The Duel at Silver Creek
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Movie Reviews of The Duel at Silver Creek
Movie Review: THE DUEL AT SILVER CREEK
Summary: 5 Stars
ANOTHER AUDIE MURPHY GEM,SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT A YOUNG LEE MARVIN,IF IM NOT MISTAKEN THIS MAY BE HIS FIRST STARING ROLE...THIS MOVIE WAS MADE IN THE WESTERN HAYDAY,TODAY THE PLOT MAY BE CORNEY,BUT I THINK IT STILL RESONATES WITH BOTH WESTERN AND MURPHY FANS ALIKE,FOR IT SHOWS A TRUE WORLD HERO ON STAGE NOT AN IMITATION,I SAY TRUE WORLD HERO BECAUSE IF IT WERE NOT FOR PEOPLE LIKE MR MURPHY AND MANY OTHERS,SEVERAL COUNTRIES WOULD BE SPEAKING ANOTHER LANGUAGE.Movie Review: Audie Murphy
Summary: 5 Stars
Audie Murphy has been my most respected hero. The movie is great it brings back good memories of when I was young.Movie Review: A bit too much to pack into 77 minutes, but still a fun ride
Summary: 4 Stars
I might not have bothered picking up this little 1952 b-western at this time if not for the director, Don Siegel (later of DIRTY HARRY fame). This is just Siegel's 4th feature, and it's his first western. I've seen one of the earlier films, the 1949 seriocomic noir THE BIG STEAL, and quite a few of his later ones; it seems he really hit his stride a couple of years after this film with a couple of punchy noir titles, RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 and PRIVATE HELL 36, and then of course he hit serious cult status with INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS in 1956. It strikes me that Siegel in this film and some of his other work comes off in some ways like a cross between Samuel Fuller (hard-hitting, punchy direction of action sequences, quick pacing) and Howard Hawks (complex-for-the-period male/female dynamics, a love of male camaraderie). I wouldn't put him on the level of either of those two - and I think that sometimes the sheer amount of stuff going on can be exhausting - but such a volatile mixture sure helps keep the films from being boring!
In this case, we start out with Luke Cromwell, aka The Silver Kid (Audie Murphy, also fairly early in his career and sometimes a bit hesitant) and his father getting bushwhacked by a group of claim jumpers who force owners to sign over their lands and then kill them. The Kid escapes, seeking revenge - then we cut quickly to Marshal "Lightning" Tyrone (Stephen McNally) on the trail of the claim jumpers himself. Lightning narrates the film too, and his world-weary, somewhat cynical demeanor and the presence of a real Bad Girl, Opal Lacy aka Brown Eyes (Faith Domergue) - who we know is in with the villains right from the beginning, but who puts the charm on the unaware Lightning - help make this a very noirish-feeling western at times. Lightning is wounded, but soon back in Silver City, where he meets the Kid and rapidly makes him a deputy, and we find that Brown Eyes has a brother, Rod (Gerald Mohr) who doesn't exactly come off as trustworthy after his first 30 seconds or so onscreen. Somehow, the identities of the claim jumpers have never been established, but Lightning thinks that Johnny Sombrero (Eugene Iglesias) and his no-good pal Rat Face (James Anderson) may know something about it. Also along for fun and games are Lee Marvin as a questionable gambler, and Susan Cabot as the Good Girl who loves Lightning despite his obsession with Brown Eyes and is in turn ignoring the advances of the Silver Kid.
This is a mixed bag all in all, with a somewhat ridiculous central plot problem - nobody knows who the claim jumpers are, but wouldn't they find out pretty quickly when the bandits tried to sell the claims? And it tries to pack just a bit too much into it's 77 minutes - the instant reversals of opinion that the Marshal has to exhibit more than once would seem to make him a little too scattered for such a job - but on the whole it's a lot of fun, with most of the acting pretty solid - in particular I think Cabot, Marvin and Iglesias are strong - and some entertaining characters and a couple of terrific action sequences including one of the more visceral and "realistic" horseback chases I've seen in a film from this period. Irving Glassberg's color photography is also quite excellent.
