3 Bad Men (1926) Online

In 1876, an old man finds gold in the Sioux lands, provoking a gold and land rush from immigrants to Dakota. On the way to Custer, the lonely cowboy Dan O'Malley (George O'Brien) helps to fix the wheel of Mr. Carlton's wagon and flirts with his daughter Lee Carlton (Olive Borden). Later, Lee and her father are attacked by horse thieves and Mr. Carlton is murdered; however, the outlaws "Bull" Stanley (Tom Santschi), Mike Costigan (J. Farrell MacDonald) and "Spade" Allen (Frank Campeau) save her from the criminals and head with her to the camp where the pioneers are waiting for President Grant proclamation to explore the lands. In the site, the corrupt Sheriff Layne Hunter (Lou Tellegen) rules with his henchmen with horror and injustice. The trio of outlaws decides that Lee needs to get married and select Dan to be her husband. When Bull's sister Millie Stanley (Priscilla Bonner) is murdered by Hunter's right arm Nat Lucas (Jay Hunt), "Bull" organizes the men to chase Hunter. But it is 1877 and the gold and land race of wagons is ready to start.

The melodramatic "3 Bad Men" is a delightfully naive silent western of the director John Ford. The cinematography is amazing, and the big land and gold race of wagons is fantastic for a 1926 silent movie, and comparable to the 1992 Ron Howard's "Far and Away" that uses modern cameras and equipment. The acting is top-notch, and the actors and actresses are able to transmit intense feelings using body and expressions only, despite the exaggerated acting in the death of the villain Hunter. There are funny moments, and I liked when Mike and Spade evaluate a dandy to marry Lee; or when Dan plays a romantic song in his harmonica for Lee; or the dialogs of Mike and Spade. The sequence with the baby is visibly inspired in Sergei M. Eisenstein's "The Battleship Potemkin" from 1925. The conclusion is corny and moralist, but absolutely inside the context of the moral and ethical values of the society in 1926. Last but not the least; the title is not accurate since the three "bad men" are actually three golden and warm-hearted men. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "3 Homens Ruins" ("3 Bad Men")

I like George O'Brien and when I saw the opportunity to own an early silent he made I took it and it was worth it, although, while he is the named star, he has a relatively small role in it and the movie really belongs to Tom Santschi who plays Bull, he is exceptional in his role. I'm not a huge fan of westerns, but, I enjoy all of John Ford's as he approaches his movies with a love of the West as it was being settled rather than the "Cowboys 'n' Injuns" take on things. This is the story of a girl who loses her father and is taken under the wing of the three bad men in the title, not that they are really all bad, just a bit naughty really. The real bad guy is the Sheriff who is really creepy. I don't like to give long detailed synopsises of movies, if I think a movie is good I just like to let people know that it is worth seeing and this one is. The Land rush sequence is particularly impressive and there is some very good humour, the inter titling is very well thought out. The acting is very good by all. The only downer is the quality of the available print, mine was a video from the Killiam collection and could do with a little TLC to restore it to it's former glory. This movie has absolutely everything and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's about time more money was put into the restoration and cleaning up of the silents that were not lost or destroyed, it's a crying shame when you see movies like this and many others that end up forgotten and unloved through neglect.

I agree with a previous review that the actor who makes the most impression is Tom Santschi, whose story of revenge this really is. His failure of saving Millie who sees Sheriff Hunter (Lou Tellegrin), her murderer, as the last image she sees while in Santaschi's arms, is quite cinematic. This hour and a half film has everything you would want in a western, sound or silent.

There's a cute meet of George O'Brien and Olive Borden and one knows they're going to be together at the end by the 3 "bad men". Santschi is the leader who makes sure that happens. J. Farrell McDonald and Tom Campeau become a comedy team when they search for a proper suitor for Borden, but when Borden settles for O'Brien, it's settled.

The fight scenes look truly realistic and John Ford shows his genius for great visuals. The church burning scene and the abandoned infant of the Oklahmoma Land Rush scene are among the best scenes he ever did.

Santschi died in 1931. His sad eyes and his authoritative style is mostly forgotten and is one of the reasons the film should be better remembered. MacDonad would live on to 1952 and was featured in many Ford and others but barely registers like he does here. His eyebrows alone are very funny to watch and he, as in the Iron Horse, was very good as the comedy relief guy.

Great use of the outdoors and putting extra meanings in the framing of scenes was Ford's stock in trade. Not all of his movies are classic. But this one most definitely is.

