Spioler Alert
IMO The Violent Men is a great action western and though it wasn't the main theme of the film i thought the mother daughter conflict between Barbara Stanwyck and Diane Foster is one of the movies highlights.
for most of the film Stanwyck's Martha Wilkerson pulls the wool over the eyes of most of the other characters in the movie. her husband Edward G Robinson seems to think of her as the dutiful wife, while she is having an affair with his brother Brian Keith. she's also greatly respected among her neighbours, but apart from the ovious Keith the one person who knows her for what she was really like, was her daughter Judith as played by Foster.
though she's having her affair with Keith, it's clear Stanwyck is using him in her ruthless ambition to drive everyone else of their land inorder to have complete control of the valley. she also gives the impression the one person she truly loves is her daughter, who for a long time in the film was the only one who knew Stanwyck as the nasty piece of work she was. and though she loved her mother, Foster played a key part in destoying her mother's dream of owning the whole valley.
it was interesting to note, it was, as far as i can tell, the only Stanwyck western of the 50s where she didn't wear pants, spending the whole film in skirts and dresses, yet it was her most evil western role.
Diane Foster to me was a two hit wonder with great performances in TVM and Night Passage, where she starts of in love with Audie Murphy, hoever, after his death it looks like she's going to settle for his older brother James Stewart. so one wonders why she didn't get more starring roles.
Stanwyck/Foster underrated mother/daughter conflict
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movieman1957
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Could "The Violent Men" have made more of the grief between the women? Probably. I got the sense the movie was really about Ford taking care of his problem.
Nobody wants to play fair so Ford is not going to roll over. Some of the tactics Ford uses are really smart (or seem so to me.)
Stanwyck was first rate nasty. I didn't notice anything about the dresses compared to pants but I wonder if that makes much difference.
Did you think it was intentional or just the way the wardrobe worked out?
Could "The Violent Men" have made more of the grief between the women? Probably. I got the sense the movie was really about Ford taking care of his problem.
Nobody wants to play fair so Ford is not going to roll over. Some of the tactics Ford uses are really smart (or seem so to me.)
Stanwyck was first rate nasty. I didn't notice anything about the dresses compared to pants but I wonder if that makes much difference.
Did you think it was intentional or just the way the wardrobe worked out?
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
as far as the dresses were concerned i just think that was the character she played. i couldn't imagine Martha in pants, she was on the surface to ladylike. however, i thought it made a contrast to her action heroine roles in the likes of The Cattle Queen Of Montana, Maverick Queen and Forty Guns that her most evil western role of the 50s was her most feminine
I think it might have been planned that way, because she WAS supposed to be such a lady and so respected in town. The funny thing is, if you come a little forward in time to The Big Valley, she wears both with equal grace and dignity. Some of her pants type riding habits are so smart with matching hats, gloves, and boots, she almost looks like she is wearing a dress.
If you have it on tape, check it out again and look at her eyes and neck, then check out either The Big Valley or Roustabout, which had to be filmed after seeing the old plastic surgeon. Much as I love Barbara, she did need some help in those areas.
Anne
If you have it on tape, check it out again and look at her eyes and neck, then check out either The Big Valley or Roustabout, which had to be filmed after seeing the old plastic surgeon. Much as I love Barbara, she did need some help in those areas.
Anne
Anne
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sorry i put the same post down twice, so i deleted what was on here originally. however, to add to my next post i was going to say that as far as i could see Barbara Stanwyck's widowed Victoria never fell in love in The Big Valley, but many an ex-boyfriend turned up. she must have had quite a life before she married.
Last edited by stuart.uk on March 29th, 2008, 7:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
it might be because in the UK they've recently shown feature length Big Valley's which is actually two episodes mixed in with each other (it's a mess, why not just show one show after the other) but both Stanwyck and Linda Evan's went through that many costume changes in such a short space of time, whereas the sons, apart from Richard Long, wore the same outfit over a period of yrs. Stany would have on a dress, pants, then calouttes in about a 5 minute period, it's a wonder she had time to do anything else.
as much as i enjoyed The Big Valley when it was originally shown, i feel that in watching it again Victoria was dependant on her sons when danger was about. when a private, but brutal law enforcing outfit was hired to protect the town of Stockton, Victoria tried to send for her sons when things got out of hand. i kind of wish that Victoria did some of the stuff that Stany's Seira Nevanda Jones did in Cattle Queen Of Montana. however, maybe tv networks in the 60s weren't ready for an action heroine on that scale.
it reminded me of an episode of Gunsmoke where Matt and Kitty were held captive by nasty Bette Davis. when the final shoot-out took place you just knew Matt wouldn't be seen killing a woman, even one as nasty as Davis' character. right enough it was Kitty that killed her.
as much as i enjoyed The Big Valley when it was originally shown, i feel that in watching it again Victoria was dependant on her sons when danger was about. when a private, but brutal law enforcing outfit was hired to protect the town of Stockton, Victoria tried to send for her sons when things got out of hand. i kind of wish that Victoria did some of the stuff that Stany's Seira Nevanda Jones did in Cattle Queen Of Montana. however, maybe tv networks in the 60s weren't ready for an action heroine on that scale.
it reminded me of an episode of Gunsmoke where Matt and Kitty were held captive by nasty Bette Davis. when the final shoot-out took place you just knew Matt wouldn't be seen killing a woman, even one as nasty as Davis' character. right enough it was Kitty that killed her.