There are some interesting names in this quota quickie.Reginald Tate was the original Professor Quatermass.Russell Thorndyke brother of Sybil,Malcolm Keen father of Geoffrey,not forgetting Felix Aylmer.The film was directed by the veteran George Pearson whose career had fallen on hard times.His last few feature films were quota quickie.In this film Tate sets out to avenge his late father who committed suicide as he has been swindled out of his money.He goes into partnership with his father's butler,a reformed crook to take revenge on the people who swindled his father.Everything goes fine for 3 years ,however when he thinks he has squared accounts he finds that there is one person remaining and that really throws a spanner in the works.Really quite a notch above the average quota quickie.
4 Reviews
Unusual storyline makes this one stand out
Leofwine_draca6 July 2016
WHISPERING TONGUES is a short British crime film made at Twickenham Film Studios and featuring a rather novel, revenge-style plot line. The hero of the piece, played by the charismatic Reginald Tate, is both the protagonist and antagonist of the piece! Tate begins the film by returning to England from South America, where he literally stumbles upon the corpse of his father who has just committed suicide. How's that for bad timing?
Tate discovers that idle gossip was responsible for his old man's death, so with the aid of his ex-con butler he decides a revenge plot is in order. What follows is a cat and mouse game with police and a fair few suspenseful moments as Tate sets his plan into action. The low budget of WHISPERING TONGUES is apparent in the dearth of action and the way only a couple of sets are used, but I found it oddly engaging. The unusual story makes it stand out from the typical contemporary fare and one scene in particular has some quite wonderful writing between Tate and Malcolm Keen's dogged detective. Felix Aylmer plays in support as the police chief.
Tate discovers that idle gossip was responsible for his old man's death, so with the aid of his ex-con butler he decides a revenge plot is in order. What follows is a cat and mouse game with police and a fair few suspenseful moments as Tate sets his plan into action. The low budget of WHISPERING TONGUES is apparent in the dearth of action and the way only a couple of sets are used, but I found it oddly engaging. The unusual story makes it stand out from the typical contemporary fare and one scene in particular has some quite wonderful writing between Tate and Malcolm Keen's dogged detective. Felix Aylmer plays in support as the police chief.
White heather... for luck
Igenlode Wordsmith28 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
At its core, "Whispering Tongues" comes across with most enthusiasm as a 'debonair gentleman crook' story very much in the mode of E.W. Hornung's "Raffles". The outstanding scenes are those in which our hero runs verbal and tactical rings around the perennially frustrated Macolm Keen as Inspector Dawley, with both actors giving excellent performances; Keen contrives to maintain the detective as a credible and serious threat despite a plot-role that could easily have reduced the character to farce, while Reginald Tate is a revelation as his charming, charismatic opponent. The banter and ingenuity of these sections, coupled with genuine dramatic tension, could qualify the film as an outstanding comedy thriller (despite the all too predictable plot twist concerning the identity of the final 'victim') -- if only it were sustained throughout.
Unfortunately the framing scenario used to establish our hero's escapades as morally defensible is not only far less entertaining, it is far less convincing and less well acted; indeed, Reginald Tate's eulogies to the mother-country and to his dear old parent in the opening scene rang so falsely hearty as to convince me that the character must be lying through his teeth with nefarious intent, and left me confidently anticipating some sinister payoff in the following sequence. Alas, it turns out that we are supposed to take the whole set-up at face value, and with hindsight it clearly serves as little more than an excuse to get the 'Willow Whisper' plot under way -- at any rate it is all fairly perfunctory and I found it hard to care much about the fate of Norton senior. (I did feel that Fenwick was harshly treated by the plot; having been rescued and enabled to 'go straight' by the father, he is then inducted back onto the path of crime by the son for his own ends, and subsequently blamed for it!)
The love-interest, while fairly generic, is well-handled (it was only afterwards that I appreciated how carefully the lovers' past history had been set up to facilitate Allan's masquerade), and the 'three years later' transition is quite skilfully contrived without the exposition's appearing obvious. Despite its running time of only 55 minutes the picture does not feel short, but I do feel that it suffers for this length in the perfunctory nature of the prologue; a man apparently hounded to death by means of rumours unspecified by a clique whose reasons -- and indeed relations with one another -- remain unknown. Like the bonds abstracted by unexplained and nefarious means, the whole thing serves only as a plot mechanic, and unfortunately the lead actor fails to impress in this section.
Overall I should still recommend this film to viewers' interest on the grounds that parts of it are so excellent, and much of it thoroughly involving: it is just a pity that it is not equal throughout.
Unfortunately the framing scenario used to establish our hero's escapades as morally defensible is not only far less entertaining, it is far less convincing and less well acted; indeed, Reginald Tate's eulogies to the mother-country and to his dear old parent in the opening scene rang so falsely hearty as to convince me that the character must be lying through his teeth with nefarious intent, and left me confidently anticipating some sinister payoff in the following sequence. Alas, it turns out that we are supposed to take the whole set-up at face value, and with hindsight it clearly serves as little more than an excuse to get the 'Willow Whisper' plot under way -- at any rate it is all fairly perfunctory and I found it hard to care much about the fate of Norton senior. (I did feel that Fenwick was harshly treated by the plot; having been rescued and enabled to 'go straight' by the father, he is then inducted back onto the path of crime by the son for his own ends, and subsequently blamed for it!)
The love-interest, while fairly generic, is well-handled (it was only afterwards that I appreciated how carefully the lovers' past history had been set up to facilitate Allan's masquerade), and the 'three years later' transition is quite skilfully contrived without the exposition's appearing obvious. Despite its running time of only 55 minutes the picture does not feel short, but I do feel that it suffers for this length in the perfunctory nature of the prologue; a man apparently hounded to death by means of rumours unspecified by a clique whose reasons -- and indeed relations with one another -- remain unknown. Like the bonds abstracted by unexplained and nefarious means, the whole thing serves only as a plot mechanic, and unfortunately the lead actor fails to impress in this section.
Overall I should still recommend this film to viewers' interest on the grounds that parts of it are so excellent, and much of it thoroughly involving: it is just a pity that it is not equal throughout.
Whispering Tongues review
JoeytheBrit30 April 2020
A vintage British crime drama which sees suave playboy Reginald Tate vow to have his revenge on those he holds responsible for driving his father to suicide. Quite what most of his victims did is a little vague, and Tate's revenge - robbing them of their jewels (which, no doubt, are insured) seems just a little insubstantial. It's to keep him likeable, of course, with villain duties transferred to his dad's manservant, who was once a jewel thief and shows Tate the tricks of the trade. An insignificant trifle, but not without moments of interest.
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