Silver Lode

The Fourth of July. Dan Ballard, a respected man in the town of Silver Lode, is about to be married. Four riders arrive during the ceremony; their leader introduces himself as a US Marshal and says he has come to arrest Ballard for murder and the theft of twenty thousand dollars. The town stands with Ballard at first. Then the hours pass and one by one they withdraw. Allan Dwan does not hide his allegory: the accuser is named McCarty. Made in 1954, in the middle of the McCarthy years, the film is about how fast an accusation without evidence dissolves a community. Whether Ballard is innocent is not the point; the point is that nobody feels the need to find out. John Payne plays Ballard, Dan Duryea the accuser, Lizabeth Scott the bride. The narrative runs close to real time. Who it's for: Viewers who like 1950s westerns, political allegory, and films about how a pile-on works. Who it's not for: The allegory is very plain and can read as didactic even to viewers not looking for subtlety. The budget is low and the sets are limited.