Whispering Smith (1961)
Whispering Smith is an 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. Filming of the series began in 1959, but the program did not air until May 8, 1961, because of unexpected production problems. Whispering Smith combines elements of CBS's Have Gun – Will Travel starring Richard Boone, NBC's Tales of Wells Fargo starring Dale Robertson, the syndicated Shotgun Slade with Scott Brady, and ABC's The Man From Blackhawk, a Stirling Silliphant production starring Robert Rockwell. While the setting of the series is unique, it is otherwise a standard detective program.
Seasons & Episode
Smith suspects an influential businessman of murdering his brother when he announces he has an iron-clad alibi without being asked.
Smitty becomes suspicious when a woman claims to have shot an alleged mugger who is found wearing a distinctive ring but didn't have a mark on his finger showing he wore it for any length of time.
Members of an outlaw gang that George Romack formerly rode with try to blackmail the Denver police detective into assisting them pull a robbery. When Romack refuses to resume his criminal career, the gang abducts his wife to force his cooperation.
A stagecoach is held up and a passenger onboard is killed for $5,000.
An English lord who is also a noted poet is hired to recite his poetry at the Denver Opera House as a benefit for the widows and orphans of miners killed in a recent mine disaster.
An alcoholic lawyer who threatened the owner of a casino the night before is framed for his foe's murder.
A match race between two feuding family's prize horses ends in tragedy when one of the jockeys is shot from the saddle by an unknown assailant.
Ole Brindessen sees swindler Eddie Royce commit murder.
Smith and Romack investigate a series of bombings that rock Denver. The detectives can find no apparent connection between the two victims, one a mine owner, the other an Irish traveling salesman, until they discover a ball of twine in a popular boarding house that was linked to both crimes.
Enrico Spanato, a Sicilian interpreter is accused of killing a fellow Italian by several of the dead man's friends. Although Smith finds evidence that someone might have fired a shot at the interpreter, he can find no one who who will testify that the shooting was self-defense because the Italians in the neighborhood fear the growing power of the Mafia.
Whispering Smith captures Sam Chandler, a fugitive near the Mexican border. His plans to return him to Denver where he is wanted for murder are dashed when the two men are captured by Mexican bandits who only keep them alive to serve as personal slaves.
Smith and Romack have their hands full investigating a violent death that might be murder and dealing with a gang of ex-convicts who have suddenly descended on Denver. The former wards of the state appear to be planning to settle an old score, but who is the would-be victim? And is the gathering related to the late night shooting that Bob Mullet claims was self-defense?
Two outlaws steal a valuable jeweled statue from a Catholic church, but the parish priest refuses to give Smith a description of the villains unless he agrees to pursue them unarmed. The Denver detective reluctantly agrees and manages to catches up with the culprits in the desert. Smith begins a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in the middle of the waterless wasteland using canteens of water as deadly weapons.
A not-so-devoted husband hires a Kansas City killer to travel to Denver to murder his wife when the couple arrive by stagecoach several days later. After the young woman dies, he sets about arranging for his mother's return to England after an absence of 14 years. The older woman, however, becomes suspicious of her doting "son's" true identity.
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