Whispering Smith Hits London, 1952.
Directed by Francis Searle.
Starring Richard Carlson, Greta Gynt, Herbert Lom, Rona Anderson, Alan Wheatley, Dora Bryan.
SYNOPSIS:
An American private detective holidaying in London becomes embroiled in a murder case where all is not as it seems.
The good folk at Hammer have unearthed another obscure treasure from the vaults this month, as Whispering Smith Hits London (a.k.a. Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard in the US) is given the plush 4K UHD treatment that the company have been consistently rolling out for the past year.
But who is Whispering Smith? Well, in this iteration he is a private detective having a well-earned holiday in London. Why ‘this iteration’? Because the character is actually based on a 1948 western called Whispering Smith, itself based on a novel by Frank H. Spearman, where the lead character was a railroad detective putting a stop to a gang of train robbers. Here, Smith (Richard Carlson) is a gumshoe in the (then) modern -day who gets involved in a case where the suicide of a young woman named Sylvia Garde is being questioned by her father, who believes it was murder. He sends his secretary Anne (Rona Anderson) to intercept Smith and hire him to investigate, opening up a twisted web of lies and blackmail.
The biggest flaw with Whispering Smith Hits London is that when Smith lands in the UK, the local press – who are at the airport to photograph and interview a famous actress – already know who he is and identify him as it he were a folk hero known the world over. Nothing wrong with that if you follow it up with something – anything – about who he is, why he has the ‘Whispering’ nickname or how come he is so well known amongst the world’s reporters, but the movie doesn’t. Yes, Smith (Steve to his mother) is fast-talking and charming to the ladies, but he never does anything that justifies his seemingly international reputation; hell, he doesn’t even speak at a low volume so where the nickname comes from is as much of a mystery as the death of Sylvia Garde.
But other than the flawed writing of its main character, Whispering Smith Hits London is actually quite an engaging crime story that doesn’t really break any new ground but it does give you a good time getting to the somewhat obvious conclusion. Richard Carlson isn’t exactly Humphrey Bogart or Robert Mitchum when it comes to playing film noir detectives, but he is likeable enough to get us on side and he has a sizzling chemistry with leading ladies Rona Anderson and Greta Gynt which, had it been made nowadays, would be more sexualised but here it adds a bit of subtle energy and spice without ever being explicit. Screen legend Herbert Lom pops up in a suitably menacing supporting role, and the movie is peppered with plenty of faces that viewers of movies from this era will recognise, and for a low budget British thriller there is enough going on so it never gets dull or boring, despite it never really stepping outside of the genre’s comfort zone.
However, this being Hammer there is more than just the movie to keep you entertained. The 4K UHD and Blu-ray set comes with both the UK and US cuts of the movie, with the US cut coming in seven minutes shorter, but don’t worry because authors Vic Pratt and William Fowler are in the special features discussing the differences between the two versions and why pacing and editing for separate markets makes such a difference. They also pop up alongside Barry Forshaw and Lucy Bolton in a featurette discussing the career of Herbert Lom, plus there is an appreciation of the movie by filmmaker Chris Alexander, an archive interview with editor Alfie Cox from 1992 and a booklet containing essays from various academics not only covering the movie but the movie femme fatale, Hammer’s crime movies and Richard Carlson’s career.
Overall, Whispering Smith Hits London is a solid British noir thriller but it suffers a bit from not having an identity that lives up to its bold and brash title, instead its title character having fewer character traits than, say, Columbo or Inspector Morse so he just comes across like a regular guy who is lucky with the ladies. Nevertheless, it is still an excellent package that continues Hammer’s run of lesser-known titles being given a contemporary upgrade, and if they insist on preserving these movies in such a physical-media-collector-pleasing manner then who are we to stop them? Long may it continue.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
