The Silver Whip tells the story of Race Crim (Dale Robertson), a driver for a stage coach company's main line, transporting valuable goods, like thousands of dollars in gold dust, from one location to another, often in secret. Jess Harker (Robert Wagner) wants to do the same thing (and idolizes Race) but the company doesn't think he's ready. The local sheriff, Tom Davisson (Rory Calhoun), doesn't think he's up to it either. For that matter, he doesn't think he's up to anything yet, as he still views him as young, brash, and disrespectful of the law. But when Jess finally gets his chance, transporting said gold dust, Race is happy to have him along and even buys him a silver whip to take the reins.
Before they ride out, they are both given specific instructions on where to go, when to leave, and what time to arrive. If anyone knows about the shipment, they could get killed. Along for the ride (though inexplicably considering the danger) are two passengers and one of them is Waco (Lola Albright), the love of Race's life. As might be expected with such a portentous setup, they are indeed ambushed and Race begins to fire on the ambushers from the ground. The procedure is for the second man, Race, to provide cover while the driver, Jess, flees with the cargo. Race tells him to do exactly that but, of course, Jess doesn't listen. He picks up his rifle and begins firing, only to be shot and unable to drive the stagecoach away. The loot is sacked, the passengers dead, and Jess is disgraced. From there, both Jess and Race seek revenge while the sheriff pursues the outlaws.
Rory Calhoun was the star of the movie and had already established himself as one of the leading men of the B-Western. But it was his two co-leads that were the real focus of the film. Both Robert Wagner and Dale Robertson had gotten their first breaks in the movies around the same time and both were rising stars in 1953. Robertson even got top billing over the more experienced and famous Calhoun. But it was Wagner, most of all, that the studio was trying to groom for super-stardom. Only 23 at the time, Wagner had gained some attention and was looking to make a big splash, if only the studio would let him.
Unfortunately for Wagner, the way studios groomed stars was often counter to their needs. The future stars would have to prove themselves first in smaller pictures before being given a big budget production. The problem was, sometimes those smaller movies never caught fire because the studios didn't push them nearly as hard as they did with their prestige works. As a result, Wagner's movies never quite hit the level of success necessary for him to move up the ladder. He did well enough but it wasn't until television came along that he finally became a superstar, having no less than three hit series. Robertson and Calhoun, too, became big on television in the fifties and sixties.
The director of The Silver Whip, Harmon Jones, began his career as an editor and was hailed by insiders as one of the best in the business. When he turned his attention to directing, instead of the prestige productions he worked on as an editor, he was forced to take every quickie the studio threw his way. Eventually, like Wagner, Robertson, and Calhoun, he would turn to tv for true success.
Which brings us back to Lasky. His success in film continued and carried over into television as well. He adapted The Silver Whip from the book, First Blood, by Jack Schaefer (who also wrote Shane) and probably made it a lot better than the studio had intended, or cared. But Lasky cared, and whether it was a history making epic, like The Ten Commandments, or a small western about revenge, like The Silver Whip, he put his all into it. When he died, the New York Times headline of his obituary said it all: "Jesse Lasky; Was a Screenwriter."
Director: Harmon Jones
Producer: Michael Abel, Robert Bassler
Writer: Jesse L. Lasky
Film Editor: George A. Gittens
Music: Lionel Newman
Art Direction: Chester Gore, Lyle Wheeler
Cinematographer: Lloyd Ahern, Sr
Costumes: Edward Stevenson
Cast: Race Crimm (Dale Robertson), Tom Davisson (Rory Calhoun), Jess Harker (Robert Wagner), Kathy Riley (Kathleen Crowley), Luke Bowen (James Millican), Waco (Lola Albright), Slater (John Kellogg)
by Greg Ferrara
