The Violent Men (1955)
A Union ex-officer plans to sell up to Anchor Ranch and move east with his fiancée, but the low price offered by Anchor's crippled owner and the outfit's bully-boy tactics make him think again. When one of his hands is murdered, he decides to stay and fight, utilizing his war experience. Not all is well at Anchor with the owner's wife carrying on with his brother, who anyway has a Mexican moll in town.
VOLCANIC! VALIANT! VICIOUS! Violence and Passion the Screen Has Seldom Seen!
John Parrish: Never meet the enemy on his terms.
Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA
Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Tucson Mountains, Arizona, USA
Sierrita Mountains, Arizona, USA
Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona, USA
The horse stampede sequence comes from the earlier Glenn Ford Western "The Desperadoes" (1943).
Edward G. Robinson may seem oddly cast in a western, but he was a rush replacement for Broderick Crawford who early on in shooting fell off his horse and was injured. Robinson would later appear in the western Cheyenne Autumn (1964), this time replacing the ill Spencer Tracy.
The wooden anchor above the entrance to the Anchor Ranch in the film was given to the owners of the real-life Anchor Ranch in Lone Pine after the film was completed and to this day continues to mark the entrance to the ranch.
The instrument that Doctor Crowell (Raymond Greenleaf) uses to listen to the chest of John Parrish (Glenn Ford) is a Pinard Horn, developed in 1895 in France by Adolphe Pinard for the purpose of listening to the fetal heartbeat. It is still used in Europe when Doppler equipment is not available.
The novel upon which this film is based, "Smoky Valley", by Donald Hamilton, was serialized in Collier's magazine from December 11, 1953 to January 22, 1954.
Continuity
When Parrish first visits the Wilkison home and is talking to Lew about the property deal, Martha's position in the scene changes back-and-forth in several sequential edits. In alternating cuts Martha is either behind the corner of the couch with her hands folded gently on top, or she's standing to the side of the couch with her hands at her side.