Customer Reviews

From Noon till Three [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first saw this movie in the early 1980's when Bronson was still very active in his film career. I had never been a fan of his movies--he just didn't seem to have a lot of personality. Then I saw "From Noon Until Three"; I could hardly believe he was the same actor I'd seen in other movies. He was GREAT in acting out the irony of the plot; he was funny, he was charasmatic, and he was sinister (at the beginning of the movie). It was as if Bronson finally "woke up" and came to life on the screen for the first time for me. He was great! His wife Jill was great!. I enjoyed the movie so much that I wanted to see it again, and the second time, I decided that it would become one of my all-time favorite movies. If I could give it more stars, I would. It is definitely a "Must See".

FROM NOON TILL THREE is an entirely refreshing and unanticipated idiosyncratic Western full of sentimentalism from Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. Knowing that Bronson and Ireland were man and wife in actual life makes this film more intimate as it unfolds as some affectionate parlor trick and wink of the eye. Bronson and Ireland explore unknown passions and tenderness of the soul as two strangers thrown together by fate for their accidental afternoon tryst. Elmer Bernstein is known for his more rousing scores that he composed for Westerns. Here Bernstein employs a romantic and bittersweet score for this fairytale Western that works beautifully for the charismatic Bronson and Epicurean Ireland. This is a wonderful film.

This is a darkly funny, romantic western by husband and wife team Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland, which deftly deconstructs the myth-making so many of the West's heroes are the product of. It's yet another overlooked classic by director Frank D. Gilroy, who struggled with little fanfare to create films not quite arty enought for the art-house crowd, yet not mainstream enough for the mainstream movie-goer. The results, as in this comedy, are a subtle unpacking of the "hero myth" and how fantasy is often preferable to reality, even when it is alive and well, wearing a big moustache and shaggy hair, and staring you right between the eyes. It's a shame Bronson never really returned to the comic flair he showed in this film -- but many of us are waiting to enjoy his charms in the long-overdue DVD release.

Not the best western ever made. But, certainly one of the most interesting. The movie examines the myth-building potential that existed in the Wild West, where the popular press constructed American heroes (Billy the Kid, Jesse James, etc.) out of basically nothing. The script is tight and the acting is very good. And then there's the song. Guaranteed to plant itself into your brain. So, where's the DVD? With so much sub-par entertainment out there on DVD it is amazing that a movie as good as this is still only available in pan and scan VHS. Comeon videoczars, slap this feature on DVD.

From Noon Till Three is a totally atypical Bronson movie, an unexpected gem. Bronson plays a scruffy outlaw who seduces the lanquishing widow, prim and exquisite in her castle-like Victorian ranch house. Very charming, and deeply cynical, this western-set romance blends comedy and tragedy in ever tightening plot twists, setting all the expected conventions on their heads.

Charm is not a word usually associated with Charles Bronson, but he is chock full of it in this movie. While riding with a gang to rob a bank, his horse goes lame and his gang leaves him at the first house they stumble upon, owned by a rich widow played by Bronson's real life wife, Jill Ireland. The gang promises to return in what they figure will be 3 hours to pick him up, thus the name of the movie. Ireland is just gorgeous and Bronson almost attacks her but then goes for a sympathy play, (you can see the wheels in Bronson's head turning, as he faces the camera with a smug smile, skillfully acted I might add) and tells Ireland of his impotency and how he doesn't think he would've been able to make love to her anyway. Ireland takes pity on him and ends up seducing him! With the physique of a man 20 years younger and his rugged handsomeness, it's a wonder it took her all of 15 minutes to take up the challenge. She succeeds three times, once in a local swim hole, and we get to see Charles Bronson half naked in his prime! They both end up bemoaning the fact that they only have three hours together and make the best of it, falling in love in the process. As it turns out, a local comes to Ireland's house to inform her that there was a bank robbery, and the town has captured the robbers. Ireland talks Bronson into going to try to save his friends, with a vow by him of returning to her as soon as he can. Through a series of misunderstandings, Bronson ends up in jail and Ireland mistakenly believes he is dead. She then writes a book about their three hour affair and it becomes a legend of sorts, which turns her sleepy town into a sort of World's Fair exhibit, with people coming from all over the country to view his grave, partake in the carnival shows and taking tours of her house, with an amusing emphasis on the bed where their illicit love was consumated. There's a hilarious scene while Bronson is in jail and overhears one of the inmates talking about the legend and how he knew Bronson's character. After he gets out of jail, he takes a trip back to the town, and if things weren't already crazy, they get crazier. While we don't get the ending we hope for, it does have an interesting twist and is a lot of fun. Bronson is so out of his normal persona from all his other movies, and shows a comedic flair that before this movie, was unimaginable. This role also shows his range as an actor and makes me sad that he never did more of this kind of acting - a charming, charasmatic, con-artist with a sense of fun and humor. Jill Ireland is also very good, at first playing an uptight widow, trying to withold the reputation of a much older and well reputationed dead husband. After 15 minutes with Bronson's character, her staid facade just doesn't fade away, but drops like a lead balloon, and she's in bed with Bronson, trying to cure his "impotency." The fact that she writes a book about her torrid affair and turns the town into a money-making carnival only enhances her reputation and is that much more amusing. I was channel surfing and was lucky enough to catch this movie at the very beginning. I'm so glad I did and am now searching for the movie so I can buy it. It's a definite must see!

