Best movie of this year hands down!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I'm in the minority here. Reading these other reviews, I can't believe we've seen the same movie. Let's see, the good: The Tetons, Anchor Ranch exteriors, uh...Glenn Ford riding a horse (although even this gets a bit tiresome), Edward G. Robinson doing pretty much anything. Now the bad: everything else. The women flounce, b**ch and moan, the men spill testosterone all over the place, the dialogue borders on parody. Stanwyck's character is such a cliché as to be distracting, someone apparently told Brian Keith to play Cole 'like a snake' and he couldn't have taken it to a greater extreme if he'd gotten down on the floor and slithered out the door. Glenn Ford is supported by stalwart former soldiers, the Anchor gang is exclusively faceless cowhand/gunslingers, the women (other than Stanwyck) are of little consequence, they deliver their lines and exit stage right (or left) reappearing to again deliver a predictable line or two, or maybe to shoot the fleeing (on foot!) evil Stanwyck as a favor to the director who apparently couldn't think of a plausible endgame. The characters are consistently unironic, unself-aware and little bothered by nuance. I gave it a four mostly because of the mountains. (I checked 'contains spoiler' because I didn't want to end up on some evil list but, frankly, spoiling this film for you would be a favor)

This oater was known variously as The Voilent Men and Rough Company though they could just as easily have called it six clichés in search of a plot given that we have a little of this, a little of that and more than just something borrowed. We have the ruthless rancher determined to buy out or in one way or another get rid of the settlers surrounding his empire, as if that weren't enough we have the man who refuses to wear a gun for the first three or four reels, the nod to Lady Chatterley via the powerful man who has lost the use of his legs, driving his wife into the arms of - in this case - his brother; all these elements are thrown into the mix and if it weren't for Eddie Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck and Glenn Ford, there'd be nothing to attract an audience; Stanwyck does a passable carbon of Crawford in Johnny Guitar albeit without the upfront clout yet nevertheless, like Crawford, possessing the only balls in the place. Rudolph Mate phones in some fairly pedestrian helming and the whole thing is forgotten as you're filing out of the theater.

As this western opens rancher John Parrish is preparing to sell up and head back east with his fiancée but when the only buyer, Lew Wilkison of the Anchor Ranch, offers him a ridiculously low amount he declines the offer... even though he knows he will take it in the end as he promised his Fiancée he'd sell for whatever was offered. That is until one of his men is murdered by Wilkison's hired guns; to everybody's surprise Parrish shoots and kills the gunslinger responsible then returns to his ranch to prepare for war; and war is what he gets! Lew Wilkison might be the owner of the Anchor Ranch but it is his scheming wife and his brother Cole who really control it and they want Lew out of the way more than anybody. Soon Anchor men come and burn his ranch but he is prepared and not only does he manage to kill several of them he also returns the favour and burns Anchor to the ground... this leads to him being declared an outlaw for the murder of Lew Wilkison and a posse of gunmen sweeping into the valley to kill or burn out anybody who stood against Anchor... if Parrish is to put a stop to the killing he will have to face Cole; and only one of them will survive! This western certainly lives up to its title as heroes and villains alike use guns and fire to further their cause; the story of a powerful cattle baron trying to force everybody else off the land he wants isn't exactly original but it provides a good story with plenty of action. Glenn Ford puts in a solid performance as hero John Parrish but it is Barbara Stanwyck who steals the show as the wicked Martha Wilkison; the film's true villain. There is plenty of action to be seen here including shootings, a man being brutally whipped, an impressive cattle stampede and numerous ranches being torched. Director Rudolph Maté took full advantage of the widescreen presentation and the spectacular scenery to give it an epic feel even if it is only a B-Western. I would certainly recommend this to people who like their westerns packed with action.

Another cracker of a fifties western is Columbia Picture's THE VIOLENT MEN (aka "Rough Company"). Produced by Louis J. Rachmil for the studio in 1955 this enjoyable oater regrettably seems somewhat forgotten in these days of sparse western productions. It is a pity really for it is quite an absorbing colourful western tale directed with a genuine flair by Rudolph Mate and boasting an all star cast in Glenn Ford, Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck and Brian Keith. With splendid production values it even has a score by the legendary Max Steiner who was borrowed from Warner Brothers. This was the second score the formidable composer wrote for a Columbia picture after his great success the previous year with "The Caine Mutiny" (1954). From a novel by Donald Hamilton THE VIOLENT MEN was well written for the screen by Harry Kleiner and beautifully photographed in Cinemascope and colour by W.H. Green and Burnett Guffey.A recuperating Civil War veteran John Parrish (Glenn Ford)- along with some other small ranchers - is running his holding in a valley dominated by the powerful Anchor Ranch owned by big land baron the crippled Lee Wilkinson (Edward G. Robinson) and his unfaithful wife Martha (Barbara Stanwyck). But Wilkinson wants all the ranches in the valley to be Anchor owned and his younger gunslinging brother Cole (Brian Keith) is riding roughshod over them and burning them out when they refuse to be bought. Wilkinson offers to buy out the Parrish place and when he refuses and one of his hands is killed by some Anchor riders he decides to fight Wilkinson. Before long a full scale range war begins culminating in the Anchor stock being stampeded, the Anchor ranch set alight and finally Parrish taking on Cole in an exciting fast draw shootout.THE VIOLENT MEN is an action packed and handsome looking western. Performances are fine from all concerned. Ford is his usual likable unforced self, presenting his affable cowboy image with that familiar attractive casualness. He was only two years away from his greatest western role in "3.Ten To Yuma" (1957). Good too is Barbara Stanwyck as Wilkinson's scheming cheating wife. A part the actress played many times before in her busy career. But miscast is Edward G. Robinson! The great pint sized actor simply doesn't suit the part of the big rancher in a western. Watching him here you can't help but wonder if he was only brought on board the production to replace someone like Lee J. Cobb or Albert Dekker or perhaps Raymond Massey.Holding the whole thing together is the splendid music of Max Steiner. As the credits unfold a jagged staccato statement from the orchestra is heard to emphasize the film's title before segueing into an attractive broad loping western melody. Later in a resplendent sequence this lovely theme is heard in full bloom when we see Ford riding (with characteristic crooked elbows) across some spectacular locations at Lone Pine and The Alabama Hills with what looks like Mount Whitney in the background. A captivating example of the beautiful combination of film and music. Steiner's score was conducted by Columbia Picture's conductor in residence Morris Stoloff. A rare occasion when the composer's music was conducted by someone else.THE VIOLENT MEN is an enjoyable and memorable motion picture and a fine addition to the list of splendid westerns that were thankfully brought to us in the fifties.