The Silver Bullet

Better than average little oater, thanks mainly to several offbeat touches by cult director Joseph H. Lewis. Known later for such noir classics as Gun Crazy (1949), he livens up the screen here with some good action. Note the several punches thrown at the camera that had me ducking, or the imaginative overhead angles on the barroom brawl, or the surprising stage holdup to start the movie. Such small clever touches show an engaged approach even for a matinée programmer.

The supporting cast is better than average as Silver (Brown) searches in the middle of a town election for the man who backshot his father. All he knows is the shooter has a scar on his arm. I especially like Grace Lenard's dance hall girl Queenie. She's got real personality. Also, Brown makes for a likable cowboy hero, while Knight's comedy relief doesn't annoy. All in all, it's a pleasant glimpse of the Old West as we might like it to be.

(In passing—catch songstress Nora Lou Martin. She manages some falsetto trilling the likes of which I've never heard.)