ridiculous rating

Absolutely amazing

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This B-movie is one that was listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it had average ratings by critics, so I questioned why it would have this kind of high recommendation, the only way to find out was to watch it. Basically in the western town of Silver Lode, Dan Ballard (John Payne) is a respected citizen, he and Rose Evans (Lizabeth Scott) are getting married. But the wedding is interrupted by four Marshal Fred McCarty (Dan Duryea) and his deputies riding into town, McCarty is an old acquaintance of Ballard, who they have come to arrest, accused of the murder of McCarty's brother, and the theft of $20,000. Ballard denies the charges and intends to do whatever it takes to gather evidence and prove himself innocent. At first the citizens of Silver Lode are on his side, but gradually they turn against him. Ballard is then accused by the townspeople of killing Sheriff Wooley (Emile Meyer), only his love Rose, and saloon girl Dolly (Dolores Moran) are left. Ballard struggles to stay out of the clutches of McCarty and the phoney lawmen, and it all comes to a head in the final showdown with a shootout breaking out in Silver Lode, but ultimately, the good guy beats the bad guys. Also starring Robert Warwick as Judge Cranston, John Hudson as Michael 'Mitch' Evans, Harry Carey Jr. as Johnson, Alan Hale Jr. as Kirk, Stuart Whitman as Wickers and Frank Sully as Paul Herbert. Payne is a slightly dull hero, Scott is alright as his fiancée, Duryea is a reasonable villain, and Moran gets her moments as the local floozy, the film is pretty much exactly the same as High Noon, on a wedding day with a final showdown, there is certainly some good photography, use of colour, costumes and the setting, all together it is a reasonable classic Western. Worth watching!

Silver Lode is directed by Allan Dwan and written by Karen DeWolf. It stars John Payne, Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea, Dolores Moran and Emile Meyer. Music is by Louis Forbes and cinematography by John Alton.Dan Ballard (Payne) is a respected resident of the town Silver Lode, but on his wedding day Marshal Fred McCarty (Duryea) rolls into town looking to arrest him, accusing him of having murdered the Marshal's brother. The townsfolk refuse to accept the charge and stand up for Dan, and Dan loudly protests his innocence, but once suspicious mud is thrown it begins to stick and soon Dan finds himself running out of friends and is forced to prove his innocence.Two things always pop up when the film Silver Lode is spoke about, one is its similarities to High Noon, the other is its veiled allegory of Senator McCarthy and his witch hunts. These are two things which are hard to ignore, though as a "British" lover of Westerns myself, the McCarthy politico aspect doesn't really resonate, but Silver Lode deserves to primarily be known for being the damn fine Western that it is.Fickle mob rule and knee jerk reactions drive Silver Lode forward, it's a thematic powder keg ignited with some skill by the prolific Dwann. Aided by the supremely talented Alton, Dwann achieves so much mood and tension from a small town set up, this is never dealing in expansive vistas, its primary goal is to suffocate Dan Ballard. Where once was freedom and love, now is a place closing in on him, with the story moving into a noir realm as Dan becomes a man whose past is proving to be inescapable, while fate, another big noir ingredient, has a big part in proceedings as events conspire to make Dan seem more of a guilty man the harder he tries to prove his innocence.It's a lean and mean screenplay, devoid of filler and characterisations are colourful. Payne makes for a good put upon hero, his Dan Ballard as written is stoic and tough, and resilience needs to be his middle name. Duryea does another in his great line of weasels, and here he is wonderfully cloaked in suspicion from the off. Tagging behind him are his three equally suspicious cohorts played by Stuart Whitman, Alan Hale Junior and Harry Carey Junior, while the upstanding town elders (Sheriff, Judge, Reverend) have time to make a mark before the fragile nature of small town justice begins to take a hold and the clock ticks down on Dan Ballard's life.Most impressive is the influence on the story of the lady characters, so often a token interest in the B Westerns of the 50s. Deftly perched on either side of Ballard, the femmes are key characters in the piece. Rose Evans (Scott) is virtuous, brightly attired in white, she's the town sweetheart who Dan is set to marry, the question is will her loyalty to Dan remain? Dolly (Moran giving the best performance in the film and getting all the best lines) is a slinky saloon gal, in purple frills and with a tongue as sharp as a scorpion's sting, she still carries a torch for the unobtainable Dan.Alton's colour photography is most appealing but we don't see the best of his work until the finale inside the town church. With clever use of light, shadows and colour enhancements, Alton is able to sum up the whole tone of the story in this segment. As for if the finale is worth the wait? It is but it's a little mischievous. Certainly it's interesting, a quirk of fate again playing a hand as two men do battle in the church bell tower. But there's a religious angle dropped into the narrative and I'm at a loss as to why that would be the case? Still, it's a very small irritant, for this is a cracker of a Western, a lesson in achieving big things from such small beginnings. 8.5/10

