Uomini violenti

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 .

This was a very good 1950s western, one of the better ones I've seen in a decade which featured that genre on screen and on TV. It certainly had three big actors on the marquee: Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson. It turns out that Ford was the star of this film while the other two stars were in supporting roles. Ford had the bulk of the dialog. He also was the "good guy" while Robinson was the "bad guy" and Stanwyck was twice as bad as Robinson. She played the real heavy in this film and the character she played was a little too contradictory at times.

Ford handled his starring status very ably, as he usually did - especially in westerns. He played a nice guy who didn't want to fight, was a peaceful man......but if you pushed him.....look out!

The story had a nice mixture of action and lulls, not overdoing either. It had an expansive western setting which was put to good use with the CineamaScope widescreen. It also featured realistic people in a realistic setting. That credibility with the characters, especially the supporting players, was most impressive. The men way out-shined the women in this film, acting and character-wise. Dianne Foster and May Wynn were weak - the only negatives of the production. It's easy to see why these two actresses never became stars.

Even though it is over 50 years old, this western is one you'd still find fast-enough moving to enjoy, no matter how old you are or what you're used to seeing. For classic film fans, this is almost a must with this cast and good story. Highly recommended.

The Violent Men is a good western. Perhaps the story is not an original one -big ranch owner dedicated to run out small competitors out of a valley he needs for his increasing cattle- but the film has many ingredients that raises its level and makes it worth seeing.

The cast is a highlight. There's the reliable Glenn Ford (John Parrish) as a former army officer and now one of the small ranchers, who tries to stay out of troubles until he is pushed to hard. Edward Robinson (Lew Wilkinson) is as good as always as the crippled big man and Barbara Stanwyck (Martha) plays his treacherous wife in one of her usual mean woman roles she deals with easily (others were in "Double Indemnity" and "Blowing Wild). Brian Keith (Cole) does it perfectly as Robinson's gunman brother, an ambitious man trying to take over his brother's big ranch no matter what. Regular 50's westerns villain Richard Jaeckel (Wade Mattlock) is there too and ends as usual (no surprise there). Dianne Foster (Judith Wilkinson) plays Robinson's daughter who does not approve his father, mother and uncle's way of handling things with their neighbors.

Rudolph Mate brings a standard but acceptable direction, perhaps helped by beautiful and wide open scenery and a fine and appropriate music score helps too.

The inevitable final showdown between Ford and Keith is one of the best in western movies. Each man in his own dueling style (notice Ford's shooting with his straight arm and aiming at its target in the military way) settle their differences then and once and for all.

This is for sure one of Glenn Ford's best western appearances, second only to the classic "3:10 to Yuma" he made two years later. It's probably the cast that puts the film as an "A" rate and, as for me, it enters the top 10 list of the genre.

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).

Stanwyck at her villainous best, Robinson her equal - as ruthless land barons in this fairly ordinary western.

Some good action scenes, strong use of location, colour and Cinemascope. But why the obvious use of stock footage in the stampede scene?

Ford is dependable as always and Foster is strong as Robinson's daughter, but it is the baddies' film. And it's not just Stanwyck and Robinson - Brian Keith makes a surprisingly dashing villain as Stanwyck's lover, and Richard Jaeckel is unforgettable as a cold-hearted killer.

See it for the camp value.