Schüsse in Neu Mexiko

Duel At Silver Creek is a co-starring vehicle for Audie Murphy, the last of the great B-movie western stars, briskly directed by the great Don Siegel. The baby-faced Murphy, who made 46 films in 20 years before dying in a plane crash, was the most decorated soldier of World War II. (In fact the star's appearance can be taken as an ironic comment on visual stereotyping as John Wayne, who looked every inch a hero, avoided the call up entirely.) For the most part Murphy starred in second-rate vehicles with second-rate talent. A few titles have stood the test of time, such as Red Badge Of Courage (1951) or The Unforgiven (1960) both directed by Huston, or Boetticher's fine A Time For Dying (1969), also the actor's last film. By and large, however, Murphy suffered from a bland screen persona which only strong direction and casting could overcome, even if most of his vehicles remain watchable.

Siegel, who went on to direct Dirty Harry (1971) and Charley Varrick (1973) was here at an early stage in his career, but had already made three or four other westerns before this one, his first in colour. Duel At Silver Creek is perhaps the most successful of those so far principally because the director is able to steer events along quickly enough to cover most of the weaknesses inherent in the script, and able to create a cast strong enough to balance out Murphy's presence. It opens as Luke Cromwell and his older partner work a gold claim, only to become the latest victims in a murderous claim-jumping racket. Luke's partner is forced to sign over the property while, after an exciting chase and shootout, Cromwell only narrowly escapes his own abrupt end. Soon he resurfaces as 'the Silver Kid', the baby faced gun-toting gambler, in a town where Marshall 'Lightning' Tyrone is also after the crooks. Chief among the suspects is Johnny Sombrero, a taunting thug who may be in league with the outlaws. The Marshall begins to develop an infatuation with the Opal Lacy (Susan Cabot), sister of the chief villain who by this time has also arrived in town. Meanwhile, handicapped by a wound, Tyrone is forced to turn to the Kid when the existing deputy is shot, and the two form an uneasy partnership.

The above plot summary shows just how clichéd many of the plot points of Silver Creek are. A lot of the film reveals its B-movie origins, perhaps chief of which is the cliché of the crippled lawman. As the Marshall nurses his secret weakness, still hoping the keep the 'indian sign' over the ambitious Sombrero, the obvious irony is his reluctant need for the younger man to come to his aid. To this one might add the over-familiar dichotomy between the woman of the world (Opal) and the good girl (Dusty), the hiding of a key witness in a secret cave, as well as Silver Kid's conspicuous white handled armaments - conventions familiar to those versed in the genre. Despite these commonplace matters, Siegel still manages to turn in one or two striking scenes, such as when the sexually provocative Opal abruptly strangles a wounded man awaiting the doctor (thereby demonstrating the dead end nature of her charms) or when Pop, the original deputy, is shot and left facedown in the rain. Siegel's film has the advantage of co-starring Murphy with Stephen McNally as the Marshall and, after the opening sequence; they more or less spend equal time on screen together. McNally's maturity, both as actor and character, balances out the Kid's inexperience nicely. In particular the older actor's voice-over (a relatively unusual device in an otherwise straightforward western of this sort), places a lot of the action in context, adding an authoritative framework to somewhat flimsy proceedings. It also has the useful advantage of not requiring the Kid to explain himself too often, where a lack of gravitas would be a disadvantage. Several times explicit reference is made to the Murphy's youthful appearance, so at odds with his lethal potential. "He didn't have the face of a killer," says the Marshall on first sight of his ally-to-be, "but I noticed his hands were quick and sure." In fact the Marshall's authoritative voice-over like this, grounding events in descriptive seriousness, relates the film to a genre form that would be very familiar to contemporary viewers: the radio western. (I don't think Murphy ever did a series on air). In radio drama conventions of the period, a single male narrator frequently might 'carry' events by the force of his personality, his voice the sole source of moral judgment.

Dressed in black leather, self conscious and slightly gauche, the Kid's character and his relation to a mature lawman reminds one of 'Mississippi' in Hawk's far superior El Dorado (1966), played by James Caan, or the Ricky Nelson part in the earlier Rio Bravo (1959). These later roles would be better developed, both in their relationship to the older mentor (Wayne, in both cases) as well as the moral intelligence behind a flashy rig. Set up with double guns, reserved although unnervingly assured, the Silver Kid remains two dimensional, a perception that not even his awkward romancing of Dusty can allay. Fortunately, as well as the strong role of the Marshall to distract us, there are some colourful characters further down the cast list. Notable is Johnny Sombrero (played by actor Eugene Iglesias, looking remarkably like a young Sean Penn) - as well as Tinhorn Burgess an already effective Lee Marvin, then currently working his way up through the ranks of B-heavies to future stardom.

Silver Creek remains excellent entertainment, notably in the vivid DVD reincarnation that revels in a crisp colour picture with a range of vivid colours characteristic of 1950s' film stock. Incidentally, modern viewers will relish lines like (on the Marshall's damaged hand) "It's going to be kinda stiff for a while but you need to keep massaging it," as well as (on Opal's coded attractions) "Women like that are likely to a put a man's shooting iron plum out of action." Others will simply want to buy this and hark back to a less cynical period of western production when, with little psychology and angst, the biggest clue to man's intent was the size of his sombrero.