THE SILVER LODE is a pretty good Technicolor western from RKO. The story is good, the cast is top notch, and the photography is particularly fine. This movie is supposedly an anti-Senator McCarthy parable, and if so I'll rate it an "F" and No Stars, but the idea this is about McCarthy is nonsense.John Payne and Lizabeth Scott have their wedding interrupted by a US Marshal (named McCarty, not McCarthy) and played by dependable bad guy Dan Duryea on a charge of murder. Duryea is a fake, and it seems he's more interested in a certain $20,000 than the untimely shooting of his brother. This "parable" obviously has exactly zero to do with investigating Communist infiltration of the film industry during the Cold War Era.One of the most cowardly things a filmmaker, author or journalist can do is to attack Senator McCarthy. McCarthy was a war hero who offended Hollywood's lefties by daring to expose the many Communists in their industry --- as verified by testimony from the much-honored director Elia Kazan. They took their revenge out by attacking the man with mountain-upon-mountain of cheap shots and lies for the past 50 years; and the lies continue today.Almost any American, not just the left, many otherwise well informed people, believe the lies, if only through sheer abundance. To pile more lies on top of this is sheer cowardice -- as is the idea of re-defining this 1953 western in terms of their evil and vindictive spin.Rent this one and enjoy it for the good western that it is.

Famed Western with a magnificent John Payne and a splendid Lizabeth Scott .This exciting picture tells the story of Dan Ballard( John Payne, Allan Dwan's usual actor)a respected citizen of a little town called Silver Lode , on his wedding day he has just promised marriage a young fiancée(Lizabeth Scott)and settle down for a peaceful existence.Just when they are about to marry on July 4 ,comes a vengeful agent named McCarty (Dan Duryea) and his henchmen(Harry Carey Jr, Stuart Whitman, Alan Hale Jr). McCarthy has sworn revenge and detain to undercover gunfighter. But Ballard escapes and is only helped by a gorgeous saloon girl named Dolly(Dolores Moran).This classic western is plenty of suspense as the dreaded final showdown approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone against impossible odds as his fellow town people for help ,nobody is willing to help him but they pursue him , while he attempts to clear his name as wrongfully accused of murder . The narration is almost adjusted in real time,from the beginning,the wedding, until the ending confrontation and is approximately developed in eighty one minutes and the starring is given two hours to resolve the accusation as murderer. For that reason it results to be a ¨High Noon¨ (1954,Fred Zinnemann)variation along with a relentless allegory and criticism of HUAC black list and McCarthyst era. Ample support cast full of known secondary actors as Emile Meyer, Robert Warwick, John Dierkes, Harry Carey Jr, Stuart Whitman, Alan Hale, many of them usual in Western. Although made in low budget by the producer Benedict Bogeaus is a very efficient film and very entertaining.The picture contains an excellent cinematography by John Alton( Noir cinema's usual photographer) and appropriate musical score. This quickie is finely directed by Allan Dwan , a craftsman working from the silent cinema, but ¨Silver Lode¨ is his unqualified masterpiece. Dwan directed over 1400 films, including one-reels, between his arrival in the industry (circa 1909) and his final film in 1961. Among them some good Western as ¨ Restless breed, The rivers edge,Cattle Queen of Montana,and Montana Belle¨.