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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.

A band of claim jumpers assault humble proprietaries , gaining ownership of undermanned mining operations and killing anyone who gets in their way including the family of Silver Kid : Audie Murphy . Later on, Kid seeks vendetta and sets out in pursuit the murderers , as arriving in Silver City he befriends the local sheriff nicknamed Lightning : Stephen McNally . Then Silver Kid is deputized by the marshal to help him to track down the assailant group and to discover who murdered his former deputy . Along the way, the sheriff falls for a stranger female arriving in the town, who may not be healthy for him , she is called Opal Lacy : Fay Domergue ; while Kid romances the charming Susan Cabot . Gun against gun for the rule of the town¡ .

This is an exciting Western with thrills , frantic action, go riding , crosses and double-crosses, and, of course , there are lots of shootouts. Here Stephen McNally is the real starring more than Audie Murphy. Both protagonists form an uneasy alliance against the outlaws who are infesting the territory through extortion , violent robbing and leaving no live witnesses . Stephen is acceptable as the tough sheriff who bears a wounded hand , though his role is supported by an unnecessary voice-in-off explaining the happenings . While quick-drawing Audie Murphy plays a nimble and swift gunrunner who seeks vengeance against those killed his father. Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WWII , and subsequently starred his self-biography : ¨To hell and back¨ and other wartime movies : ¨War is hell¨, ¨Battle of bloody beach¨ . Murphy played a lot of Westerns as ¨Texas Kid¨, ¨40 guns to Apache Pass¨, ¨The red badge of courage¨, ¨Guns of Fort Petticoat¨, ¨The unforgiven¨, ¨Arizona raiders¨, ¨Night passage¨, ¨Apache rifles¨, ¨Cimarron Kid¨, ¨The legend of Billy Kid¨, ¨Posse from hell¨, ¨Sierra¨, ¨Legend of Sam Guard¨ . Although he also performed in others genres in ¨The bad boy¨, ¨Joe Butterfly¨, and the considered to be his best one : ¨The quiet man¨. Both of them are accompanied by two gorgeous girls , the femme fatale Fay Domergue and the beautiful young Susan Cabot . Support cast is frankly excellent , such as : Lee Marvin, Walter Sande, James Anderson, Eugene Iglesias and Gerald Mohr.

It contains a luminous cinematography in brilliant technicolor by Irving Glassberg. As well as thrilling and stirring musical score by uncredited Herman Stein and Hans J. Salter . Being financed in budget enough by the important producers as Leonard Goldstein and Ross Hunter. This picture Duel at Silver Creek was professionally directed by Don -Donald- Siegel. At his beginning he made Westerns and Noir Films as ¨Private hell 36¨, ¨The verdict¨ , ¨The big steal¨ , ¨Baby Face Nelson¨. Then, he directed Clint Eastwood in notorious films as ¨The beguiled¨, ¨Coogan's bluff¨,¨Two mules and sister Sarah¨, ¨Escape Alcatraz¨. Directing successful thrillers as ¨Madigan¨, ¨Charly Varrick¨. Finally, he directed failed films as ¨Rough cut¨ and ¨Black Jack¨, as well as TV episodes until his death.

A small western town is surrounded by small mines and areas of land run by their owners. A gang of claim jumpers are forcing the owners to sign their claims over to them but then kill them anyway. When Marshall 'Lightning' Tyrone takes a party after the gang he leaves old timer Dan Music as Deputy of the town. Having failed to find the gang, Lightning returns to find to find that Music has been murdered (shot in the back). Lightning sets out to get to the bottom of the murder and has several suspects already before the deceitful Opal Lacy points him towards Luke Cromwell, known as the Silver Kid. Whenever the Kid proves it could not have been him, Lightning takes him on as a deputy.

I came to this film on the basis of it being Don Siegel's first western and the first film he made in colour. The plot is pretty basic and doesn't live up to the suggestions of the opening – instead becoming rather focused on the actions of a few characters. As such, it works on a B movie level and that is pretty much what I expected it to do. This focused plot is improved by a good range of fun characters – with fancy names and exaggerated characters to match: the tough broad, the kid, the tough sheriff, the old coot etc. All the clichés are here but they are delivered with a slight sense of fun that helps it move smoothly. The colour is good and Siegel's direction is solid enough (although he would do much better later).

Despite top billing on imdb going to Murphy, the real lead here is McNally and he does it well. His sheriff is tough, friendly and it is him we care about when the final shoot out comes. Murphy is good but his character has less meat on it and he has therefore less to do that really sticks in the mind. Domergue is given a good character and she convinces as a sort of Western femme fatale. Cabot has a much more standard role and is less interesting as a result. Aside from Domergue the 'baddies' are fairly unmemorable; when the film started they were tough and violent but eventually we are presented Mohr's words in place of this and it really isn't enough for a fun B-movie.

Despite it's obvious flaws this is a really good fun B-movie western and you'll like it if you view it as such. The plot is basic but enjoyable with plenty of likable characters who are as bright as the Technicolor they are presented in. Siegel's first western is a fun film and should be enjoyed as such – it's far from his best and fans may only come to it because of the significance in his career but it is worth seeing if you're in the mood for this type of film.

The Duel at Silver Creek is directed by Don Siegel and co-written by Gerald Drayson Adams and Joseph Hoffman. It stars Audie Murphy, Stephen McNally, Faith Domergue, Susan Cabot and Gerald Mohr. It's a Technicolor production with Irving Glassberg the cinematographer. The music is scored by Hans J. Salter (director Joseph Gershenson) and location for the shoot was spread over four California locations; Ranches Ray Corrigan, Janss Conejo, Iverson and at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park.

A gang of crooks are murdering miners for their gold claims. Luke Cromwell (Murphy) loses his father to the gang and quickly reinvents himself as a gambling gunslinger known as The Silver Kid. Down in Silver City, Marshal Lightning Tyrone (McNally) is determined to bring to justice the claim jumping murderers. But he has a problem, his trigger finger is inoperative after he was shot, thus he can't let the bad guys know he is no longer "Lightning" on the trigger. After witnessing some of The Silver Kid's handy work, Tyrone hires him as a deputy to watch his back as he sets about weeding out the bad in Silver City. Luke is only too happy to help, he wants vengeance for his father's murder. But two ladies in town are to have a big impact on both of their lives, the question is if both men can finally achieve their goals without further loss of life.

Brisk,colourful and highly entertaining Western fare for the undemanding matinée crowd. Forget all hopes of depth and intricate characterisations and expect an action packed shoot em' up instead. Siegel would go on to much bigger things and leave a lasting mark in cinema, here he makes a standard screenplay ping with excitement whilst getting spirited performances out of the cast. One look at the character names gives you a clue to what sort of Western this is: The Silver Kid, Lightning Tyrone, Opal Lacy, Johnny Sombrero, Rat Face Blake, Pop Muzik, Tinhorn Burgess (Lee Marvin in his first credited big screen outing) & Jane Dusty Fargo. Wonderful. Throw in some lovely scenery, Domergue's explosive costumes and the nice pairing of McNally & Murphy, and it's a film that's hard to dislike. Hey! It even comes with a film noir like narration as well.

Don't dwell too long on the dialogue and simplicity of it all, just enjoy it for what it is. Good fun. 7/10