The Violent Men (1955)

There have been a handful of psychological westerns made over the years, from 1947's "Pursued" and long past 1950's "The Furies", the best of these, in which Barbara Stanwyck played the hopeful heiress to her father's legacy. Now, Stanwyck is the wife of a wealthy rancher (Edward G. Robinson), a crippled man she despises. If you thought Stanwyck was ruthless in "Double Indemnity" (getting rid of a hated husband who also happened to be on crutches), just wait until you see what she does here to Robinson who ironically caught onto her schemes as the evil Phyllis Diedrickson. The storyline surrounds Robinson's battles with civil war veteran Glenn Ford who becomes engaged in the battle between him and the smaller ranches in the area. This leads to scandalous revelations of the back-biting in Robinson's family, one similar to an epic western of the previous year, "Broken Lance", itself an altered version of a story Robinson had once starred in called "House of Strangers".Ford may have top billing here, but it is the exciting women of the story who dominate here-Robinson's daughter from a first marriage (Dianne Foster), a Mexican girl (Lita Milan) who is Stanwyck's rival for the love of the ruthless Brian Keith, and of course, Stanwyck herself, who of all the leading ladies in Hollywood history was the most at home while on the range. Stanwyck is as far here from her tough but kindly "Big Valley" matriarch as possible, and even more ruthless than she was in "The Furies". Tensions build here as the ranchers war escalates and that also includes the hatred between the various women involved in the plot.Outstanding color photography make this a must for being seen on a big screen. It is beautiful to look at, and it is also filled with passions which if scorned can lead to violence. This may not be epic in scope, but it certainly is in characterization and emotions, which makes for an exciting trip into the old west which was certainly much more than just cattle, Indians and bandits.

Highly watchable Western from a Donald Hamilton novel about confrontation between cattlemen and homesteaders . The picture gets action Western , shootouts , wonderful outdoors and is quite entertaining . It deals with a Union ex-soldier named John Parrish (Glenn Ford) schemes to sell up to Anchor Ranch and move east with his fiancée , but the low price offered by a wealthy rancher makes him think again . Glenn Ford/Parrish is the brave ex-officer , he is fighting to stifle the conflicts between homesteaders and cattleman who hire gunfighters (Richard Jaeckel). When one of his hands is killed he decides to stay and fight, utilising his war experience. The unscrupulous owner named Lew Wilkison (Edward G Robinson in conflict with good folk of the valley and plans rules over the lands . Not all is well at Anchor with the owner's wife carrying on with his brother (Brian Keith) who anyway has a Mexican moll (Lita Milan) in town . Meanwhile Parrish develops a loving triangle between his fiancée (May Wynn) and a good girl (Dianne Foster)Enjoyable Western packs drama , thrills , go riding and some moving action sequences . It's a medium budget film with good actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . Good performances from Glenn Ford as obstinate war veteran , Edward Robinson as a crippled owner and Barbara Stanwick as his wife . 'Edward G. Robinson' may seem oddly cast in a western, but he was a rush replacement for 'Broderick Crawford' who early on in shooting fell off his horse and was injured ; Robinson would later appear in the western Cheyenne Autumn , this time replacing the ill Spencer Tracy who had to bail out. Large plethora of secondaries , many of them uncredited as Jack Kelly , Willis Bouchey , Peter Hansen and Richard Farnsworth . Colorful and glimmer cinematography by two great directors of photography W. Howard Greene and Burnett Guffey , filmed on spectacular Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, and Tucson, Arizona . Sensitive as well as evocative musical score by classical Max Steiner.The motion picture was directed in sure visual eye by Rudolph Mate . Polish-born Mate was an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund , director Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer . Dreyer was so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on The Passion of Joan of Arc . Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films, cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947. Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive ,especially his sci-fi When the worlds collide (1951) , his labour as cameraman was excellent . He realized a variety films of all kind of genres as Adventures : The Black Shield of Falworth , Seven Seas to Calais , Western : Three Violent People , The far horizons , Noir films : Union Station , Second chance .He also directed Epic films as The Barbarians and The 300 Espartans . The films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic DOA (1950). ¨Violent men¨ rating , : Better than average , 7. Well worth watching .