The DVD transfer is quite sharp and shows off the photography to good effect; it's limited in extras to optional subtitles in English, French and Spanish, and the trailer.
Movie Review: The only time I draw is when I'm crowded
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been avoiding Audie Murphy for years, copping the attitude Howard Cosell had for the Frank Giffords of the world. Cosell devoted a good portion of at least one book attacking "jockocracy," the invasion of the professional broadcasting booth by unqualified ex-jocks. Audie Murphy was a war hero but the bits and clips I've seen of his work always made it look like he was in over his head. Murphy's appearance in a movie meant one unemployed real actor. So I was a little trepidatious when I hit the play button on DUEL AT SILVER CREEK. I hung with it through the slow opening exposition scenes (a pod of claim jumpers are terrorizing silver miners, forcing them to sign over their deeds and then shooting them.) By the time Murphy's pa was kilt and he morphed into the poker playing Silver Kid I was hooked. DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a fun little flick.
Look, this movie made me laugh at things decent folks don't laugh at, but I believe these elements were put in deliberately. This is director Don Siegel's first western and his first Technicolor production. He would go on to work with the likes of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) and John Wayne (The Shootist.) Siegel knew what he was doing.
One of the humorous elements, to me at least, was the proliferation of nicknames. Murphy's Luke Cromwell is the "Silver Kid," or just "Kid." Sheriff Stephen McNally is "Lightning," there's a character called "Rat Face." Lee Marvin plays a heavy nicked "Tinhorn." The lovely Faith Domergue (Opal Lacy) is nicked "Brown Eyes" early on by "Lightning."
Then there's mondo-heavy Eugene Iglesias, who plays Johnny Sombrero. I honestly couldn't refrain from laughing every time he was on screen. Dressed in red and white striped pants and wearing an impossibly large sombrero pushed back off his head he was a caricature of... something. How can a guy in candy stripe pants and a balloon hat intimidate?
Wisely the film-makers don't overload Murphy in this one. Although he's the nominal star, McNally does most of the heavy lifting. Murphy is along more as a wise-cracking (!?) sidekick. My uninformed take on Murphy was that he was a Roy Rogers/Gene Autry type. Squeaky clean, you know. Siegel gives the Silver Kid an edge, and to Murphy credit that edge remains sharp. Still and all it was a bit of a surprise to see Lightning and The Kid interrogating Brown Eyes and hearing The Kid impulsively say "I bet I can get it out of her." Heeheehee. I was half expecting The Kid to call her a punk and ask her if she was feeling lucky.
DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a dandy little horse opera. It will satisfy without offense those who love traditional westerns, and sate those with less conventional tastes.
Movie Review: Better Than The Average Western...
Summary: 4 Stars
Hollywood used to produce Western dramas like it now grinds out police procedurals. "The Duel At Silver Creek" is a better than average example of the genre, featuring Audie Murphy in a solid performance as the two-fisted, gun-toting Silver Kid.
In our story, Silver City, Nevada, is terrorized by a gang of claim-jumpers, who force miners to sign over their silver claims before being murdered. The town Marshal, "Lightning" Tyrone (Stephen McNally in a movie-stealing performance), is injured early in the story and hires the Silver Kid as depuy. The Kid has his own agenda: the gang murdered his father. The love interests are played by Faith Domergue as the Marshal's classy girl and Susan Cabot as the tomboy who falls for the Kid. A young Lee Marvin has a nice cameo as a local tough. Don Siegal, who would go on to work with Clint Eastwood, directs.
The action moves briskly, leading to a final nasty shootout at the hideout of the claim-jumpers. The dialogue and much of the action are standard fare. However, the plot gets a boost in the interesting way the interaction between Lightning and the Silver Kid plays out, and in a nasty act of betrayal that sets up a deadly showdown for the Marshal. "The Duel At Silver Creek" is highly recommended to die-hard fans of the Western genre.