From Noon Till Three (1975)

The Buck Bowers gang — five strong — is heading to Gladstone to rob the bank. But the horse Graham Dorsey (Charles Bronson) is riding breaks a leg.

So the gang makes an unexpected stop at the mansion of widow Amanda Starbuck (Jill Ireland). She says there isn’t a horse on the property they can borrow.

Graham finds one in the barn, but goes along with Amanda’s story. So the gang rides off without him.

The lie was an act of chivalry, Graham says. After all, there’s no telling what the gang might have done to her if they found out she was lying.

Then Graham sets about seducing the lovely young woman who’s become a spinster way too early in life, using a story about impotency to spur her ardor, then embellishing the tales of his outlaw days as they spend an idyllic afternoon romancing and making love.

Ah, but the bank robbery went badly. One gang member is killed; the other three are caught and sentenced to die. Alas, Amanda knows she and Graham must part. After all, he’s sure to want to rescue his fellow gang members.

He has no such intentions. Instead, he swaps clothes with a dentist to make a clean getaway. The dentist, wearing Graham’s clothes, gets peppered with bullets and everyone assumes its Graham.

First ostracized by the residents of Gladstone for consorting with an outlaw, Amanda professes her love for Graham, then turns their story into a worldwide best seller. Heck, folks pay to walk around the outside of the mansion where Graham and Amanda fell in love.

But what will happen when the real Graham Dorsey resurfaces?

Review:

A charming little comedy Western that scores major points for originality and ages much better than some of Bronson’s action Westerns.

The real-like couple of Bronson and Ireland clearly had fun filming the game of seduction that takes place inside the Starbuck mansion.

Ireland is especially charming as the widow who decides she might as well give in to her awful fate, but vowing all the while not to move or open her eyes until the filthy deed is done.

Okay, the ending seems to veer a bit of course, but there are still lots of delightful touches. That’s especially true when Graham returns to Gladstone after a short stint in prison to find the town has become a tourist attraction and legend has turned the inept Buck Bowers gang into notorious outlaws.

Most ironic of all: The lie about the horse that brought Graham and Amanda together wasn’t an act of chivalry at all. Graham had a premonition that the bank job would end in disaster and was looking for a way out all along.

Directed by:
Frank Gilroy

Cast:
Charles Bronson … Graham Dorsey
Jill Ireland … Amanda Starbuck
Douglas Fowley … Buck Bowers
Stan Haze … Ape
Damon Douglas … Boy
Hector Morales … The Mexican
Bert Williams … Sheriff
Davis Roberts … Sam
Betty Cole … Edna
William Lanteau … Rev. Cabot
Larry French … Mr. Taylor
Michael LeClair … Cody Taylor
Anne Ramsey … Townswoman
Howard Brunner … Mr. Foster
Don “Red” Barry … Red Roxy

Runtime: 99 min.

Memorable lines:

Ape, referring to Boy: “I never robbed a bank with a virgin before. A double version — his first raid and never been laid.”

Graham Dorsey: “You’re a beautiful woman. Locked away here in the bloom of your life. It’s a crime against nature.”
Amanda Starbuck: “What happened to the gentleman? To chivalry?”
Dorsey: “The first rule of chivalry is to rescue ladies in distress. And I never met a lady more in distress than you.”

Amanda Starbuck, after a prolonged tussle with Graham Dorsey: “Enough! If you’re so depraved you’d inflict your desires on an unwilling body, then proceed.”
Whereupon Graham Dorsey sweeps her off her feet and carries her to the bedroom.

Amanda, explaining all the fan mail she’s received, from as far away as Japan, and why an Amanda-Graham reunion isn’t a good idea: “You and I have become more than ourselves. Being more than ourselves, we’re obligated to subordinate our lesser selves to our greater selves.”
Graham, looking mightily confused: “You must be talking Japanese. I haven’t got the foggiest notion what you’re saying.”