I watched this film when it was recently shown on British television, largely because it was an early work by Don Siegel, at the time an up-and-coming young director, but later to become one of Hollywood's most distinguished directors, responsible for films as good as "Dirty Harry" and "The Shootist". It is a Western of the traditional heroes-and-villains variety. The villains are a gang of claim jumpers whose victims are the local miners. Their method of working is a simple one. They pick on a lone miner, force him to sign over his claim under threat of death, and then kill him anyway so he cannot inform on them. (The film does not point out the obvious hole in the scheme, namely that the claim jumpers will not be able to enforce their rights to the claims they take over in this way without revealing their identities).

The main heroes are the local Marshal and the Silver Kid, a young gambler and gunfighter whose father was one of the claim jumpers' victims and who joins forces with the Marshal to seek his revenge. There are two complicating factors. One is that the Marshal has fallen in love with a young woman named Opal Lacey who is secretly in league with the killers. The other is that the Marshal has been shot in the shoulder, an injury which affects his ability to handle a gun.

The best-known actor in the film is Audie Murphy. He made a few good films, most notably "The Red Badge of Courage", but a lot of his output consisted of routine Westerns. Murphy always seemed to be struggling against two disadvantages. The first was the fact that because he had become well-known to the American public for something other than his acting- he was a much-decorated war hero- he was unable to ditch his odd, feminine-sounding Christian name in favour of something more rugged. The second was his smooth, youthful looks which meant that he was frequently typecast as a callow young greenhorn even when he was in his thirties.

Here, however, Murphy is pretty good as the Kid, a brash and undisciplined but basically decent young man who gradually grows in courage and stature. I would agree with the reviewer who pointed out that the relationship between the Kid and Steve McNally's older, wiser Marshal is similar to that between John Wayne and Ricky Nelson in "Rio Bravo". (I've never seen "El Dorado", the other film he mentions).

"Duel at Silver Creek" is a fairly standard Western. As others have pointed out, its plot- the one about the heroic lawman tackling a gang of bandits- is familiar enough to be called a cliché, although that in itself does not mean that the film itself will be a bad one. After all, some very good Westerns, and at least two great ones ("High Noon" and "Gunfight at the OK Corral") have been based around it. "Duel.." is in nothing like the same class as those two films, but Siegel handles the action well, showing signs of the great director he was to become. It may be a B-movie, but it is a fast-paced, entertaining and enjoyable one. 7/10.

Don Siegel directed a delightful, fast paced, fun western, with tongue firmly in cheek. Audie Murphy isn't half bad as the poker-loving "Silver Kid", dressed in black leather. Featured are several unique characters like "Johnny Sombrero", who wears extravagant clothes, combs his hair up,and of course puts on a large sombrero. The script makes fun of all the western clichés, camping it up while moving the story briskly. Faith Domergue is alluringly devious and mean as the bad girl and love interest. Lee Marvin has a small but remarkable role, and sports a big mustache.

I like the way the straight hero is played for a fool until the end, and his poker playing sidekick gets all the action and glory. Siegel, as usual, excels with the action scenes, but this is not a thriller per say, more a fast paced action romp very similar in style to "The Big Steal", which Siegel directed before this film. I really enjoyed it.

This is an entertaining but brief '50's Western and is still on UK TV regularly mainly because it was lucky enough to get shot in colour. However the story isn't too bad either, this side of Tolstoy anyway.

Wild bunch of brutal claim jumpers are terrorising the locality, but eventually fall foul of full-of-himself Marshal Lightning Stephen McNally (also doubling up as the noirish narrator) and the wronged Silver Kid played by smooth Audie Murphy. Who also respectively fall foul of dirty Brown Eyes and clean Dusty. In between the downbeat comments from McNally there's some sparkling dialogue, perhaps more intelligent than should be expected from this type of film but it helps keep you onboard while the hackneyed plot unfolds. Favourite bits: McNally's varying speeds of eating betwixt fillies; Murphy being told to stay in the jailhouse but turning up everywhere in Brown Eyes' house naturally riling McNally; Johnny Sombrero's swift comeuppance.

No surprises but quite a good film really, although sadly most people nowadays would pass it by as they prefer nothing but sex and gore for their entertainment.

Stephen McNally is a rugged hero, playing the marshal "Lightning" Tyrone. He goes up against a vicious gang of "claim jumpers" making life miserable for miners. He makes the acquaintance of a youth who's been dubbed "The Silver Kid", played by WWII hero Audie Murphy, and decides that he can put The Kid to use as his deputy.

Although pretty average in terms of story, this is still entertaining thanks to the assured direction of Don Siegel, in the years before he'd graduated to the ranks of major A list directors. He knew how to handle action scenes, for one thing, and "The Duel at Silver Creek" is reasonably rousing at times. Overall, the filmmaking is quite capable, with top notch location work and superb creation of the classic Western look (in glorious Technicolor). You will notice that Siegel and the screenwriters don't exactly bother to keep the identities of certain villains a secret. You're also left in little doubt as to how the predictable script will unfold, so the scenario isn't about suspense, despite the fact that good guy Lightning has been badly wounded and can't handle a gun as well as he used to.

There are very fine performances by a well chosen cast: McNally, a confident young Murphy, lovely ladies Faith Domergue and Susan Cabot, Gerald Mohr, Eugene Iglesias, James Anderson, Walter Sande, Lee Marvin, George Eldredge, Griff Barnett, Harry Harvey, etc.

It's worth noting that the run time is a mere 77 minutes. It's always nice when actors and filmmakers can tell their story in a succinct manner and not drag it out any longer than necessary.

Six out of 10.