This crisply made action-packed western stars Alan Ladd (superb here) as ace railroad detective Luke "Whispering" Smith. The film starts quickly as Smith's horse is shot out from under him by the Barton brothers, a notorious gang of train robbers.
Smith foils an attempted train robbery and reunites with childhood friend Murray Sinclair(Robert Preston) who also works for the railroad. Sinclair and Smith are like brothers, but something is lurking under the surface.
After Smith, catches a bullet in a botched hold-up Sinclair takes him to his ranch to recover. As Smith's condition improves, it's obvious that Mrs. Sinclair (Brenda Marshall) cares about him. Her happiness in seeing her old beau burns her husband, who seethes in the corner.
Smith quickly recovers and returns to investigating a batch of train accidents. He bumps into slimy heavy Barney Rebstock (Donald Crisp) and his gunmen, Whitey (Frank Faylen). Smith figures out that best friend Sinclair is to chummy with Rebstock, who Smith calls a "no-good cattle thief".
Pressure mounts on both sides as the mysterious train wrecks continue and Smith's bosses push him to solve the case.
Whispering Smith is Alan Ladd's film, and he delivers.
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