It isn't often that you might expect to read the word "delightful" in
a review of a Charles Bronson movie but "From Noon Till Three" is just
that: a delightful 1976 send-up of the traditional Western genre. In
fact it seems like this was the year in which numerous revisionist
Westerns were released. They included "Buffalo Bill and the Indians",
"The Outlaw Josey Wales", "The Missouri Breaks" and John Wayne's final
film, "The Shootist". By 1976 Charles Bronson was an established screen
presence for about two decades.He was a familiar face to American
movie-goers who liked his work as a supporting actor but it was the
European market that elevated him to star status. Bronson finally began
to get top-billing in Westerns and action films and became reasonably
popular in America. But it was the 1974 release of his smash hit "Death
Wish" that saw him soar to the level of superstar. The film was a mixed
blessing. Bronson made some good films in the following years but
eventually succumbed to the lure of a quick pay check, cranking out
low-end urban crime movies that were often as absurd as they were
over-the-top. "From Noon Till Three" allows Bronson and his real life
wife and frequent co-star Jill Ireland a rare opportunity to flex their
comedic muscles, which they do impressively.
Bronson plays Graham Dorsey, a member of small time gang of bandits
who are riding into a one-horse town to rob the bank. The film's opening
is quite eerie as the bandits become unnerved when they discover there
isn't a single living soul anywhere in the town. This sets in motion a
"Twilight Zone"-like beginning that is quickly explained as a nightmare
Dorsey is suffering, but is nonetheless quite effective for grabbing
the viewer's attention. When the gang nears the actual town, Dorsey's
horse goes lame and must be shot. He rides double with another bandit
until they reach the opulent mansion house of Amanda (Jill Irleand), an
attractive widow who resides in the countryside with only a maid and
servant as companions. When the bandits arrive on her doorstep, she is
home alone and is understandably filled with anxiety being in the
company of the men, who demand she give them a horse. She lies and says
she doesn't have one- and Dorsey validates her story, opting to stay
behind at the house while the robbery takes place. He finds Amanda very
desirable but none-the-less acts like a gentleman- though as her tough
facade fades, she becomes susceptible to his charm. Dorsey claims he
suffers from incurable impotence, a ploy that works when Amanda finally
volunteers to "cure" him. This results in the pair spending several
heavenly hours together enjoying sexual adventures and falling in love.
When word reaches Amanda that Dorsey's fellow bandits have been
captured, she implores him to try to save them from hanging. Dorsey
pretends to ride to their rescue, but instead bushwhacks a traveling con
man and adopts his identity. The other man is mistaken for Dorsey and
shot dead by a posse. Dorsey is ironically arrested because the man he
is impersonating is also wanted by the law. Got all that? Things get
really complicated when Dorsey spends a year in prison, studying
(ironically) how to be a banker. He intends to return to Amanda and live
their dream of moving to Boston, where he can get a job as a bank
manager. When he returns to the woman he has been obsessing over for the
last year, the reception he receives from her is something less than
welcoming. Seems that since she believed Dorsey was dead, she set about
memorializing him in a memoir titled "From Noon Till Three", a
scandalous record of the hours in which they made love and fell in love.
In the book, Amanda relates tall tales about Dorsey's crime exploits
that he had previously bragged about...and she takes a bit of
intentional creative license by describing him as an elegant, dashing
man when, in fact, he looks like what he is: a saddle tramp. To say much
more would spoil the fun. Suffice it to say that the film really kicks
into gear when Dorsey discovers that Amanda's memoir has become an
international sensation and she is idolized worldwide by both men and
women. She doesn't have much incentive to now admit that Dorsey is not
only alive and well but also falls considerable short of the handsome
hunk the world has come to imagine.
"From Noon Till Three" is stylishly directed by Frank D. Gilroy and its
based upon his novel of the same name. Gilroy had the magic touch in
terms of bringing out the best in both Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland,
both of whom rarely had an opportunity to demonstrate their flair for
light comedy and they are both terrific. Gilroy, who also penned the
screenplay, took advantage of a new era of cynicism in major films and
"From Noon Till Three" proved to be far ahead of its time in predicting
how the general public can be bamboozled into believing urban legends if
they are marketed creatively enough. (Coincidentally, Paddy Chayefsky's
"Network", released the same year, took an equally cynical view of the
current day TV news industry.) The movie is a wealth of small
pleasures and unexpected plot turns and boasts a fine score by Elmer
Bernstein and impressive camerawork by Lucien Ballard, not to mention an
impressive mansion house set by Robert Clatworthy. I don't want to
overstate the merits of the film but I do want to point out that even if
you're not a Bronson fan you should give this one a try.
"From Noon Till Three" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Click here to order Kino Lorber DVD edition from Amazon