It seems John Ford made his best films when a great story happened to coincide with his own sensibilities. For a director who filmed masculine camaraderie with more tenderness than male-female romance, and almost gave more weight to the comic asides than the actual plot, 3 Bad Men seems tailor-made – a Western in which the eponymous outlaws are the heroes, and the love story between Olive Borden and the more typically heroic George O'Brien becomes a subplot.

Ford's tendency to improvise gags, and expand comic relief to entire scenes is often a bit excessive, but in 3 Bad Men it does not matter so much because the comedy characters are protagonists rather than supporting players threatening to steal the show. In fact the laughs we have had throughout the film make the poignant finale really pay off. You get a similar effect in Charlie Chaplin's features. What's more, Tom Santschi, J. Farrell MacDonald and Frank Campeau, big ugly supporting players that they were, were nevertheless great actors who here prove themselves fully capable of emotional depth.

Ford, meanwhile, can be seen gradually developing into a confident craftsman, especially as regards his shot composition. While his earliest pictures featured framing that was pretty yet distracting, he now achieves the same aesthetics with far more subtlety. A major difference is that whereas before the framing devices were "fixed" items – for example a tree or a canopy – he now achieves a more natural look – a figure leaning against a post in the foreground here, the end of a wagon there. He still occasionally makes use of the old-fashioned "heavier" framing, but only to highlight a key moment, for example enclosing Olive Borden and Tom Santschi between two cavern walls towards the end.

This is of course also an epic pioneer Western and, although the historical context is not paramount as it is in The Iron Horse, Ford constantly reminds us that a civilization is being built in the background – literally. As in many of his pictures, he balances the story of individuals with the story of masses, often in the same frame, so a dialogue scene might take place with a few horses or wagons trailing past in the distance – always done with so much control so as not to let the one outbalance the other. Perhaps the best example is in an emotional little vignette at the end of the land rush scene – a wagon fills most of the screen, but Ford allows a tiny gap on the left to show the settlers carrying on in the background – just keeping that part of the story going without allowing it to dominate.

By the way, the new Dana Kaproff score that accompanies the recent "Ford at Fox" restoration of 3 Bad Men is also very good. This is as far as I can tell the only silent score Kaproff (normally a TV composer) has done, but he handles the form with skill. It's full of little touches that I like – for example, about twenty minutes in there is a brief scene of George O'Brien's character carrying on his way, singing his song, silhouetted against the sun. Kaproff, rather than giving us the same tune, uses a minor key variation. We recognise it as O'Malley's signature tune, but it just has that little difference that stops it becoming samey, while at the same time corresponding to the sombre tone of the shot.

3 Bad Men is probably Ford's best silent picture. Here at last he has been given a story in which the silhouettes of men on horseback riding across the plains can be tinged with both excitement and poignancy. That was where romance truly lay for old Jack Ford.

I enjoyed so much this film, that it made me think that Cinema did not really evolve from silent to talkies, it just went on in a different direction. I can visualize silent films being made today with narration instead of dialogs. I would not say this film has a good story, it is over sentimental and naive, but it is a proof of what a great director, great cinematography and great actors can do. It has of of the funniest scenes when the "bad men" pick up a dandy in the saloon, his expressions of fear and conceit, also the fantastic way he dances with one of the girls. It also has a tragic and beautiful scene where a baby is abandoned, during the stampede of horsemen and carriages reminding one of the pram scene in "Potemkin". And also one of the most spectacular, grandiose scenes where thousands are waiting for the sound of the cannon to rush for the land. This DVD copy was excellent with a great soundtrack added.

This film convinces me that John Ford deserves his legendary status. He seems to have had his unique gift for cinema story telling from his beginnings. This is a starkly realistic tale depicting , unromantically , some of the brutal hardship of the late 19th century west.

There is great poignancy in the loyalty and ethos which surface in even the most "bad" of men. To convey this in a silent film , with fairly minimal use of dialogue screens , required some pretty good acting and good camera work. There are several protracted facial studies which convey the critical messages very eloquently. Through most of the film I forgot that there was no "talking" dialogue. There are some surprisingly "contemporary" humor lines on the dialogue screens , not typical of westerns but quite typical of Fords evolving love of pathos.

3 Bad Men (as the title card shows it) is an outstanding example of the silent western and one of John Ford's earliest triumphs. The photography is stunning and the land rush sequences truly impressive, and while the story of redemption and sacrifice is predictable it is nonetheless still moving.

