''Violent Saturday'' is a 1955 American film noir crime film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Victor Mature, Richard Egan and

Stephen McNally Stephen McNally (born Horace Vincent McNally; July 29, 1911 – June 4, 1994) was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many Westerns and action films. He often played hard-hearted characters, criminals, bullies, and othe ...

. Set in a mining town, Bradenville, Arizona, the film depicts the planning of a bank robbery as the nexus in the personal lives of several townspeople. In supporting roles are

Virginia Leith Virginia Leith (October 15, 1925 – November 4, 2019) was an American film and television actress. Career Leith starred in a few films, with her most productive period coming in the 1950s. Her debut was also the first film directed by St ...

, Sylvia Sidney and

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

. ''Violent Saturday'' was filmed in color and on location in

Bisbee, Arizona Bisbee is a city in and the county seat of Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, United States. It is southeast of Tucson and north of the Mexican border. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town was 4,923, down from 5,575 ...

Plot

Harper (

) is a bank robber posing as a traveling salesman. He arrives in town, soon to be joined by sadistic benzedrine addict Dill (

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alt ...

) and bookish Chapman ( J. Carrol Naish). Boyd Fairchild ( Richard Egan) is manager of the local

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mine, troubled by his philandering wife ( Margaret Hayes). He considers an affair with nurse Linda Sherman (

), though he truly loves his wife. His associate, Shelley Martin ( Victor Mature), has a happy home life, but is embarrassed that his son believes that he is a coward because he did not serve in World War II. Subplots involves a peeping-tom bank manager, Harry Reeves (

Tommy Noonan Tommy Noonan (born Thomas Noone; April 29, 1921 – April 24, 1968) was a comedy genre film performer, screenwriter and producer. He acted in a number of high-profile films as well as B movies from the 1940s through the 1960s, and he is best ...

), and a larcenous librarian, Elsie Braden ( Sylvia Sidney). As the bank robbers carry out their plot, the separate character threads are drawn together. Violence erupts during the robbery. Fairchild's wife is slain and bank manager Reeves is wounded. Martin is held hostage on a farm with an

Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...

family. With the help of the father (

), he defeats the crooks in a savage gunfight. In the aftermath, Martin becomes a hero to his son, and Linda comforts Fairchild as he grieves for his wife.

Cast

* Victor Mature as Shelley Martin * Richard Egan as Boyd Fairchild *

as Harper *

as Linda Sherman *

as Harry Reeves *

as Dill * Margaret Hayes as Mrs. Fairchild * J. Carrol Naish as Chapman * Sylvia Sidney as Elsie Braden *

as Stadt * Dorothy Patrick as Helen Martin * Billy Chapin as Steve Martin * Brad Dexter as Gil Clayton

Production

The film was based on the eponymous novel by William L Heath. In August 1954, studio chief

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

recommended that

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

buy the screen rights prior to publication, and the studio paid a reported $30,000. Victor Mature had been feuding with 20th Century Fox but agreed to play the lead. Filming began on December 6, 1954.

Critical reception

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' film critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

disapproved of the violence in the film, calling it an "unedifying spectacle," while praising the performance of Lee Marvin as a hood "so icily evil he is funny." Borgnine's performance was panned by Crowther as "a joke." Later reviewers have been favorable. In a 2008 article, the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' called the film "the reigning king of Southwestern noir." '' The New York Press'' said "''Violent Saturday'' seems rooted in tradition, but as an exciting pulp story with a profound center, it manages to break all the rules." George Robinson in ''Cine-Journal'' wrote, "With the possible exception of '' The Narrow Margin'', this is Richard Fleischer's best film. . . . Great, nasty fun." Michael Sragow of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' said, "Packed with twists and surprises. Marvin proves most unsettling as a hard guy who's always snorting from an inhaler (it's psychosomatic: he once had a wife with a perpetual cold). Mature, with his stricken manliness, reminds you of why James Agee thought he would be perfect as Diomed in '' Troilus and Cressida''." Richard Fleischer later wrote in his memoirs that "besides being the first CinemaScope picture ever made for under $1 million, it was a damn good movie. Darryl Zanuck, the studio's big boss, was very taken with it, and we – roducerBuddy dlerand I – became sort of heroes. The direct result of this minor triumph was that I was given a five year directing contract and Buddy became Darryl's most favored producer."

References

*Solomon, Aubrey. ''Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. .

External links