The Duel at Silver Creek

• Directed by Don Siegel
• August 1, 1952 (NYC) / August 2, 1952 (Los Angeles) / September 5, 1952 (US)

Two men form an uneasy alliance against a gang of claim jumpers terrorizing the area.

Claim jumpers and someone seeking revenge on them are two pretty well worn story basics of the B-Western. Nothing wrong with that so long as you make it entertaining. The Duel at Silver Creek is less about a duel or claim jumpin’ varmints and more about a wounded sheriff bluffing until he can deal with the immediate issue. This is not the earliest of films by Don Siegel but his style and skill though a bit rough is clearly noticeable.

Audie Murphy as Luke ‘The Silver Kid’ Cromwell is not necessarily the main character, but he is a significant character. Luke is dangerous but not evil. He’s not even dark. He’s just a tough man who makes his living at poker. Moments here and there demonstrate the character is intelligent and observant. In a rather casual line he communicates to the audience and maybe even the sheriff that he knows the sheriff needs him more than he needs the sheriff. It is not in a jerky way but that of one man who understands the seriousness of the situation.

The main protagonist is Stephen McNally as Marshal ‘Lightning’ Tyrone (a great many nicknames in this movie) who is wounded at the start while dealing with the aforementioned claim jumpers. There is some nice tension as the sheriff must fake still being able to draw a gun and bluffs his way through based on his reputation. His association with The Silver Kid is because he knows he will need somebody that can shoot and The Kid is willing to help for his own reasons.

Opal Lacey (Faith Domergue) is a dangerous charmer connected to the claim jumpers that meets the sheriff while he is convalescing. How dangerous? She kills a survivor of one of their attacks brought to the fort before he can talk. A nice dark twist that I’m sure audiences at the time didn’t see coming. An attractive and sweet woman he turns out to be willing to murder.

There is an attempt in The Duel at Silver Creek for a weak love triangle with Marshal Tyrone, Opal, and local tomboy Jane ‘Dusty’ Fargo (Susan Cabot). Dusty has been mooing over Tyrone since she was a wee lass, but he has been oblivious to this sure thing. The Kid notices though. It could’ve been a little better done. Then again Don Siegel is not known for his romance films. Opal is no minor window dressing. Nor is Dusty. Both are capable female characters with the evil woman being a bit of a plotter while the gal pal is a woman of action.

The marshal ends the movie single while The Kid ‘falls’ in love with Dusty. Basically his pitch comes down to “He’s not interested in you, but I am!” That’s enough for true love to blossom. Really. That’s it. The more I think about it the funnier it gets! Kids loved Westerns in the day and my guess is that simplicity helped placate parents that brought their children.

You will notice the great Lee Marvin in a supporting role as local jerk ‘Tinhorn’ Burgess who along with the sombrero wearing Johnny Sombrero (Eugene Iglesias) causes local problems though the main threat is Opal’s husband posing as her brother Rod Lacey (Gerald Mohr). I say main threat because he barks the orders but Opal is much more the brains of the operation.

There was a need to keep things short in The Duel at Silver Creek because of budget. As such it uses narration to get over story humps that would otherwise be done with dialogue and pricey footage. A bit bothersome as it can often weaken characterization.

I think The Duel at Silver Creek could’ve been a slightly better movie if it had been more of a mystery on exactly who the claim jumpers were. Rather than knowing right off the bat what they look like, confuse things a little bit. It needed some time to build the two key relationships that drove the two men to seek justice.

Maybe there was some kind of copyright issue or maybe ‘duel’ sounded better than ‘gunfight’ but it’s much more of a gunfight than it is a duel. When there is gunplay it is generally straight up assassination sniping if you will. You would think a duel would be the climax but it is not.

I can’t say The Duel at Silver Creek is a terrible movie. It’s entertaining enough though I think some of the plot elements could’ve been better handled. Very enjoyable for fans of classic Westerns.