This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The first must-see film of the year.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The reason that led me to watch this movie is because it's listed in the book ''The 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'', and in the end it was worth-watching!This Western follows the footsteps of ''High Noon''; here John Payne plays Dan Ballard, a man arrested by four marshals for a murder he didn't commit, and while he struggles to find the real culprit the townspeople start leaving him to his destiny. The only ones on his side are his soon-to-be-wife Rose (Lizabeth Scott) and saloon lady Dolly (Dolores Moran). The things I liked about the movie are the music and the supporting cast: Dan Duryea shines as the evil sheriff McCarthy (that was a subtle reference to Joseph McCarthy) and in the end is killed by Payne in the church of Silver Lode; Stuart Whitman, Alan Hale jr. and Harry Carey jr. are great as the sheriff's henchmen, and they were specialized in Western movies.Still a well-made Western and I liked it very much.

Some have claimed how "impossible" it is not to compare this with "High Noon". I haven't seen "Noon" in years but this film was fresh in every way. Just to think of it - here is a collaborator with D. W. Griffith who has made more films during his successful career than any ten directors combined - and many of them Westerns! He was wowing audiences with his technical know-how long before "High Noon" was a twinkling in anyone's eye. How much the villain and McCarthy have in common is more in the domain of the scriptwriter than the director, perhaps - after all, the scriptwriters got the shaft more often than anybody else during the witch hunts. This is a lively tale and it moves quickly. The colors are wonderful and the tracking shots vivid. Come to think of it, I might just prefer it. It doesn't talk itself to death, but neither do the other Dwan films I've seen over the years.Curtis Stotlar

As something original and different this is a pretty interesting movie to watch. It's a western but not one with a story that involves a typical gunslinger story or revenge plot.It's a movie in which a man who is about to get married has to defend himself in front of its town and town-folks, when he man, who claims to be an U.S. Marshall, rides into town with a warrant for his arrest and accuses him of having committed a murder. This whole story provides the movie with a different approach like you would normally expect from a western. If I have to compare it to anything else, the movie "The Ox-Bow Incident" is the one that comes the most close to it.Even though its an interesting and original approach it doesn't also mean that the movie is great throughout to watch. The movie does certainly feel a bit dated and its being a bit awkward to watch at times because its action and just the movie overall feels a bit clumsy and is cheap looking at times.The story itself also of course doesn't provide the movie with much spectacular fireworks. Not that the movie is dull or anything but at times I wished there would be some less talking and also less characters involved with the story.This movie would had most likely not cost a lot of money to make. It has an unknown director at the helm and also an unknown cast in it. Directing and acting-wise this is also not really a movie that impresses much but due to the fact that its original and different this movie still remains a perfectly good one and also interesting one to watch.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

It is impossible not to compare "Silver Lode" to "High Noon". Both start with a wedding, in both cases the main character has to fight for his life, and also in both the town people behave in a shameful way. But if in "High Noon" there was a hidden meaning in relation to McCarthism, and human behavior, nowhere in that film was it obvious. The film just told the story and left the conclusions and comparisons to the spectator. In "Silver Lode" this is not the case. To begin with Dan Duryea who is the bad guy is called McCarthy, and the whole action takes place among American flags, because I think they are commemorating the 4th of July. And this is where the film goes wrong. It cannot really make its point. In which way is Dan Duryea similar to McCarthy? And why try to make us feel that what is happening here is happening to the whole country? The story of this film is much more the particular story of a man who is facing hard moments, which no doubt can happen to anybody, than a metaphor for what is happening everywhere. And from that individual point of view the film is good entertainment. Dan Duryea is great as always, there are good action scenes, everything well handled by the efficient direction of Allan Dwan.