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 Whispering Smith

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lin
alj
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alj
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alj


Number of posts : 9633
Registration date : 2008-12-05
Age : 80
Location : San Antonio

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PostSubject: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyTue Apr 27, 2010 6:25 pm

For some time now, fans of Audie Murphy have been clamoring to see his
old TV series from 1961, and the word from Universal Studios was that it
had disappeared, or had simply been allowed to disintegrate. Only,
suddenly, about a month ago, word surfaced that the old tapes had been
restored, and that the entire series would be available in late April,
for purchase from Amazon, for about $25 for 3 DVD's with the entire
series.
This was an old 30-minute black-and-white series. It was scheduled to
be released in the late 50's, but was delayed, as happens with TV
series, until after the release of Bonanza - a 60-minute color show.
Universal felt they were committed, though, and went ahead with the
show. Murphy said at the time, "It's like the Redstone Rocket:
obsolete, but they're going to fire it anyway. The network wasn't happy
with him. But he was right, and the series lasted a year before it was canceled.
Still, I am looking forward to seeing it. Since it was on at 8:00
Saturday evenings of my Sr year in HS, needless to say, I saw very
little of it.
So, now, I am going to my room, to nurse my bronchitis and revel in
images of my old hero for the next few days.
Did I mention that the guest stars for the segments were struggling
young actors with names like Richard Chamberlain and Robert Redford?
And I got my discs from B&N for less than $20 since I am a member,
and the free shipping minimum has been dropped from $25 to $10.

I am a so happy camper!
Ann
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lin
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lin


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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyTue Apr 27, 2010 7:59 pm

What a treat for you, Ann.
I remember the show very vaguely.

Your mention of young future stars reminded me of something I was thinking about the other day. It used to be hot people from TV would move up to the movies.
Burt Reynolds from Gunsmoke, Steve McQueen from Trackdown, Eastwood from Rawhide, on and on.
That doesn't seem to be happening as much anymore. You have George Clooney and Johnny Depp, but who since that? Now days it seems like movie stars move down to television instead of the other way around.
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Abe F. March
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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyTue Apr 27, 2010 10:10 pm

Ann,
you sound excited, and rightfully so. Writing your book gave you personal insights about the man.

A friend just sent me a magazine article where Greg Kinnear was interviewed. He was a 12 year old kid in Beirut when his father worked at the US Embassy. He mentioned in the article about his friendship with a boy whose father was kidnapped in Beirut. My daughter Christine was 12 at that time and my son 13. They both went to the same school as Greg in Beirut. Now to question my kids about that. Small world, eh?
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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyWed Apr 28, 2010 11:10 am

I remember the show. I remember liking the name, too.

Malcolm
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lin
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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyWed Apr 28, 2010 12:56 pm

Good title.
I also liked the Whistling Detective
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alj
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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyFri Apr 30, 2010 10:02 am

Still feeling yucky, but it has given me time to watch some of this old series. And it's not half-bad, considering that by the time it finally hit the little screen, 1/2 hour B&W westerns were on their way out and hour-long color shows with bigger budgets and better time slots were the "New Western" of the time.

It has an interesting premise - one that modern TV audiences might like - a sort of CSI-Denver. The setting is the 1870's and there are still fast guns and faster horses (This is true. Murphy rode one of his prize horses on the show, Joe Queen. It has been said that they sometimes used a double, because the horse kept outrunning the set crews.), but aside from that, the action takes place in and around the city of Denver, with Murphy and his sidekicks playing police detectives, using modern criminology (very much pre-Miranda) to solve crimes. The shows format, too, is more like a dective show than a western, with Murphy doing a voice-over during many of the scenes. Many of the shows were taken from actual cases. There were exceptions, like "This Mortal Coil," where Murphy's character, Jim "Whispering" Smith caught the villain by re-enacting the murder in a play, a-la Shakespeare's Hamlet.

I am so glad that Universal Studios happened to "find" this lost series, and decide to bring it out, finally. The visual quality is very good for such an early, taped show.

Lin, you are right about the stars moving up from TV. It almost never happens anymore.

Guy MItchell is good, too, as the sidekick. Remember his song hits from the 50's and 60's? "Heartaches by the Number"? "Singing the Blues"?

Ann
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Betty Fasig
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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyFri Apr 30, 2010 5:28 pm

Dear Ann,
I am sorry you feel ill. Sometimes, being ill allows you to slow down and indulge yourself in what you would not be able to do while well. I hope that made sense and did not say I was glad you are ill, which I am not. I have a nice tv in my bedroom which I only watch if I am close to death. hahah.

Love,
Betty
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alj
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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptyFri Apr 30, 2010 7:13 pm

Yes, Betty, I, too, have such a TV, and it has a DVD player, so I've been going to bed early with my remote and that hot toddie you mentioned on the new forum.

By 1961, Murphy's acting skills were well-developed, and he still looked more like a little boy, even though he was in his late thirties by then.

He was never a great actor, of course. In his twenty-year, forty-film career, there were only three that critics thought deserved Oscar nods, though he never got them. In one of those films, he played himself, and the other two were both directed by John Huston: The Red Badge of Courage and Unforgiven, with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn. He always did better when he was challenged, and many of his movies were not very challenging. He did have a reputation for being a "one-shot actor" who could do a commendable job the first time around, and while he was NOT a B-movie actor as many people say today, the money in the budgets generally went more toward the Technicolor filming system and the outdoor location settings.

Technicolor was very expensive because it was used to create color images before color film had been developed. It was shot on three or four B&W cameras taped together, with red, blue, yellow, and sometimes green gels over the lenses, and then each individual film segment was cut apart and screen-printed to create a consistent color image. Anyway, there wasn't a lot left over for retakes of scenes.

There is this story about him. He was filming the movie Gunsmoke, a personal favorite. He was an excellent rider, and preferred doing his own stunts. On this particular day, the grass was so slick on the hills, that the stunt riders were sliding all over the place. The director talked to Murphy about the scene, which involved Murphy riding down one of those slick hills, and pulling to a stop in front of the mike to deliver his lines. They say he looked up and down the hill, digged into the grass with his toe, and said, "Ahh, he**, I think I can do it," so he rode to the top of that slick hill, turned around and started back down as the cameras started rolling, and about halfway down, jerked on the horses reins, and the horse slid to a stop, precisely on target, and he delivered the lines perfectly.

Sorry, it has been some time since I was so "into" this subject. It must be the bronchitis, but I do think the shows are helping me get better.

Ann
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PostSubject: Re: Whispering Smith   Whispering Smith EmptySat May 01, 2010 4:33 am

Hope you are both feeling better, Ann and Betty. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
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