A frontier marshal doubts his own courage when three gunmen threaten his town.A frontier marshal doubts his own courage when three gunmen threaten his town.A frontier marshal doubts his own courage when three gunmen threaten his town.
Edgar Buchanan
- Will 'Bill' Dowdy
- (as Edgar Buchanon)
Lon Chaney Jr.
- John W. Harmon
- (as Lon Chaney)
Barton MacLane
- Henry 'Tiny' Longtree
- (as Barton McLane)
Robert Karnes
- Ward Blythe
- (as Bob Karnes)
Tex Holden
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- SoundtracksThe Silver Star
Composed and Sung by Jimmy Wakely
Featured review
an anti-High Noon version of a lawman in the old west
While Gary Cooper "did what a man's gotta do" in the classic High Noon, Earle Lyon (as Sheriff Greg Leach) isn't so sure he has the right stuff for the job. When three gunmen arrive in town and tell him to leave, he is forced to search for the moral courage that is the code of the west. Leach will only do the right thing when he is shamed into it by his girl and her father. This movie was scripted by Ian Mcdonald, who played the heavy, Frank Miller, in High Noon. Features a great title song by Jimmy Wakeley. A low budget classic.
UPDATE-2006 When I wrote the earlier review on this movie, I had not seen it in several decades. Now thanks to VCI Entertainment and Kit Parker it is available on a tandem DVD with Lyon and Bartlett's LONESOME TRAIL. So how did SILVER STAR hold up? Amazingly well. As a much younger person I didn't pay attention to things like production values and such, and make no mistake about it, this IS low budget fare. But what sells this little jewel is the screenplay. When SILVER STAR was filmed-1955-we had Cheyenne, Paladin, and Matt Dillion, all doing "what a man's gotta do." Fearless heroes. Here we have Earle Lyon, a newly elected sheriff, running at the first glimpse of trouble. His mentor, an old man attempts to shame him into action, and his sweetheart pleads with him to act like a man. This was pretty heavy stuff for the mid 50s! Jimmy wakely's title song holds up extremely well also, sounding much more like a folk song than a movie theme. If there is a drawback to the picture it is the conclusion...a little of the action seems muddled and the ending is somewhat inconclusive. And I still walk away from this one thinking that if the sheriff is ever faced with a similar situation, we'll have to go through all these motions again! A GREAT low budget B movie.
UPDATE-2006 When I wrote the earlier review on this movie, I had not seen it in several decades. Now thanks to VCI Entertainment and Kit Parker it is available on a tandem DVD with Lyon and Bartlett's LONESOME TRAIL. So how did SILVER STAR hold up? Amazingly well. As a much younger person I didn't pay attention to things like production values and such, and make no mistake about it, this IS low budget fare. But what sells this little jewel is the screenplay. When SILVER STAR was filmed-1955-we had Cheyenne, Paladin, and Matt Dillion, all doing "what a man's gotta do." Fearless heroes. Here we have Earle Lyon, a newly elected sheriff, running at the first glimpse of trouble. His mentor, an old man attempts to shame him into action, and his sweetheart pleads with him to act like a man. This was pretty heavy stuff for the mid 50s! Jimmy wakely's title song holds up extremely well also, sounding much more like a folk song than a movie theme. If there is a drawback to the picture it is the conclusion...a little of the action seems muddled and the ending is somewhat inconclusive. And I still walk away from this one thinking that if the sheriff is ever faced with a similar situation, we'll have to go through all these motions again! A GREAT low budget B movie.
helpful•52
- bux
- Oct 6, 1998
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Sheriff
- Filming locations
- Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA(Western town, nearby buildings & other areas of ranch)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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