The Silver Star

If you have seen Joseph Pevney's THE PLUNDERERS, starring a terrific Jeff Chandler, you'll find many similarities with this one, where a sheriff is alone against a bunch of hoodlums. In the Pevney's film, Chandler was a war vet and one armed guy; here the sheriff is an actor whom I have never heard of nor seen anywhere before, and that's very surprising. He has to face and fight against outlaws, show his courage. This is a pretty cute western, full of charm, as the other films from Richard Bartlett as a director. Some kind of personal touch that I appreciate. Try it please, you'll won't regret it.

This film essentially begins with a young man by the name of "Gregg Leach" (Earle Lyon) accepting the position of town sheriff which a colleague named "Will 'Bill' Dowdy" (Edgar Buchanan) had strongly urged him to accept. Likewise, his fiancé "Karen Childress" (Marie Windsor) also talked him into accepting that position even though she knew his heart wasn't really into it. Unfortunately, not long after accepting the position, three cowboys ride into town and upon entering the saloon, tell everyone that they are there to kill him. Naturally, realizing that the odds are not with him, Sheriff Leach is alarmed to learn that everybody there--to include his fiancé--fully expects him to simply go to the saloon and disarm all three by himself. Even worse, they consider his concern about the odds being against him as cowardice. Meanwhile, the longer he hesitates the worse those 3 cowboys behave. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film reminded me of the dilemma that Gary Cooper (as "Marshal Will Kane") faced in the movie "High Noon." The main difference being that the local people were urging Marshal Kane to leave town, while in this film they were expecting Sheriff Leach to directly confront the troublemakers--in spite of the fact that the odds were clearly stacked against him. Begging the question of why Sheriff Leach would even want someone like Karen Childress as his wife considering her complete lack of concern about his safety. Be that as it may, although this particular movie wasn't nearly as good as "High Noon", I suppose it still passed the time fairly well and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

There is a lot going on in this little low budget western drama, and there is absolutely NO WASTE OF TALENT! Lyon plays the sheriff, who's father and grandfather were both gunned down while wearing a badge. It seems that he has just taken over from Buchanan, who has let a lot slide during the 15 years he was wearing the badge.

I think that many viewers, especially immature ones, will have a tough time with this tale...it deals with the fear of cowardice. All men and women experience it at some time, however it is not considered macho to talk about it, hence we have more movies with Cooper and Wayne portraying the fearless, card board cut-out protagonist, rather than real life characters.

The scene where Windsor and Buchanan berate and grind Lyon into action is unforgettable.

The movie could have benefited from a more rugged realistic conclusion, however after all these years, this one remains a minor classic.

The Silver Star is one of that slew of westerns that came out after High Noon about the job of a sheriff and the responsibilities and risks that go with it. Although done on a C picture budget The Silver Star is not a bad film with a nice ensemble cast brought together by producer/directors Earle Lyon and Richard Bartlett who also star in the film as the hero and one of three gunfighters looking to take him out.

Old sheriff Edgar Buchanan has retired and the town mostly on his say so has chosen young Lyon who has a law enforcement pedigree from his father and grandfather gets the job over Lon Chaney, Jr. who ran against him. Then three killers headed by Bartlett ride into town and plant themselves in Morris Ankrum's and Marie Windsor's saloon and said they're here to kill the sheriff whom they've never met.

Poor Lyon just doesn't feel he's up to a job that killed both his father and grandfather and it takes a lot to prod him into action. But when the action does come it's explosive.

In the tradition of High Noon which had a former movie cowboy and country/western singer Tex Ritter do the immortal ballad associated with the film, The Silver Star has Jimmy Wakely singing the title song which serves the same function as Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling. The song moves the story narrative along quite nicely.

Although this kind of stuff was being seen on the small screen more than the big by this time, The Silver Star is a nice no frills B western like they don't make any more.

Although this nifty little western drama is seldom available for viewing, it remains as one of the better western character studies of the 50s. Perhaps the lack of action, and the stark reality of the picture account for the poor reviews it received upon it's release, however, in hindsight, it remains one of the better "High Noon" inspired quickies, and is perhaps in some respects even better than it's insparation. Lyon shows signs of real acting brilliance as the cowardly Sheriff, only willing to fight when he is shamed into it. The great title song by Wakely is unforgettable.