I stumbled upon this on the Fox Movie channel.

it is an excellent tale of the West as only John Ford can tell it.

great cinematography, narrative, acting.

the camera-work is especially compelling.

and the updated music by Dana Kaproff is outstanding.

some of the best silent film music I've ever heard, and I write film scores, so I know what I'm talking about.

check out the Fox Movie channel if your cable company offers it.

They show great films from their library.

this is a must see and must have for anyone's collection of silent masterpieces!

I expected this to be Ford's first adaptation of "The Three Godfathers." And while the film borrows elements from Peter Kyne's story, it's really quite different, owing little to any source, having merely been "suggested" by Herman Whitaker's novel "Over the Border." It opens with a wildly inaccurate summary of post Civil War western settlement, but soon settles down into a surprising tale of good-guy outlaws battling bad-guy lawmen, a similar kind of world-turned-upside-down theme to which Ford would return in his first talking western, "Stagecoach."

But unlike the Ringo Kid in that film, these bad men, "Bull" Stanley, "Spade" Allen, and Mike Costigan, aren't just misunderstood; they're cold-blooded killers. After fighting off sheriff Layne Hunter's lawmen for the prize of some thoroughbred horses brought from Virginia by a Major Carlton to compete in a Dakota territory land rush, Bull is about to establish his claim by putting a bullet through the brain of a figure kneeling over the major's body when a hat falls off to reveal the tresses of the major's daughter, Lee, played by Olive Borden. Bull has apparently murdered men under similar circumstances, but he can't kill a woman. His saving grace is his love for his sister Millie who was seduced away from home by a man against whom Bull has sworn revenge.

Lee, believing the bad men came to her father's aid, pleads for Bull's assistance. Bull's compassion is awakened, and instead of stealing her horses he persuades his baffled comrades to help Lee in the land rush. Opposing them is Layne Hunter, sheriff of the town of Custer, looking sexually ambiguous with his white face, dandy clothes and long hair. He not only covets the Carlton thoroughbreds but Lee herself, apparently planning to seduce and pimp her out like his other prostitutes. One of his recent acquisitions we learn is Bull's sister.

The bad men are compelled to save Lee by finding her a husband. They choose Dan O'Malley (played by George O'Brien), an Irish cowboy the Carltons had met on their way to Custer. The partners also learn from a prospector the location of rich diggings in the Black Hills. The lawmen burn down a church and Millie is shot trying to shield the minister. Bull is finally reunited with his sister who dies with him at her bedside.

All five partners ride the Major's thoroughbreds in the Custer land rush. But the Hunter gang is waiting for them over the starting line, intending to follow the partners who they are certain will lead them to the gold. Outnumbered, the bad men must sacrifice themselves one by one to cover the route of Lee and Dan, redeeming their criminal pasts by saving the two lovers, and allowing Bull a final opportunity to obtain justice for his dead sister by killing her seducer.

I don't know how much input Ford had on the final script. He usually had a hand in most aspects of his films. But even if other westerns occasionally featured corrupt officials and goodhearted bad men, the idea of murderers as martyrs and the town sheriff as a sexually ambiguous pimp complicates the plot more than you might expect in a movie of this era, and shows how far ahead of his time Ford actually was.

Ford's infamous and unmistakable brand of humor suggests he had more than a little to do with the script. But even though the humorous interludes take too long, they're not as distracting here since they are consistent with character and plot development, which isn't often the case in Ford's films. We shouldn't be too shocked at racially insensitive title cards since such language was common to the time in which the film takes place. And finally, the Grand Tetons, standing in for the Black Hills, furnish the type of spectacular backdrop - like Monument Valley in later Ford action scenes - for some exciting images of the land rush and the heroic sacrifice of three good men.

This is a great find - some excellent performances here (Olive Borden as the plucky little heroine, Priscilla Bonner as poor little misguided Millie, Lou Tellegen as the corrupt sheriff in rather silly hat) and an excellent story which has a lot to say and keeps you watching. If only someone out there would restore it to its former glory ... wouldn't it look wonderful?

Not one of Ford's better oaters, "3 Bad Men" is nonetheless a modest and satisfactory silent Western, with comic touches and serviceable storyline of three outlaws rescuing a young abandoned girl after her mother is killed in the wild west. While the able players (George O'Brien, Tom Santischi, Olive Borden, Priscilla Bonner, J. Farrel MacDonald) are in good form, the film is chiefly notable for its superlatively evocative photography, the shots of gorgeous exteriors and the typically Fordian long shot of epic landscape & riders on the horizon. It is very poetic and well-made.

Look for that exciting sequence of the Dakota land rush.

