Soapy Western with lusty acting and quality cast

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-