Three Violent People (1956)

RELEASED IN 1956 and directed by Rudolph Maté, "Three Violent People" is a Western that focuses on an ex-Rebel officer (Charlton Heston) who returns home to his west Texas ranch with a new, but secretly-tarnished bride (Anne Baxter). He contends with his ne'er-do-well one-armed brother (Tom Tryon) and corrupt officials of the provisional government, who want his land & resources (Bruce Bennett and Forrest Tucker). Gilbert Roland is on hand as the conscience-reminding foreman, who has five sons (Robert Blake and Jamie Farr).This is a soapy Western with lusty acting (rather than realistic), but it does feature a fistfight in the opening act, a thrilling horse stampede/chase scene and a tense shootout at the climax, not to mention a couple suspenseful confrontation scenes. It's akin to "Duel in the Sun" (1946) in tone/theme, but not great like that standout Western. Still, the drama keeps your attention, you can't beat the cast, the locations are magnificent and there's a worthy moral. Charlton and Anne made this right after "The Ten Commandments" (1956) and it sort of fell through the cracks. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 40 minutes and was shot in Old Tucson, Arizona, and surrounding areas (e.g. Superstition Mountains and Apache Junction). WRITERS: James Edward Grant wrote the screenplay from a story by Leonard Praskins & Barney Slater.GRADE: B/B-

I'll take a stab at identifying the trio of characters in the title; I think it boils down to the three 'C's' - Colt (Charlton Heston), Cinch (Tom Tryon) and Cable (Forrest Tucker). Colt Saunders without question after watching him upend Lorna Hunter (Anne Baxter) with only undergarments showing; Cinch because as Colt's put upon younger brother, he carried a grudge that would have led to betrayal if he hadn't had the change of heart at the finale. I'm including Cable because he was ready to use his six-gun at the drop of a hat to take down Captain Saunders, and was the buzzard identified by Gran Vaquero Ortega (Gilbert Roland) in my summary line above.Well anyway, that's my take on things. I liked the way Gil Roland's character was written in the story. Innocencio Antonio Ortega was a romantic and a poet, with uncanny insight into the human condition. His welcome address to the new Mrs. Saunders was an inspiration to his five sons, right after Rafael got tongue tied and couldn't find the words to continue. I think it was right after this picture that Robert Blake was no longer credited as 'Bobby'; the nickname seemed more appropriate when he was Red Ryder's sidekick in the Forties.Now it made sense when Cinch backed down from challenging his brother, but what was going on when Commissioner Harrison's (Bruce Bennett) deputy Massey (John Harmon) appeared to go for a draw down on Colt earlier in the story? He had to know he would have been a goner, even if the rest of Harrison's deputies opened fire. Lorna's interference brought tensions back under control, but I couldn't figure out what the idea was here. For certain he was mortified for revealing Lorna's past, so maybe it was his way of committing suicide without having it pan out.With long time relationships under stress and a marriage on the rocks, anyone having viewed a few hundred of these era Westerns would have had a good idea that things would work out in the end. Even though Cinch cashed out as the redeemed younger brother, there was no way Colt and Laura Saunders were going to ride off into the sunset in different directions. As for those buzzards, well they wound up getting the guy with the red hair.

Three Violent People is directed by Rudolph Maté and adapted to screenplay by James Edward Grant from a story co-written by Leonard Praskins and Barney Slater. It stars Charlton Heston, Anne Baxter, Gilbert Roland and Forrest Tucker. Out of Paramount Pictures, it's a VistaVision production with Technicolor photography by Loyal Griggs and music scored by Walter Scharf.It's post Civil War Texas and Confederate Captain Colt Saunders (Heston) finds himself with a bride (Baxter) who has a secret past, and taxable assets at his ranch that scheming Carpetbaggers want for themselves. Into the mix comes Colt's brother Cinch (Tryon), who is minus an arm from an accident in childhood; where Colt was his heroic saviour. Things will come to a head as resentments, skeleton's in closets and post war greed will fracture the dynamic of the Bar S ranch.Try to remember that people aren't perfect. They just aren't. They make mistakes. And when they do, they suffer. They pay. Inside themselves they pay.It made little impact back on release in 56, where the release of Heston's other film that year, The Ten Commandments, dwarfed it considerably and simultaneously propelled Heston into the big league. It didn't help that Three Violent People is a very character driven picture, literate and heavy on the melodrama. This is no gunslinging action based bonanza, this features interesting characters talking a lot, where the screenplay has the big players nicely drawn, creating a pot boiler that only rewards those open to an intelligently paced structure. The title, sadly, is misleading and doesn't do the film any favours.You were one of the rear echelon heroes who hid on General Butler's staff while better men were getting killed in battle.Film has definite links to another "literate" Heston picture from 1954, The Naked Jungle. Sanctimonious macho male takes a wife and recoils when learning of her past. Cue the fleshing out of relationships for an hour until the pot starts boiling over and the pace ups and unfolds with a pleasingly suspenseful third act. Action until that third act is sparse, though there's good drama to keep one interested, very much so. This is also a gorgeous picture to look at, not just the rugged but beautiful landscape around the Bar S (Arizona), but also the colours that beam out from the screen, Loyal Griggs' (Shane) photography reason enough to seek this undervalued Western out.I got the one with the red hair ready for the buzzards.Lead cast performances are up and down, Baxter and Heston's chemistry is fine and sexy, but they do appear to be in competition with each other to see who can steal a scene. Baxter, looking positively ravishing throughout, really over does it early in the pic, while Heston forgoes his most agreeable subtlety from those early passages to ham it up later in the day. The best performance comes from Roland (Cheyenne Autumn), who as Bar S gran vaquero, Innocencio Ortega, not only looks immeasurable cool, he also casts a humanistic shadow over proceedings. Tryon, whose edgy one armed brother adds major spice to the narrative, turns in a rare effective performance.The problems are evident throughout, some over soaping by actors who should have known better and the villains are badly in need of flesh on their bones. Yet this is a Western that plays better now to Western fans than it would have done back in the 50s. Where the character driven bent can be appreciated without expectation of a "yeehaw" fuelled Oater. This be one for the ears, eyes and the brain rather than the pulse. 7/10

After a whirlwind romance and marriage with lovely Anne Baxter, ex-Confederate Charleton Heston returns home to his Texas ranch, where he has to contend with nasty carpetbaggers Forrest Tucker and Bruce Bennett, his embittered one-armed brother Tom Tryon, and his new wife's checkered past, which everyone is more than willing to use against him.Three Violent People takes it's time, but it's never boring, using great acting and excellent photography, direction to tell an atmospheric tale that's pretty hard-hitting, even though it's not a traditional action-adventure film.Heston, Baxter, and Gilbert Roland all play characters of great strength and courage, with the magnetic Roland in particular always incredible to watch and Tryon a brooding anti-hero. Why wasn't he a bigger star?A few years later, songwriter Ross Bagdasarian, who plays one of Roland's sons, bought bought a variable-speed recorder, changed his stage-name to David Seville, and invented the pop-culture icons known as The Chipmunks!