7/10
A western AND a coming of age story rolled into one.
31 May 2021
"The Silver Whip" has a very good cast for a western. Rory Calhoun, Dale Robertson and a very young Robert Wagner star in this one.

Jess (Wagner) is very young but capable...so much so that Race (Robertson) recommends the stage company hire him to be their driver. But on his first run, the stage coach wanders into an ambush. Race yells at Jess to leave him behind to fight off the bandits but Jess refuses and stays to help. In the process, Jess gets himself shot (not badly) but his passengers are killed. Later, when he returns to town, Jess is fired for not listening to Race and not leaving with the coach.

Following this robbery, Race sticks behind and tracks the band of killers...all on his own. Jess goes back to town and after being fired, he's hired by the Sheriff (Calhoun) to be his deputy. Obviously Sheriff Davisson still has confidence in the young guy. Soon, the Sheriff and Deputy set out to find Race and the killers. What's next? See the film.

There's nothing great about this film but the script has some original ideas AND the acting is quite nice. After all, while not exactly A-listers, Robertson and Calhoun made some mighty good westerns during the 50s....and Wagner was just fine in one of his earliest roles. Overall, if you like westerns, you're bound to like this one...and seeing Jess grow and change through the course of the story was quite nice as well.
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