actress. She was known as Gaby Fay early in her career....

... Emmy Dansing

Murvyn Vye ... Blake Barton

Frank Faylen

Frank Faylen

Frank Faylen was an American movie and television actor.Born Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri, he began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville performing parents on stage...

... Whitey Du Sang

John Eldredge ... George McCloud

Ward Wood ... Leroy Barton

J. Farrell MacDonald

J. Farrell MacDonald

Joseph Farrell MacDonald was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. MacDonald, who was sometimes billed as "John Farrell Macdonald", "J.F...

... Bill Baggs

Will Wright

Will Wright (actor)

William Henry "Will" Wright was an American character actor. He was frequently cast in curmudgeonly roles. He was sometimes credited as Will J. Wright....

... Sheriff McSwiggin