The Violent Men is a 1955 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Rudolph Maté and starring Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Dianne Foster, Brian Keith, and May Wynn.

[3][4][1][5] Based on the 1955 novel Smoky Valley by Donald Hamilton,[6][4] its storyline involves a ranch owner who comes into conflict with the land grabbing tactics of the big local rancher, whose tense marriage threatens his family's stranglehold over the region.

John Parrish, a former Union Army cavalry officer, has been living out west to facilitate his recovery from an old war wound on his lung.

Known for foolishly not carrying a gun and avoiding trouble, now that he has a clean bill of health, he plans to sell his land to Anchor Ranch and move back east with his fiancée of three years, Caroline Vail.

However, he is disturbed when he witnesses the town sheriff being gunned down by Wade Matlock, one of the cowardly henchmen working for the Anchor Ranch.

Later, Anchor's crippled owner, Lew Wilkison, who has almost completely taken over the valley and who resents farm settlers moving in on the range, presents a low ball offer for Parrish's ranch, telling him he has 24 hours to respond.

Then in a violent play to push the deal, one of Parrish's ranch hands, the son of a 'nester' or local farm settler, is murdered by Wade Matlock.

[7] Film critic Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote:COLUMBIA has pulled all the levers in making The Violent Men, a broad-beamed and action-crammed western that opened yesterday at Loew's State.

It has ticked off a well-machined scenario, a three-starred "big name" cast and a scenic outdoor production that looks mighty grand in CinemaScope.

[8]TV Guide wrote: "Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Glenn Ford, and Brian Keith star in THE VIOLENT MEN, a better-than-average psychological western featuring impressive CinemaScope photography and some hard-charging action scenes.