Los violentos

This is a thoroughly ordinary western with Charlton Heston heading the cast as a Civil War veteran returning home with his new wife (Anne Baxter) whom he ultimately discovers has had a rather dishonorable past. On top of that he has to deal with carpet baggers and the jealousy of his one-armed younger brother (played by Tom Tryon) who decides he has a lot of old scores he needs to settle. There's not very much to thrill about here, and none of our three principals are very "violent", but it's a treat to watch Baxter and Heston together again after their stint in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. For what it's worth, Robert Blake is featured in a role as a young Mexican. ** out of ****

Florid and melodramatic but in a good way. Anne Baxter and Charlton Heston interact with each other much better here than in The Ten Commandments probably because Anne is much more suited to playing a well educated woman of ill repute in the old west than a princess of the Nile. She and Tom Tryon also have an excellent vibe to their scenes. The beginning is on the humorous side with Elaine Stritch showing up and looking very young but still in possession of that basso voice. Then when we get to the ranch there is a fest for old TV viewers with Baretta, Klinger & Sgt O'Rourke from F Troop all showing up. The film is nothing original but is well shot and enjoyably action packed, a good example of the genre and Anne is very good.

Who he you may well ask ? He was one of the most unused and one of the most charismatic actors in Hollywood is the answer. Why was he underused ? He got indifferent roles, and his abuse from the so-called great director Otto Preminger on the set of ' The Cardinal ' probably might have made him felt ( quite rightly as it may have been because of his homosexuality ) fed up. In this good, but not great Western he shows a lot of his underused charisma, and his male beauty was exceptional. The scene where he meets up with his brother played by Charlton Heston is very homoerotic, but I doubt if the squeaky clean Heston noticed it. Needless to say they do not have many friendly scenes between them, and the ever watchable Anne Baxter tries to make up for this. The plot has been noted by reviewers so no need for spoilers. The direction by Mate is professional, but not inspiring and the rest of the cast do reasonably well. Gilbert Roland is in it and he was a big name then for audiences. Tryon raises it up in quality by his sheer force of presence. James Dean had it and as Dean saved ' Giant' so does Tryon save this one.

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!

At the time of its release, "Three Violent People" attracted little notice. Most critics probably labeled it "routine" and then turned their attention to other matters. Now, in this age of decline in film quality, we can look back and be impressed by things we once took for granted: a strong, consistent, logically-developed plot; characters that have some style and substance; dialog which consists of more than merely "Watch it!" and "Move over!"

Not that "Three Violent People" is some sort of undiscovered gem. By the standards of its day it was little more than a passable western with a better than average cast and lovely color photography, but what pleasure it now brings!

Charlton Heston and Anne Baxter, (re-united from "The Ten Commandments"), make an attractive couple. He's strong and stalwart, she looks good in her elaborate costumes. (However did she fit those dresses into a trunk to carry on a stagecoach?) Tom Tryon may not seem fraternally related to Heston but he adds his usual dash of smoldering sensuality. He even manages to do a bare-chest scene even though he plays a man who's lost his right arm! (But then, Tryon usually managed to provide some "beefcake," even in a Disney comedy such as "Moon Pilot.") Also worth noting are three of Gilbert Roland's sons: Jamie ("MASH") Farr, Robert ("In Cold Blood") Blake, and Ross Bagdasarian, who later scored a hit with his Christmas song featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks.

One final point, if Heston and Tryon are two of the "Violent People" of the title, then who is the third? Anne Baxter? She may be deceitful and manipulative, but "violent" doesn't seem like an apt adjective to describe her.