Lack of good storyline.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Three criminals plan how they intend to rob a small town bank while the unsuspecting local citizens deal with their own personal problems, all of which results in a violent weekend full of men trying to prove their worth in this slow burn thriller starring Victor Mature. Shot in CinemaScope with glorious, rich colours, 'Violent Saturday' is an incredibly good-looking film and the vivid nature of the images suits the gradual build-up of tension very well; grumpy men step on kids' hands, solemn women offer piercing glares, etc. When push comes to shove though, the build-up occurs for far too long. It is over an hour in before the heist actually takes place and while a subsequent barnyard show down rates among the most intense sequences that director Richard Fleischer ever filmed, one has endure over an hour of (at times) histrionic melodrama before any such tension finally erupts. And yet, while it may have been a more effective film at half its length, the overall impact of the movie is hard to shake. The supporting characters vary in how engaging they are, but Mature is excellent throughout as the emotionally torn protagonist, resentful of the fact that he is not the war hero that his impressionable preteen son wants him to be. The film also benefits from one of Hugo Friedhofer's most powerful scores and seeing Ernest Borgnine as an Amish farmer has definite curiosity value alone.

"Violent Saturday" is an excellent crime film--which is surprising since it's made in Technicolor and Cinemascope. A traditional example of film noir is in black and white and features unusual lighting and camera angles that you won't see in this film. But that is okay...as it works anyway even though it's an odd mix of a soap opera and violent heist picture.The first half of the film all occurs before the actual robbery. Thugs case the small town bank and plan their robbery. Additionally, you see a lot about various folks in the town--folks that will become important in the robbery and tense finale. These stories are generally interesting but a bit salacious--such as the drunk who's married to a woman that subsequently seeks comfort from other men! There's also the guy whose son is disappointed in him since he didn't serve abroad during WWII...and you know this guy (Victor Mature) will get a chance to prove himself later. And then there's the Amish family (led by Ernest Borgnine)...one which might have to alter their non-violent beliefs if they want to survive.The film has a lot of pluses. It's violent for the 1950s but not gratuitously so (even though critics hated this about the movie) and the thugs are an interesting lot (including such great heavies as Steven McNally and Lee Marvin). The ending is also top-notch and exciting. All in all, a riveting and exciting film with a lot to offer.

Yes, it has some nice location work, and there's a good sequence after the robbery, at the farm. Other than that, I can't recommend this film. Its 90 minutes feel like 2-1/2 hours. There is a tremendous amount of dull soap opera which is not particularly compelling, and never pays off. The entire film feels padded, and would be more suited to a 1-hour TV anthology from the 1950s or 1960s, like the old "Kraft Suspense Theater." We waste time with a subplot about a destitute librarian. We learn some worthless information about Lee Marvin's past. We watch in utter boredom as Lee Marvin and J. Carroll Naish take forever to get off a train which, for no particular reason, is carrying the Amish family that appears later. Lee Marvin is constantly using an inhaler, and you expect this is going to pay off eventually, but it never does. The fact that Victor Mature works for Richard Egan turns out to be meaningless. And Egan's messed up personal life, which occupies a ridiculous amount of screen time, adds up to very little. Watch this one with your hand on the fast forward button...you'll need it.

The wide-screen format was at most only two years old when this film was made. Yet, Charles G. Clarke's shot composition in the new wide-screen format is beautiful. This alone makes the film worth watching.This is a good example of a color film noir; perhaps not as good as Niagara (1953) or Leave her to Heaven (1945), which were made by the same studio by the way (20th Century Fox), but still a good example from the noir cycle in color.One way to understand film noir is that it is simply violent melodrama. Look at The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) for example. Violent Saturday (1955) is steeped in melodrama, but there is also some extraordinary violence. And the violence here--in typical noir fashion--is the resolution--however bleak--to some of the melodramatic conflict.The film has a profound cynicism grinding beneath the surface of the beautiful color photography. And this cynicism remains at the end of the film.If you haven't seen this film and you are interested in film noir or film of this period, then I would highly recommend the Violent Saturday.