3 BAD MEN is clearly based on an earlier Ford film, MARKED MEN--which had been made and remade six times over the years. The most familiar (though not best) version was THREE GODFATHERS with John Wayne. Just like this other story, 3 BAD MEN is about how three criminals forget their evil ways and sacrifice their lives to save a young lady they came upon in the wilderness. There are many differences, however, and if you've seen any of the six versions of MARKED MEN, it's still worth seeing.

The story involves three criminals who plan on stealing horses as they are being taken across the wilderness by wagon. However, just as they are about to attack, another group of crooks attack first--killing the old man leading the wagon. They then attack and drive off the first group of desperadoes and are about to kill the final person with the horses when they see it's a pretty young lady. Inexplicably, they all immediately become captivated with her (!?) and instead become her protectors.

While the story idea is silly and recycled, the film is well worth seeing because of two main reasons. First, it's very entertaining. Second, and this is the part that struck me, the cinematography was amazingly beautiful. At times, it looked like an Ansel Adams landscape come to life. Additionally, the portraits of the American Indians at the beginning of the film are wonderful historical moments, as these Indians looked real--not the Hollywood idea of these natives, but real Indians.

Despite enjoying and still recommending you see the film, I must admit that blue-7's review is essentially correct. The final showdowns where the three "bad men" all sacrifice their lives one at a time to save the young lady they love were handled very poorly--which is a surprise for a master director like Ford. Each of these men did a rotten job holding off the enemy--not even bothering to hid behind rocks or thinking through their attacks. They simply threw away their lives--and not very convincingly.

So overall, you've got a silent film with a lot of mistakes and plot problems yet it still manages to entertain and have value. Not a great film by any stretch but still one John Ford or silent film fans should see.

The story is kind of all over the place, and it has a weird mixture of comedy and drama (which, of course, is hardly odd in a John Ford film), but this is a pretty good one. Tom Santschi, J. Farrell MacDonald and Frank Campeau play three outlaws who plan to rob a covered wagon of its horses, but instead find young Olive Borden weeping over her dead father. They're disarmed and decide to turn a new leaf and take care of the girl (to note: she is a young adult, not a child). They become her surrogate father and help her as she establishes herself in the newly formed town that has sprung up in the Dakotas. Soon, there is to be a land rush, and many have gathered there before the land is opened to colonization (the pesky Indians have been removed to a reservation - they aren't a huge part of the film, but occasionally they can be seen watching the white men). The three bad men start looking for a husband for Borden and hit upon George O'Brien. The villain here (Lou Tellegen) is interestingly the law man and wears a white hat. The photography is gorgeous and Ford's direction is excellent. Despite the sloppiness of the script, it's a gripping Western. The land rush sequence is equal to the one in Cimarron four years later.

Starting out as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty (along with Phyllis Haver who also has a small role) Olive Borden's exotic beauty soon caught the attention of Fox Studios and Tom Mix and after appearing as his leading lady in a couple of westerns she was then given the much sought after role as Lee in John Ford's "3 Bad Men". Although often confused with "Three Godfathers" by Peter B. Kyne it was actually based on the novel "Over the Border". It was a very unusual western for John Ford, blending tradition with romance. The sentimental subplot (which in my opinion is the heart of the whole movie) involving Tom Santschi out to wreak revenge on the man who seduced his sister was a theme William S. Hart would have been proud of even though by the mid 1920s Hart was making his last movies, having been thought to be too old fashioned among the younger, slicker cowboys such as Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson. Despite the popularity of "3 Bad Men" it was Ford's last Western for 13 years.

Dan O'Malley (George O'Brien) is just one of thousands hoping to make a new life for himself in the Dakota land rush. After a very cute scene involving a broken wagon wheel he makes the acquaintance of Lee Carleton (beautiful Olive Borden) who is on her way to Dakota with several race horses. The stunning scene that introduces the "3 Bad Men" with the only lighting from the rising sun is just glorious. "Bull" Stanley (Santschi) is a bit different to his two companions - his continuous wanderings are part of a relentless search for the man who ruined his sister.

Lane Hunter (Lou Tellegen) is a typical western movie sheriff - upright to the town's unknowing citizens but also head of the local criminal gang whose crimes include horse stealing. When his gang tries to steal the Carleton race horses, the "3 bad men" get involved and they become Lee's "3 bad men" when she hires them to see her through to Dakota. They come to regard her as their daughter and as well as looking after her are also on the look out for someone who is good husband material (George O'Brien re-enters the movie). Lee is also on the end of Lane's slimy advances and little does "Bull" know he is the man his sister, Millie, wrote so glowingly about. Unfortunately for her she was quickly discarded and now lives in the town's bordello - although as played by Priscilla Bonner she is completely untouched by the vice around her.

