the audience applauded

A lot of fun.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

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.

"Sands of Iwo Jima" director Allan Dwan doesn't squander a single second in his suspenseful RKO western saga "Silver Lode" about an innocent man driven to prove that he has been framed for both murder and robbery. "Saga of Death Valley" scenarist Karen DeWolf thrusts the protagonist into an obstacle course of predicaments as he struggles to convince the town citizens about his inherent virtuosity. Dwan and DeWolf keep our hero jumping through hoops. About midway through the narrative, things begin to unravel for the villains. One of them is willing to tell our hero the truth about the frame-up. The filmmakers confine the same day action to the frontier town limits of Silver Lode. The citizens are celebrating the Fourth of July. The performances are all strong and the casting credible. You'll recognize several familiar faces, among them Harry Carey, Jr., Stuart Whitman, Emile Meyer, and Morris Ankrum. John Payne looks appropriately anxious as the incriminated hero, while Dan Duryea is a sinister lawman Fred McCarty who claims that our hero not only stole twentieth thousand dollars but also shot his brother in the back. As his future wife, Lizabeth Scott refuses to believe that he could be guilty of those crimes. Town sentiment starts out strongly in the hero's favor. Gradually it swings in the opposite direction. Initially, Duryea and his deputies interrupt Dan Ballard's wedding, but he has trouble getting his credentials approved. Dwan and his scenarists make "Silver Lode" into a gripping cat & mouse showdown between the hero and the villain.

In this vintage Technicolor western, a decent man relatively new to the town is accused of murder on his wedding day, the accusation leveled by a more than slightly shifty out-of-town U.S. Marshal; conflict and gunfighting ensues, involving almost everyone in town. A critic for Time Out calls this trim little Western an "unqualified masterpiece," but, even with allegorical overtones, the film fails to move much farther than the average Western of the period; compare, for instance, with those made by James Stewart and Director Anthony Mann. Silver Lode is indeed a good shoot-em-up with those allegorical overtones (the fake marshal is named McCarty and this was made in the paranoid 1950's), but John Payne looks tired, maybe even hungover most of the time, strange noir heroine Lisabeth Scott is dreadfully miscast, and only perfectly seedy Dan Duryea seems appropriately enthusiastic about his nasty task. It's not a bad afternoon in Dodge, but it's no High Noon or close to it.

A good western by Allan Dwan,much better than his exotic extravaganzas of the era ("Escape from Burma" "Pearls of the South Pacific").A transparent metaphor of the witch hunt.The villain is called McCarthy .The hero is a well-respected man,about to marry the daughter of a wealthy inhabitant.Up comes a so called US marshal,and he is accused of a crime ."We are behind you!" the incredulous people of Silver Lode say.But not for long.Without any real proof,the villain succeeds in turning the opinion round and the groom into an outcast.Only the bride and a "bad" gal working in the local saloon ,Dolly,still believe in him.Overnight,an honest man becomes the one you've got to get rid of.SPOILERS The ending climaxes the movie:the chased man takes refuge in a church (a symbol:since the Middle Ages ,such a place has been a sanctuary ,a place where even a criminal must not be arrested (remember "the hunchback of NOtre Dame").By entering the sacred place with a gun,McCarthy braves the law of God .That he can be killed by a bullet ricocheting off a bell on Independence day is ,as the priest says,a divine intervention.Like this?Try this "High Noon" Fred Zinnemann 1952