SILVER

Allan Dwan's action-packed 1954 Western plays like an allegory of McCarthyism, with Dan Duryea's former rustler turned U.S. Marshal — not by accident, named McCarty — relentlessly pursuing revenge on Nevada rancher Dan Ballard (John Payne) for the alleged murder of McCarty's brother two years earlier in California, and theft of $20,000. Putting his planned July 4 wedding to fiancée Rose Evans (Lizabeth Scott) on hold, Dan must quickly move to clear his name, but will the town's institutions — the sheriff, the judge, the church — save him? Especially after the wily McCarty, who has been trading in lies, deputizes all the townspeople in a door-to-door manhunt for his quarry. Dan's fate hinges on an urgent telegram sent to the authorities back in California, delayed by sabotage to the telegraph line, and only the quick-thinking intervention of Rose, joining forces with Dan's former lover, saloon dancer Dolly (Dolores Moran), will determine if he lives or dies. DIR Allan Dwan; SCR Karen DeWolf; PROD Benedict Bogeaus. U.S., 1954, color, 81 min. NOT RATED

35mm print courtesy of the George Eastman Museum, lent by an anonymous collector.

AFI Member passes accepted.