La campana ha suonato

Released in 1954 - Silver Lode stands tall as a pretty decent Western in its own right. True. Its familiar story can easily be compared to "High Noon" in many ways, but, nevertheless, it is an entertaining cowboy flick, all the same.

Filmed with the obvious restrictions of its B-movie budget, this vintage, Technicolor Western tells the tale of Dan Ballard, a decent man (relatively new to town) who (on his wedding day, which also happens to be the 4th of July) finds himself being accused of cold-blooded murder and the theft of $20,000.

This unjust accusation is leveled at Ballard by Marshal McCarty, a very mean and forceful lawman, who unexpectedly arrives in town from Discovery, California, in the company of his 3 rough-looking deputies.

Needless to say, an intense conflict takes place that quickly escalates into an all-out gunfight which has almost every able-bodied man in town involved (and even some of the women).

With his life now hanging delicately in the balance, Ballard soon finds himself a hunted man in his own hometown. A vicious, mindless mob-mentality takes over as the citizens of Silver Lode pursue Ballard with a blind, hateful vengeance.

Silver Lode was a film that was very much a product of its time. It was produced during the "McCarthy" era, when film producers, writers and actors were called to account during a (literal) political witch hunt.

This film's screenplay reflects the concerns of the American people of that time in regards to matters such as truth and liberty in what they believed to be a free society.

With a running time of only 80 minutes, Silver Lode moved along at a really good clip. Its cast included John Payne, Dan Duryea, Harry Carey Jr., and Lizabeth Scott.

"Silver Lode" has long been labeled as an anti-McCarthy western and has also been compared to "High Noon" (1952). The McCarthy witch hunt for communists in the motion picture business was in the headlines at the time this film was made. The persecution of the hero was said to be a thinly veiled protest of Senator Joseph McCarthy's persecution of the entertainment industry.

All that aside, "Silver Lode" stands as a pretty good western in its own right. True, the story can be compared to "High Noon" however, it is nevertheless an entertaining movie by itself.

Dan Ballard (John Payne) and Rose Evans (Lizabeth Scott) are about to be married when Marshal Ned McCart (Dan Duryea) and his three deputies (Alan Hale Jr, Harry Carey Jr., Stuart Whitman) ride into town looking for Ballard. McCart accuses Ballard of having murdered his brother and has come to arrest him and "take him back". At first the townspeople are on Ballard's side but gradually they turn against him especially when they believe that he has killed the town sheriff (Emile Meyer). Ballard then has to prove his innocence and expose McCart for the person he really is.

In addition to those mentioned above, there is an impressive list of familiar faces in the supporting cast. Dolores Morin plays saloon girl Dolly, Robert Warwick plays Judge Cranston, Hugh Sanders, the Reverend, Morris Ankrum, Scott's father, John Hudson her brother, Roy Gordon the town doctor and Myron Healey, Lane Chandler, John Dierkes, Gene Roth and I.Stanford Jolley as various townspeople.

Director Alan Dwan keeps the story moving and provides us with some good action scenes. And believe it or not there's not one fist fight in the entire movie.

Forget about the comparisons with McCarthyism and "High Noon" and sit back and enjoy an entertaining western.

Dan Duryea is the reason I decided to watch this western and he is wonderful but far from the only reason I rate the movie an 8. The action starts with Dan and three other riders (Harry Carey Jr and Alan Hale Jr for gosh sakes... you know you're in for a good time) riding into the town of Silver Lode on forth of July. They're looking for the man named "Dan Ballard" but everyone they ask gives them the cold shoulder, one remarks they know a gunfighter when they see one. Turns out Dan is a federal marshal named Ned McCarty (other reviews have noted the McCarthy similarity and I agree with them on that) come to take Ballard -- solidly played by John Payne -- prisoner back to California for a murder rap. The victim is, it turns out, McCarty's brother and there is also a matter of $20,000 stolen at the same time.

At first the town's people are solidly behind Ballard but gradually they come around to bow McCarty's assumed authority and turn against Ballard. This is done rather well, not nearly as heavy handedly as might be. Many reviewers have noted the similarity to "High Noon", it's sort of a "High Noon" in reverse. While that's mighty high company the comparison is not out of line and the wonderful direction of Allan Dwan makes up for the lower production values. This is a good story, well made and worth looking for.

Federal Marshal Dan Duryea arrives in the town of Silver Lode with three deputies to arrest one of its citizens, John Payne, on a charge of murder. As things start to happen, Payne who at first has the whole town behind him, loses all his friends save for fiancé Lizabeth Scott and former girl friend Dolores Moran who works in the saloon. By the way, Duryea arrives on the 4th of July which was also to be Payne's wedding day.

This is a classic version of the ill effects of mob violence. Some have said it's a polemic against McCarthyism, no doubt helped by the fact that Duryea's character name is McCarty. For myself Silver Lode is in the tradition of The Oxbow Incident and Fury, both classic films from major studios about vigilante justice.

Silver Lode doesn't have the production values that 20th Century Fox or MGM could bring to a movie, it was done by RKO. Nevertheless supporting Payne, Duryea, and Scott are a solid cast of players, very much at home in westerns. This was also Dolores Moran's last film, she was married to producer Benedict Bogeaus.

Payne had already essayed a very good role in Kansas City Confidential of a wrongly accused man and he follows it up here with an equally good portrayal. It's one of his best film parts.

Allan Dwan keeps things moving at a brisk pace, Silver Lode doesn't bog down for a fraction of a second. One of the best B westerns ever done.

I must admit here and now that I have not seen this film. However, in my research of such B-Westerns, I found that this film was originally shot in 3-D. That has not been mentioned anywhere.

Perhaps the IMDb crew can investigate and make the appropriate notation wherever it is that such notations are made.

I certainly would like to see this film, as it appears to have an interesting cast... John Payne, Dan Duryea, and Lizabeth Scott usually do good work, and the other reviews have generally been positive.

From the reviews, this could perhaps be one of the best 3-D movies made during the 3-D movie craze in the early 1950's... Hondo being another one that could be better.