Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

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

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

weezeralfalfa As others have said, this is an entertainingly complex and action-packed western. While it includes many of the cliché features of western of this era, it also includes some unusual features. In addition to the boyishly handsome Audie Murphy, we have two gorgeous gals who often are included in scenes, in Susan Cabot and Faith Domergue(pronounced Dah mure). My only complaint is that they look too much alike. The occasional reviewer gets them mixed up. It doesn't help that my DVD jacket shows Faith and Audie, technically the leads, together, whereas actually it's Susan's character(Dusty) that Audie falls for. Dusty is your stereotypical Cinderella 'low maintenance' 'good girl': pretty and undemanding, but poor, plainly dressed, and otherwise undistinguished. She's right for young Luke(Audie), but initially pines for the much older, familiar, marshal('Lightning'), who considers her too young as a potential mate. Faith, as Opal(Brown Eyes to Lightning), is your stereotypical 'bad girl': high maintenance, with an extensive collection of fancy outfits and jewelry, supported by criminal activities of one of her admirers(Rod), which she occasionally aids(like strangling a dying victim while claiming to have nurse training!) In addition to her 'brother' Rod, who is actually her partner in buying stolen mine claims, she finds a new 'boy toy' in the irreverent young show off 'Johnny Sombrero' as well as the unsuspecting marshal, to whom she serves as bait to lure him where he can be easily dispatched or reveal important info. She's marked for eventual downfall when 'Lightening' finally discovers her complicity in the recent claim jumping racket, and she feels compelled to tentatively switch sides to save her skin. she suffers the fate of Ruth Roman ,in "The Far Country", who was in a rather similar situation, romancing both the villain and hero.Meanwhile, we have complicated relationships between Lightening, Johnny Sombrero, and Audie, who reinvents himself as 'The Silver Kid', in a distinctive outfit, after being a victim of the jumper gang. Lightening suspects Johnny is behind some of the recent killings, but can't prove it. He hires the equally flashy and irreverent Silver Kid as his deputy to help protect him, his right hand being suboptimal in function from a shoulder slug. Lightening is forced to engage Johnny in a classic 'high noon' showdown. But the Silver Kid interrupts the proceedings by shooting Lightening in the trigger hand(knowing its suboptimal functionality), then taking his place. That's the second time he's saved Lightening from a potential bullet. Johnny's dying words provide a key clue to Lightening implicating Opal's involvement in the jumper gang. During the finale shootout at Silver Creek, between the gang and a large posse, Audie does his most impressive stunt. His only thought is to rescue the bound and gagged Dusty, whom he surmises is stashed in the cabin as a hostage. He makes a running dive through the glass window, and does a triple roll, before shooting the surprised guard. Between these two stunts, the relationship between Lightening and the Silver Kid sometimes deteriorates, as the Kid keeps trying to interfere in Lightening's relationship with Opal, whom he doesn't like, later to be vindicated.Although Audie is first billed, and winds up with the remaining featured girl, clearly, Stephen McNally, as Lightening, is otherwise the lead male. With Audie as his young sidekick, it's Lightening who performs the obligatory finale horse chase and shootout with the fleeing prime villain. Apparently , it was felt that Audie simply looked too small and young to make a convincing leading man in these types of westerns.As previously pointed out, the central plot of a gang who make prospectors sign over their claims, then usually shoot them, doesn't seem to make practical sense when they want to remain anonymous. To make money, they would have to work the mine or hire someone to do so, or sell the doctored claim paper to some new prospector, all of which provide means of identifying them, unless they use pseudonyms, with an intermediate claim clearance buyer(Rod), which presumably is what they did.Susan Cabot would again be featured as Audie's love interest in the subsequent western "Ride Clear of Diablo", where Audie again becomes a deputy. Despite her lack of exotic looks, she was perhaps more often cast as in Indian maiden or other exotic. She was disappointed in the shallow roles Universal gave her.The somewhat older Faith was initially featured in films thanks to the infatuation of Howard Hughes. But, he finally gave up on her after several films failed to make a splash. I thought she was charismatic in this film.Stephen McNally never made it big as an actor, lacking a distinctive look or personality. He often played villains or supporting roles. I thought he did a good job here.Presently, part of a 4 '50s westerns collection on DVD, with one film each starring Randolph Scott, Jeff Chandler and Alan Ladd

