Three Violent People

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.

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.

On "The Ten Commandments" Heston reach in the first echelon of the great actors, then came up the classy "Three Violent People" with a strong casting, re-telling the neuralgic matter over post-Civil war when the south was beaten by the north, where the movie displays a foul play over the provisional government that tries pass on the high coast of war in form in high taxes over the Texan's farmers.

Chuck plays a fearsome southerner Captain Cold Saunders that has a large farm Bar "S" on Texas, left by his grandfather which become crown jewel under the eyes of buzzards through the unpayable charges, when he returns to Texas he meets casually at street the beauty Lorna Hunter (Anne Baxter) that arrives in Town in order to joint with the old acquaint Ruby Lasalle's girls a sort of procuress, Cold get mesmerized with so touchy girl, unaware her checkered past whilst Lorna wants to tries explain.

After the marriage they headed to Bar "S" where an old Mexican Innocencio (Roland) and his numerous sons cared for of his farming during his absence, there Cold faces his crippled troublemaker young brother Cinch who had return a couple months ago, this unexpected facts let a cumbersome atmosphere to dealing, the things get worse when a man from provisional government recognizes Lorna from St Louis as Lasalle's girls, tumbling down the prouder Saunders who quickly demands her departure, thus Innocencio confide in that Lorne is pregnant.

Three Violent People is a great western showcasing how was the post-war, when the freeloaders tried managed to taken all southerner's landowners using as a guise the law of the war, also focusing in the second change that all people deserves when they haven't no choice upon the damages of the war

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1981 / How many: 6 / Source: TV- DVD / Rating: 8.

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!

This was the film Charlton Heston made immediately after The Ten Commandments and the last one on his original contract with Paramount Studios. For a co-star for Three Violent People, Heston got Anne Baxter who was Nefretiri in the DeMille epic.

Heston plays Colt Saunders, Confederate veteran who is trying to get back and re-start his ranch and keep it from the hands of carpetbaggers in from the north. He's got a one armed brother played by Tom Tryon who has issues to say the least. Tryon did not lose the arm in the Civil War, it was lost in an accident during childhood and Heston was the one who amputated it.

And if that's not enough Heston meets and marries Baxter without knowing anything about her. She's got a very shady past that comes out at a most inopportune time and drives a wedge between them.

There's a lot of the righteousness of Moses in Heston's Colt Saunders. Unlike in The Ten Commandments it's not a welcome virtue for Anne Baxter or for the audience.

Bruce Bennett and Forrest Tucker play a real pair of bottom feeding carpetbagger officials. And the always enjoyable Gilbert Roland plays the grand vaquero, foreman, of the Saunders spread.

Not a bad western, western and Heston fans will like it.