He directed the Academy Award-winning western comedy Cat Ballou (1965), and other films including The Happening (1967), A Man Called Horse (1970), Nightmare Honeymoon (1974), and The Car (1977).
The other Silverstein films, in chronological order, are The Happening, A Man Called Horse, Nightmare Honeymoon, The Car, and Flashfire.
Other work included directing for the television shows The Twilight Zone, The Nurses, Picket Fences, and Tales from the Crypt.
[4] In 1966, he was nominated for the DGA Award in the category for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Cat Ballou).
In 1971, he won the Bronze Wrangler award at the Western Heritage Awards in the category of Theatrical Motion Picture for A Man Called Horse, along with producer Sandy Howard, writer Jack DeWitt, and actors Judith Anderson, Jean Gascon, Corinna Tsopei and Richard Harris.