chipe For a B-Western, this film is very entertaining. I'm surprised that it is rated --as of today-- only 6.1 at IMDb. What more do they want for a B-Western?There are quite a few negatives. Worst of all are the terrible clichéd names given to all the characters: Johnny Sombrero, Rat Face, Silver Kid, Tinhorn, Lightning, etc. Worst of all was "Brown Eyes," the name McNally kept calling Domergue. Every time he called her that, my teeth would grind and my eyes would look up in disgust. ... ... ... As bad as the names are, the characters themselves were mostly one dimensional figures, but I guess you have to expect that in a B-movie. Another problem with the characters is that their relationships developed so quickly -- for example, McNally hooking up so quickly with Domergue, and Murphy so quickly agreeing to become a deputy. Finally, much of the dialog and action seemed clichéd, macho and immature, like the insults given by Marvin and Sombrero, the quickness to form a lynching party, Murphy's poker playing philosophy; almost every line in the movie was trite. And I almost forgot: Johnny Sombrero's outrageous dress, and speech, made his scenes look like a gay comedy. Murphy's black leather outfit was a hoot too. ... ... I was disappointed in some of the unbelievable plot twists, the two that I remember best are: (1) that Domergue (who genuinely loved Mohr) would lead the good guys to Mohr's hideout; she didn't have to do that; very unwise; and (2) that Johnny Sombrero would turn on (give information harmful to) Domergue (whom he loved) in his dying confession (just because she was mistaken about McNally's trigger finger health?).After all of the above, you might wonder why I liked the movie overall. The good points were; the high production values, good direction, swell color cinematography, the good actors, lots of action, and mostly that the story moved along quickly, and was quite interesting plot-wise, especially in the last third. Though some did not, I liked McNally's narration.Both McNally and Domergue impressed me with their acting and presence. Domergue's murder of the wounded outlaw was striking, never saw that before in a Western -- very nourish.

