The Violent Men

The Violent Men is a 1955 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Rudolph Maté and starring Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Dianne Foster, Brian Keith, and May Wynn. Based on the 1955 novel Smoky Valley by Donald Hamilton, its storyline involves a ranch owner who comes into conflict with the land-grabbing tactics of the big local rancher, whose tense marriage threatens his family's stranglehold over the region. John Parrish, a former Union Army cavalry officer, has been living out west to facilitate his recovery from an old war wound on his lung. Known for foolishly not carrying a gun and avoiding trouble, now that he has a clean bill of health, he plans to sell his land to Anchor Ranch and move back east with his fiancée of three years, Caroline Vail. However, he is disturbed when he witnesses the town sheriff being gunned down by Wade Matlock, one of the cowardly henchmen working for the Anchor Ranch. Later, Anchor's crippled owner, Lew Wilkison, who has taken over the valley almost completely and who resents farm settlers moving in on the range, presents a low-ball offer for Parrish's ranch, telling him he has 24 hours to respond. After thinking about it, John decides to meekly sell out on account of his nagging fiancée's insistence. Then in a violent play to push the deal, one of Parrish's ranch hands, the son of a "nester" or local farm settler, is murdered by Wade Matlock. Parrish's men ride into town for revenge, but he orders them back to his ranch and tells them that the new town sheriff, who works for Lew, is waiting to arrest them if they confront Wade. Then left alone, Parrish approaches Wade in the town saloon, surrounded by Lew's men.