Another cracker of a fifties western is Columbia Picture's THE VIOLENT MEN (aka "Rough Company"). Produced by Louis J. Rachmil for the studio in 1955 this enjoyable oater regrettably seems somewhat forgotten in these days of sparse western productions. It is a pity really for it is quite an absorbing colourful western tale directed with a genuine flair by Rudolph Mate and boasting an all star cast in Glenn Ford, Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck and Brian Keith. With splendid production values it even has a score by the legendary Max Steiner who was borrowed from Warner Brothers. This was the second score the formidable composer wrote for a Columbia picture after his great success the previous year with "The Caine Mutiny" (1954). From a novel by Donald Hamilton THE VIOLENT MEN was well written for the screen by Harry Kleiner and beautifully photographed in Cinemascope and colour by W.H. Green and Burnett Guffey.A recuperating Civil War veteran John Parrish (Glenn Ford)- along with some other small ranchers - is running his holding in a valley dominated by the powerful Anchor Ranch owned by big land baron the crippled Lee Wilkinson (Edward G. Robinson) and his unfaithful wife Martha (Barbara Stanwyck). But Wilkinson wants all the ranches in the valley to be Anchor owned and his younger gunslinging brother Cole (Brian Keith) is riding roughshod over them and burning them out when they refuse to be bought. Wilkinson offers to buy out the Parrish place and when he refuses and one of his hands is killed by some Anchor riders he decides to fight Wilkinson. Before long a full scale range war begins culminating in the Anchor stock being stampeded, the Anchor ranch set alight and finally Parrish taking on Cole in an exciting fast draw shootout.THE VIOLENT MEN is an action packed and handsome looking western. Performances are fine from all concerned. Ford is his usual likable unforced self, presenting his affable cowboy image with that familiar attractive casualness. He was only two years away from his greatest western role in "3.Ten To Yuma" (1957). Good too is Barbara Stanwyck as Wilkinson's scheming cheating wife. A part the actress played many times before in her busy career. But miscast is Edward G. Robinson! The great pint sized actor simply doesn't suit the part of the big rancher in a western. Watching him here you can't help but wonder if he was only brought on board the production to replace someone like Lee J. Cobb or Albert Dekker or perhaps Raymond Massey.Holding the whole thing together is the splendid music of Max Steiner. As the credits unfold a jagged staccato statement from the orchestra is heard to emphasize the film's title before segueing into an attractive broad loping western melody. Later in a resplendent sequence this lovely theme is heard in full bloom when we see Ford riding (with characteristic crooked elbows) across some spectacular locations at Lone Pine and The Alabama Hills with what looks like Mount Whitney in the background. A captivating example of the beautiful combination of film and music. Steiner's score was conducted by Columbia Picture's conductor in residence Morris Stoloff. A rare occasion when the composer's music was conducted by someone else.THE VIOLENT MEN is an enjoyable and memorable motion picture and a fine addition to the list of splendid westerns that were thankfully brought to us in the fifties.

Lee Wilkison runs Anchor Ranch and has coerced, bullied and killed his way through other farmers to become the biggest land owner in the area. When former Civil War Captain turned farmer John Parrish decides to sell up and head back east to marry fiancé Caroline, he decides to sell to Wilkison despite the objections of the only other remaining landowner Purdue. However Wilkison only offers $15k for the whole shooting match and advises Parrish accepts because either way he intends to own the land. Parrish still plans to sell anyway but when one of his men (Bud) is murdered by Cole Wilkison, he changes his mind and decides to stay and fight.On paper the plot summary for this western makes it sound like a very straightforward affair, which in a way it is, but it does also have other stuff going on as well. On the basic level it is a solid story of right versus wrong but it is enjoyable as it uses Parrish's military background to make the conflict interesting and different from the usual shoot out scenes. I don't agree with another reviewer that the barroom shooting was as wonderful as all that but it was nice to see the psyching instead of the usual bravado. On top of this it was good to have Parrish be too tired for fighting – not idealistic or naturally peaceful but just uncaring about the wider issues, a nice change for the lead in this genre. This character is well backed up by old Wilkison, who is driven by forces he doesn't totally control to own the whole valley; meanwhile he is dominated by his unfaithful and unscrupulous wife – they are strong characters and it is a shame that the script just sets them up rather than exploring them, but this is a genre western after all I suppose. This lack of depth is shown in the weakness of the ending. Although the change makes sense, the speed it happens at doesn't and a bit of character development would have helped make it much more convincing.Despite this the characters are helped by the strong cast. Stanwyck may not have the depth but she has the presence to make her character enjoyably evil. Robinson allows her to dominate to create a character that is both "bad" and weak at the same time; sure, he could have been better but he is good with what he has. Ford stands up well alongside this showy support and the script helps him stand out from the genre staple of wide chest and big chin – he isn't amazing by any means but he does embrace the chance to work with a character a bit different from the norm. The rest of the cast are solid enough with turns from Keith, Anderson and Foster as well as a few others.Overall then a solid genre western with enough about it to make it slightly better than average. Not all the characters and themes are as well developed as I would have liked but they still add value to the film and make it a better prospect than it seems. The cast helps and it is just a shame that the material is not as strong as it could have been (best seen in the slightly unconvincing ending due to a step change in a major character rather than a gradual change).