Whispering Smith Hits London (1952) (aka Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard) (4K + Blu-ray Collector’s Limited Edition) (Hammer Films) [UK]

paulboland

Contributor Steels/Arrow
Contributor
Premium Supporter
Sep 10, 2012
42,895
Navan/Ireland
Release date: December 15, 2025
Purchase links: Hammer Films - Amazon UK - Zavvi - HMV
Price: £35.00 (Hammer Films) - £34.99 (Amazon - Zavvi - HMV)

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This limited collector's edition comprises:

  • Whispering Smith Hits London, its US version Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard and supporting material on two discs in a stylish digipak and rigid box: one UHD and one Blu-ray, with the content duplicated across both formats.
  • English, French, Italian, Spanish and German subtitles on each version of the film.
The discs feature:

  • New commentary with the bfi’s Curator of Fiction Jo Botting and podcaster Dave Thomas.
  • New commentary with film historian Richard Holliss and author/screenwriter Gavin Collinson.
  • He's Got a Gun!: Author, film-maker and Film Noir fan Chris Alexander casts an appreciative eye over a film that he believes is "a perfect example of Hammer doing what they did best at this period".
  • Acting the Foreigner: Film historian Lucy Bolton, author Barry Forshaw and William Fowler and Vic Pratt, authors and creators/curators of the bi’s ongoing Flipside series cast an appreciative eye over acting legend Herbert Lom’s early career.
  • Titillating Titles: When there is more than one version of a film, which is the definitive article? Vic Pratt and William Fowler examine the differences between the UK and US versions of Whispering Smith and discuss how versions of the same material can resonate in different ways for different audiences.
  • Alfie Cox Interview: Interviewed in 1992 for the British Entertainment History Project, this extract from editor Alfie Cox’s career-long interview covers his time as editor at Hammer.
  • The Village of Bray: Filmed in 1950 and released a year later, this short documentary travelogue made by Exclusive Films looks at the bucolic Thames-side village of Bray and its inhabitants.
  • A gallery of stills and publicity material alongside tracks from Frank Spencer’s score.
The booklet features:

  • New article by Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey examining the making of Whispering Smith Hits London.
  • New article by Philip Kemp, who considers the many aspects of Whispering Smith in books and on films and television.
  • New article by Nora Fiore, who appraises the Noir films of eternal femme fatale Greta Gynt.
  • New article by Vincent Barnett, who investigates the many flavours of Hammer’s crimer output and how it informed their later work.
  • New article by Sarah Morgan, who shines a light on Richard Carlson, once a prolific actor but now almost an enigma.
  • New article by Wayne Kinsey, who examines how James Carreras’ wheeler-dealing gave Hammer an enviable advantage over their British competitors.
The features, packaging and specification on this page are not final and are subject to change.
Technical Features


Language5.1 / Mono / English
Number of discs2
RegionABC
CertificationPG
Run time84 minutes
SubtitlesEnglish/ French/Italian/Spanish/German
ActorsRichard Carlson, Greta Gynt, Herbert Lom, Rona Anderson, Alan Wheatley, Dora Bryan, Reginald Beckwith And Danny Green
Produced ByAnthony Hinds
Written ByJohn Gilling
Directed ByFrancis Searle
Release Date1952
StudioHammer Films Production Ltd
 
I wish Hammer would have bundled some of these earlier/not very successful/non-horror efforts together in a box set or two, rather than going the individual release route for everything.

I thought ‘Shatter’ was close to scraping the barrel but at least that had the pull of Peter Cushing. There’s no way I’m stumping up £35 to sit through the highly predictable, seen-it-all-before adventures of some right boring b*****d called Steve Smith, only to be thinking to myself after 40 minutes, “will you just hurry up and finish?”.

That’s the exact same experience I already get with the Steve Smith from work…and at least he doesn’t have the cheek to charge me for it.

He doesn’t whisper though.

Then again, neither does the one in the movie.

‘Whispering Smith’, my arse.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: steelmybeatingheart
I'm actually enjoying this collection. A lot of films I have never seen before and the love and attention the Hammer films are getting is long overdue. As long as the Ugly Duckling is never released, I'm a happy camper.
 
I wish Hammer would have bundled some of these earlier/not very successful/non-horror efforts together in a box set or two, rather than going the individual release route for everything.

I thought ‘Shatter’ was close to scraping the barrel but at least that had the pull of Peter Cushing. There’s no way I’m stumping up £35 to sit through the highly predictable, seen-it-all-before adventures of some right boring b*****d called Steve Smith, only to be thinking to myself after 40 minutes, “will you just hurry up and finish?”.

That’s the exact same experience I already get with the Steve Smith from work…and at least he doesn’t have the cheek to charge me for it.

He doesn’t whisper though.

Then again, neither does the one in the movie.

‘Whispering Smith’, my arse.
You tend to fart out of your arse, not whisper.......
 
Note this release will be initially only available to order from hammer films website
It's not an exclusive as it will be available at later date with other retailers

It's not known yet when will be available to order from other UK retailers