Violent Saturday (1955)

Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Sydney Boehm (screenplay), William L. Heath (novel)

Stars:

Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Stephen McNally

Cast

Cast overview:
Victor Mature	...	Shelley Martin
Richard Egan	...	Boyd Fairchild
Stephen McNally	...	Harper (bank robber)
Virginia Leith	...	Linda Sherman
Tommy Noonan	...	Harry Reeves, Bank Manager
Lee Marvin	...	Dill, Bank Robber
Margaret Hayes	...	Mrs. Emily Fairchild
J. Carrol Naish	...	Chapman, Bank Robber
Sylvia Sidney	...	Elsie Braden
Ernest Borgnine	...	Stadt, Amish Farmer
Dorothy Patrick	...	Helen Martin
Billy Chapin	...	Steve Martin
Brad Dexter	...	Gil Clayton

Storyline

A number of otherwise insignificant small-town stories erupt into drama when a gang of hoodlums decides to rob the local bank. A father looking for pride in his son's eyes, a timid clerk who is a peeping tom by night, a man striving to rewin his wife's love, an Amish farmer faced with viciousness, and a proper older woman turned thief, all find themselves entangled with the bank robbers as a peaceful weekend turns violent.

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Plot Keywords:

peeping tom | thief | amish | bank robber | plans | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les inconnus dans la ville

Filming Locations:

Bisbee, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) (optical prints) 4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (magnetic prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Bobby Martin: [while bank is being robbed] Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Chapman, Bank Robber: C'mere kid. C'mere!
[offers candy]
Chapman, Bank Robber: Stick these in your kisser and go suck on 'em. Now go back to your mother.
Chapman, Bank Robber: Thank you!
Chapman, Bank Robber: You're welcome.

User Reviews

Great Cinematography

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.