Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Paramount

Video: Olive Films

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:31:00.455

Disc Size: 15,824,088,125 bytes

Feature Size: 15,696,334,848 bytes

Video Bitrate: 21.00 Mbps

Chapters: 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: May 29th, 2012

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 850 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 850 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

• None

 

Extras:

• None

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Between 1951 and 1952, director Byron Haskin (Robinson Crusoe on Mars) and star Edmond O'Brien (The Wild Bunch) collaborated for three westerns. In Silver City, O'Brien plays a mining expert, Larkin Moffatt, who decides to protect mining prospectors, Dutch (Edgar Buchanan) and his daughter Candace (Yvonne De Carlo) from greedy claim-jumper, R.R. Jarboe (Barry Fitzgerald) and his henchman, Bill Taff (Michael Moore). The excellent cast includes Richard Arlen and Laura Elliott.

 

 

The Film:

An excellent cast brings distinction to the pedestrian goings-on in Silver City. Per its title, the film is set in silver-mining country, with hopeful prospectors and greedy claim-jumpers abounding. The villain of the piece is miserly R. R. Jarboe (Barry Fitzgerald), who holds the lease on the silver lode worked by heroine Candace Surrency (Yvonne De Carlo) and her father Dutch (Edgar Buchanan). Meanwhile, mining expert Larkin Moffatt (Edmond O'Brien) is prevented from finding work by the vengeful Charles Storrs (Richard Arlen), who happens to be Candace's boyfriend. Murder rears its ugly head, resulting in all sorts of skullduggery, culminating in true melodramatic fashion in an old sawmill. The "bad girl" in Silver City is played by Laura Elliot, who later changed her name to Kasey Rogers and essayed the benign role of Mrs. Larry Tate on TV's Bewitched.

Excerpt from AllMovie.com located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Silver City has a modest Blu-ray transfer from Olive Films. This looks better than the simultaneously-released western Denver and Rio Grande also from Olive. I suspect they are at the mercy of the source and this appears to be another 'straight' transfer. The black levels are acceptable - if not stellar. Details rises in close-ups and there is a film-like, pleasing, thickness. Colors are passive but tight. It is single-layered without any depth but I would think its a fair representation of the original via 1080P. There are some speckles but no notable damage marks.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Another modest mono track in uncompressed. Like Denver and Rio Grande Paul Sawtell provides the western-based score. Clean, clear and flat as a pancake. There are no subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

No supplements - not even a trailer which is the bare-bones route that Olive are going with their releases.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Another middling but adventurous western from Olive Films. Not 'A'-material but I found it enjoyable in a 'Louis L'Amour' kind of way. The positives are Yvonne De Carlo and a well-crafted story at Haskin's helm. What can I say? - if you are in the mood for a 50's western - Silver City should suffice. You could do worse although the price seems steep for a bare-bones release.  

Gary Tooze

May 17th, 2012