A little slow initially the movie builds up to a major action sequence in the magnificently staged land rush scene with some sweeping shots of the race of the covered wagons ("Cimmaron" must have copied it) and picking up the pace in the last 30 minutes when old scores are settled. Another scene at the very start has an old Indian chopping down a tree to reveal a spectacular view of the West - lake, forest, Indian settlement and mountain peaks towering to the top of the screen. Yet another scene has that old standby - the burning of the church. Millie has overheard Lane's plot and rushes to the church to warn the preacher (Alec B. Francis) but too late as the outlaws send burning wagons down the hill. "Bull" is reunited with his sister in the ensuing riot, just long enough for her to tell him the name of her seducer!!

The movie was initially planned as a blockbuster vehicle to star Fox's three big action stars - George O'Brien, Tom Mix and Buck Jones but that idea was eventually dropped and Tom Santschi, who really looked like he came out of a Matthew Brady photograph, was substituted instead. He had been a Western actor from the earliest days, having appeared in "The Spoilers" (1914).

I could swear I saw John Wayne as a young bugler boy, just before the land rush. Can anyone else recognise him?

John Ford won four Academy Awards over his career for his direction on such classics as "How Green Was My Valley", "The Grapes of Wrath" and "The Quiet Man", but it is for his Westerns that he is best loved. Certainly "The Searchers", "Stagecoach", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "Fort Apache", etc. are among the best. Yet through much of Ford's work is his brand of "humor" which often is at odds with the film. I just re-watched "Cheyenne Autumn" and was appalled at the Dodge City (James Stewart as Wyatt Earp) sequence placed just prior to the intermission of the road show version. It is so out of place that one wonders what Ford could have been thinking of. I followed this up with another viewing of "3 Bad Men", which was a major William Fox release for 1926. In addition to George O'Brien in the lead this film has three wonderful character actors (Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi and J. Farrell MacDonald), a big budget (judging by the large number of covered wagons), and an interesting story idea that is all wasted from Ford's very weak directing. Ford is so caught up in making things "humorous" or "touching" that he destroys the dramatic context of the film. For instance, as the 3 bad men each sacrifice themselves for the sake of the girl and her guy at the climax, Ford stages the stand off fights so poorly as to destroy any belivability in what we are watching. The bad men hero's stand out in the open to hold off a hoard of on comers. One has be given two rifles but instead uses his six-shooter which is empty after 3 shots! The film is directed by the numbers. Everything is telegraphed ahead before it happens. Ford would later take this similar story and make it as "3 Godfathers" (1939) and do it right! Ford's direction of the Dakota land rush scene pails when compared to the Oklahoma land rush in William S. Hart's "Tumbleweeds" (1925). One would think that Ford would have been at the top of his form after having recently directing his epic "The Iron Horse". "3 Bad Men" is a John Ford misfire!

. . . who ran across America to protest the Trumpsters' plan to pump the Final Life Force out of the Sioux's Sacred Homeland with a Rich People Party Money-Grubbing XL Pipeline-type Project, it's sobering to watch 3 BAD MEN document the 2nd Act in this 140-year on-going Tragic Marathon Passion Play. Act One, of course, was Native American Ally George Custer getting lured into a corrupt liquor profiteers Rich People Party trap set for him by the soon-to-be-convicted Warmongering Hench People of one of the worst U.S. Presidents ever, Mr. Fifty Dollar Bill, Grant (who proved that the average four-star general is just as incapable of being Commander-in-Chief as an 8-time Emmy-Loser Game Show Host). 3 BAD MEN ends exactly one year after Grant arranged to rub out Custer, as the Rich People Party arbitrarily divvies up the Sioux Sacred Homeland. In the hands of a great director such as Frank Capra or William Wellman, this page of Shameful History might have come to poignant life like GRAPES OF WRATH (director John Ford's ONLY flick with some heart and soul). Though 3 BAD MEN is one of the few remaining watchable films by this over-rated Fascist (HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY is the only other one I can think of right now), Ford's lone scene of Native Americans here is limited to about three seconds of stock footage. Only someone with total tunnel vision will care about Ford's concept of "Honor Amongst Thieves," or whether anyone should make distinctions between Cosby and Trump if one of them molested 85 chicks, and the other "just" 80.