Stadt der Verdammten

"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.