FilmFlaneur Duel At Silver Creek is a co-starring vehicle for Audie Murphy, the last of the great B-movie western stars, briskly directed by the great Don Siegel. The baby-faced Murphy, who made 46 films in 20 years before dying in a plane crash, was the most decorated soldier of World War II. (In fact the star's appearance can be taken as an ironic comment on visual stereotyping as John Wayne, who looked every inch a hero, avoided the call up entirely.) For the most part Murphy starred in second-rate vehicles with second-rate talent. A few titles have stood the test of time, such as Red Badge Of Courage (1951) or The Unforgiven (1960) both directed by Huston, or Boetticher's fine A Time For Dying (1969), also the actor's last film. By and large, however, Murphy suffered from a bland screen persona which only strong direction and casting could overcome, even if most of his vehicles remain watchable.Siegel, who went on to direct Dirty Harry (1971) and Charley Varrick (1973) was here at an early stage in his career, but had already made three or four other westerns before this one, his first in colour. Duel At Silver Creek is perhaps the most successful of those so far principally because the director is able to steer events along quickly enough to cover most of the weaknesses inherent in the script, and able to create a cast strong enough to balance out Murphy's presence. It opens as Luke Cromwell and his older partner work a gold claim, only to become the latest victims in a murderous claim-jumping racket. Luke's partner is forced to sign over the property while, after an exciting chase and shootout, Cromwell only narrowly escapes his own abrupt end. Soon he resurfaces as 'the Silver Kid', the baby faced gun-toting gambler, in a town where Marshall 'Lightning' Tyrone is also after the crooks. Chief among the suspects is Johnny Sombrero, a taunting thug who may be in league with the outlaws. The Marshall begins to develop an infatuation with the Opal Lacy (Susan Cabot), sister of the chief villain who by this time has also arrived in town. Meanwhile, handicapped by a wound, Tyrone is forced to turn to the Kid when the existing deputy is shot, and the two form an uneasy partnership.The above plot summary shows just how clichéd many of the plot points of Silver Creek are. A lot of the film reveals its B-movie origins, perhaps chief of which is the cliché of the crippled lawman. As the Marshall nurses his secret weakness, still hoping the keep the 'indian sign' over the ambitious Sombrero, the obvious irony is his reluctant need for the younger man to come to his aid. To this one might add the over-familiar dichotomy between the woman of the world (Opal) and the good girl (Dusty), the hiding of a key witness in a secret cave, as well as Silver Kid's conspicuous white handled armaments - conventions familiar to those versed in the genre. Despite these commonplace matters, Siegel still manages to turn in one or two striking scenes, such as when the sexually provocative Opal abruptly strangles a wounded man awaiting the doctor (thereby demonstrating the dead end nature of her charms) or when Pop, the original deputy, is shot and left facedown in the rain. Siegel's film has the advantage of co-starring Murphy with Stephen McNally as the Marshall and, after the opening sequence; they more or less spend equal time on screen together. McNally's maturity, both as actor and character, balances out the Kid's inexperience nicely. In particular the older actor's voice-over (a relatively unusual device in an otherwise straightforward western of this sort), places a lot of the action in context, adding an authoritative framework to somewhat flimsy proceedings. It also has the useful advantage of not requiring the Kid to explain himself too often, where a lack of gravitas would be a disadvantage. Several times explicit reference is made to the Murphy's youthful appearance, so at odds with his lethal potential. "He didn't have the face of a killer," says the Marshall on first sight of his ally-to-be, "but I noticed his hands were quick and sure." In fact the Marshall's authoritative voice-over like this, grounding events in descriptive seriousness, relates the film to a genre form that would be very familiar to contemporary viewers: the radio western. (I don't think Murphy ever did a series on air). In radio drama conventions of the period, a single male narrator frequently might 'carry' events by the force of his personality, his voice the sole source of moral judgment.Dressed in black leather, self conscious and slightly gauche, the Kid's character and his relation to a mature lawman reminds one of 'Mississippi' in Hawk's far superior El Dorado (1966), played by James Caan, or the Ricky Nelson part in the earlier Rio Bravo (1959). These later roles would be better developed, both in their relationship to the older mentor (Wayne, in both cases) as well as the moral intelligence behind a flashy rig. Set up with double guns, reserved although unnervingly assured, the Silver Kid remains two dimensional, a perception that not even his awkward romancing of Dusty can allay. Fortunately, as well as the strong role of the Marshall to distract us, there are some colourful characters further down the cast list. Notable is Johnny Sombrero (played by actor Eugene Iglesias, looking remarkably like a young Sean Penn) - as well as Tinhorn Burgess an already effective Lee Marvin, then currently working his way up through the ranks of B-heavies to future stardom.Silver Creek remains excellent entertainment, notably in the vivid DVD reincarnation that revels in a crisp colour picture with a range of vivid colours characteristic of 1950s' film stock. Incidentally, modern viewers will relish lines like (on the Marshall's damaged hand) "It's going to be kinda stiff for a while but you need to keep massaging it," as well as (on Opal's coded attractions) "Women like that are likely to a put a man's shooting iron plum out of action." Others will simply want to buy this and hark back to a less cynical period of western production when, with little psychology and angst, the biggest clue to man's intent was the size of his sombrero.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This western is full of excellent action scenes from beginning to end. The color and cinematography are outstanding. Murphy is "The Silver Kid" , a man always ready to draw his guns. Stephen McNally is the sheriff, who cannot be fast on the draw because his hand is hurt, so Audie is helping him. The brawl at the poker table between Murphy and Lee Marvin is one of the best moments. Faith Domergue as the bad girl talks exactly like Marilyn Monroe. Susan Cabot is the good girl, Gerald Mohr is the real bad guy, and Eugene Iglesias is Johnny Sombrero, a bad guy who is not so bad. Don Siegel did quite a good job here, making a very enjoyable film, which together with "The Cimarron Kid" and "Ride Clear of Diablo" are Murphy's best westerns.