***SPOILERS*** With the healthy climate of he American West clearing up the injury, a bullet wound, he suffered in the Civil War former Union calvary captain John Parrish, Glenn Ford, plans to leave his spared or cattle ranch and go east with his fiancée Caroline, May Wynn, and start a new life together with her.
As things turn out Parrish in trying to get a good price for his ranch is short-changed by cattle baron Lee Wilkinson, Eddie Robinson, who wants to buy him out for peanuts or a measly $15,000.00. Not wanting to be a sucker and give up his hard earned ranch and cattle stock Parrish decides to play hard ball with Wilkison and hold out for more only to have him get his paid gunslingers to put the hurt on him.
The thing that gets the very peace loving Parrish to resort back to his fighting ways, that he picked up in the Cvil War, is when Wilkison's men lead by the kill crazy psycho Wade Matlock, Richard Jaeckel, bull whipped and shot one of his ranchers Bud Hinkelman, William Phipps,to death. Mad as a hornet Parrish later went to the local saloon where Matlock and the rest of the Wilkison's crowd hung out and blasted Wade away before he could reach for his .45 revolver.
Declearing open warfare on Wilkison's Anchor Ranch Parrish gathered together the local rancher who were also being targeted by Wilkison to finally put an end to his reign of terror on the western prairie!
As we soon find out Old Man Lee Wilkison isn't really the bad guy in the movie. Sure he drives a hard bargain and was more then willing, before he ended up a cripple, to kill to get things done but is at least now willing to compromise since he knows what war is all about in losing the use of his legs in previous wars that he fought against the ranchers in the area. It's Lee's two timing wife Martha, Barbara Stanwyck, and her secret lover Lee's younger brother Cole, Brain Keith, who are really stirring up the pot in all the bloodshed that happens in the movie.
In fact not only is Cole having an affair with Martha he's at the same time cheating on her by playing around, behind Martha's back, with his hot as a hot tamale Mexican girlfriend Elena, Lita Milan. Playing both sides of the scrimmage line Cole plans to dump Martha as soon as he gets control of the Anchor Ranch, after his older brother Lee is taken care of, and then marry Elena.
***SPOILERS*** Things don't quite go as well as both Martha and Cole planned. It's the Wilkinson's hot headed daughter Judith, Dianne Foster, who switches sides, from her dad to Parrish, after she found out that her cheating Mom Martha not only was fooling behind her father's back, with his brother Cole, but was in fact also planning to have him murdered!
With Parrish rallying the rancher to total victory over the hoodlums under the control of Martha and Cole Wilkison, by then Judith's dad Lee had also switched sides, it's now up to a final showdown, at high noon, between Parrish and Cole to finally put an end to both the fighting and killing! As for Martha her plan of escape is blocked by non other then her rival for Cole's affection his hot headed Mexican girlfriend Elena. This leads to a violent and bloody shot out at the end of the movie that unfortunately or us watching took place off camera!
P.S The film "The Violent Men" was released overseas with the somewhat less then violent sounding title called "Rough Company".
As things turn out Parrish in trying to get a good price for his ranch is short-changed by cattle baron Lee Wilkinson, Eddie Robinson, who wants to buy him out for peanuts or a measly $15,000.00. Not wanting to be a sucker and give up his hard earned ranch and cattle stock Parrish decides to play hard ball with Wilkison and hold out for more only to have him get his paid gunslingers to put the hurt on him.
The thing that gets the very peace loving Parrish to resort back to his fighting ways, that he picked up in the Cvil War, is when Wilkison's men lead by the kill crazy psycho Wade Matlock, Richard Jaeckel, bull whipped and shot one of his ranchers Bud Hinkelman, William Phipps,to death. Mad as a hornet Parrish later went to the local saloon where Matlock and the rest of the Wilkison's crowd hung out and blasted Wade away before he could reach for his .45 revolver.
Declearing open warfare on Wilkison's Anchor Ranch Parrish gathered together the local rancher who were also being targeted by Wilkison to finally put an end to his reign of terror on the western prairie!
As we soon find out Old Man Lee Wilkison isn't really the bad guy in the movie. Sure he drives a hard bargain and was more then willing, before he ended up a cripple, to kill to get things done but is at least now willing to compromise since he knows what war is all about in losing the use of his legs in previous wars that he fought against the ranchers in the area. It's Lee's two timing wife Martha, Barbara Stanwyck, and her secret lover Lee's younger brother Cole, Brain Keith, who are really stirring up the pot in all the bloodshed that happens in the movie.
In fact not only is Cole having an affair with Martha he's at the same time cheating on her by playing around, behind Martha's back, with his hot as a hot tamale Mexican girlfriend Elena, Lita Milan. Playing both sides of the scrimmage line Cole plans to dump Martha as soon as he gets control of the Anchor Ranch, after his older brother Lee is taken care of, and then marry Elena.
***SPOILERS*** Things don't quite go as well as both Martha and Cole planned. It's the Wilkinson's hot headed daughter Judith, Dianne Foster, who switches sides, from her dad to Parrish, after she found out that her cheating Mom Martha not only was fooling behind her father's back, with his brother Cole, but was in fact also planning to have him murdered!
With Parrish rallying the rancher to total victory over the hoodlums under the control of Martha and Cole Wilkison, by then Judith's dad Lee had also switched sides, it's now up to a final showdown, at high noon, between Parrish and Cole to finally put an end to both the fighting and killing! As for Martha her plan of escape is blocked by non other then her rival for Cole's affection his hot headed Mexican girlfriend Elena. This leads to a violent and bloody shot out at the end of the movie that unfortunately or us watching took place off camera!
P.S The film "The Violent Men" was released overseas with the somewhat less then violent sounding title called "Rough Company".