This is one of Charles Bronson's best movies. No, it is not an action movie, there is very little action in it. It is a romantic western.Charles Bronson's real life wife Jill Ireland is in this and this is her best acting and role. This movie gripped me from beginning till end and never let go.
From Noon Till Three is about a bank robber known as Graham Dorsey and when something goes wrong with his horse on the way to a bank robbery he and his crew stop off at a ranchhouse where a widowed woman (whose only company is her servants most of the time) lives. The rest of the bank robbers leave Bronson and go to the bank and Bronson stays behind with Ireland.Ireland could have gotten rid of Bronson too because she had a horse in the barn but I suppose she would rather have Bronson there than part with her precious horse.
Bronson manages to get her into bed by pretending he is impotent-this is probably a challenge to Ireland.A romance ensues. They only have three hours until it all ends but already they are making plans for a future even though he is a bank robber, he is talking of going straight.
Soon a boy comes to the house and informs Ireland of a bank robbery gone wrong and that most of the crew are dead and there is to be a hanging of the survivor. Ireland tells Bronson but he doesn't want to risk his life to save his fellow bank robber. Somehow she persuades him to try and he leaves the house and gets chased by a posse. He dresses up as a dentist after he escapes the posse but finds himself in jail in a case of mistaken identity. In a way, lucky for him. In the meantime, this case of mistaken identity leads Ireland to believe that Dorsey is dead. Whilst he is in jail, she writes a book about their short affair and it becomes a bestseller. When Bronson gets out of jail he goes back to the house on a tour, gets let inside the house on the pretence he wants a glass of water before heading back to town.Even when he takes the beard off, for some reason she doesn't recognize him and it is not until he shows her his lower region that she does. But then she tells him there is no running off with him now. They have a responsibility to the legend.
Later, Bronson winds up in a mental institution and for some reason that I find it hard to believe, they recognize him as Graham Dorsey. A little hard to believe but a great movie. Don't miss it.

This is a totally unexpected Victorian-like and romantic-comic Western from Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. It's a bit of a conundrum that Bronson ever made this film. However, that's what makes it a real treat. Bronson is outlaw Graham Dorsey who spends three hours with Jill Ireland, the widow Amanda Starbuck, before a heist. Unlocking hidden passions in the frigid Amanda in her isolated mansion on the open plain, Bronson has every intention of returning from the job but events take a strange and unexpected twist. Bronson is very likable and charismatic in this role. Ireland is every bit the frigid Amanda Starbuck as she smolders sensuality from under her lace embroidered gowns. For Graham Dorsey, Amanda Starbuck is like a dream come true. For Amanda Starbuck, Graham Dorsey is the personification of some romanticized mysterious suitor. This offbeat and likeable tale comes to a most bizarre finale. Cinematographer Lucien Ballard's stark and vivid images somehow give this film a strange fairytale quality when combined with Elmer Bernstein's light yet maudlin and elegiac score.

great storyline -- rattled my head at least three times. actually made me angry for denying the harmonious happy ending that was skillfully dangled over the audience in the latter part of the film. bronson and ireland worked hard for the standard ride off into the sunset and it didn't happen. the writer deserves heavy recognition but i saw none. if this film were on dvd, i would be ordering same instead of venting my frustration in this review. hmmm, well, not all my frustration. dvd, please.

We first saw this movie when it was new - it was the first film of a double feature and we had never heard of it. Years later we can't recall the main film but have always loved From Noon till Three - just watched it for probably the third time. There are enough long reviews - just watch it!