The Duel At Silver Creek, with Audie Murphy (1952)

The Duel At Silver Creek, with Audie Murphy (1952) Jul 2, 2018 18:33:40 GMT

Quote

Post by mikef6 on Jul 2, 2018 18:33:40 GMT

The Duel At Silver Creek / Don Siegel (1952). First color film and western for Siegel. Early film for Murphy but top billed. The film opens with an action scene as we see a troop of outlaw claim jumpers, led by Gerald Mohr, forcing miners to sign over their claims and then be killed. When they invade the claim owned by Audie Murphy and his father, they make the mistakes of killing the father but failing to off the son. Murphy dedicates himself to their extinction. I may have been watching too many film noirs lately, but just as soon as Faith Domergue appears, posing as a nurse, and strangles a wounded miner to death, I immediately thought: femme fatale. And so she is. The law in the town of Silver Creek is represented by Marshal Lightning Tyrone (Stephen McNally). When Domergue (who is working with the claim jumpers, duh) put moves on him, he tumbles in about 15 seconds. He starts calling her Brown Eyes (which I assume refer to the brown eyes in her face) and can’t wait to start snuggling. By this time, Murphy has become his deputy. His job is to watch Lightning’s back but when he becomes suspicious of Domergue, he gets on the wrong side of the Marshal. This is an OK oater, filmed in Technicolor (as so many ‘50s westerns were), but in the standard 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The first widescreen release would not come for another year. As always, Murphy’s limitations as an actor are overcome by his boyish looks, calm demeanor, winning personality, and love from the camera. Speaking of his boyish looks: watch out for Lee Marvin as a tough hombre who, irritated that Murphy keeps winning at poker, starts to ride him.

Marvin: When are you going to start shaving?
Murphy: When you learn to play poker.

B-movie vet Susan Cabot is the tomboy girl with a Thing for Lightning, but Murphy has eyes for her, too. Cabot appeared in several Audie Murphy westerns.

Murphy, Cabot, and McNally

Faith Domergue: all dressed up and about to be exposed as a murderer

Audie Murphy, out-quipping Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin as Tinhorn Burgess

The Duel At Silver Creek, with Audie Murphy (1952) Sept 22, 2018 18:24:55 GMT mikef6 likes this

Quote

Post by hitchcockthelegend on Sept 22, 2018 18:24:55 GMT

www.imdb.com/title/tt0044573/reference

I like it enough, well above average >

Besides, how to handle a six-gun and poker is all I know.

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. 6.5/10