From Noon Till Three (1976) User Reviews (52)

A stirring little gem with an unbronsonesque Bronson

[yuggoth-1 · 8/10 · 9 August 2005]

This modest little gem is a humorous, funny, melancholic movie about what you can encounter if you fall in love with a romantic woman - you can end up bigger than life, and that can get you into serious trouble! Bronson - far from his usual he-man cliché roles - delivers a very nice, humorous performance; and so does Jill Ireland. Just watch it, even if you are far from being a Bronson fan - this droll flick is enjoyable for everyone!

To tell you more, and make you understand, one cannot avoid spoilers; so here's the plot:

***** SPOILERS *****************************

Graham Dorsey (Bronson) is a member of a gang which is on their way to rob a bank. Being frightened of the job, he takes the chance to stay in a house by the road until his buddies come back from the job.

The lady of the house, Amanda (Ireland), a young, attractive widow, is alone in the house. Graham manages to get her to bed with him. They fall for each other (he pretends to be somewhat more noble than he really is), and share some hours of love and bliss - until a posse comes to catch him (the robbery had failed). He tries to flee (telling Amanda he goes to free his accomplices). But he ends up in jail, sentenced for another man's frauds, while the other man is erroneously shot in his place. So Amanda gets word that Graham is dead.

Amanda, formerly an honorable widow, now looked upon as a bandit's mistress, is alone in her grief. She writes a book about the story; but Graham having overstated, and Amanda having a strong tendency to romanticize and idealize her feelings, she describes the whole story much bigger than life. The book becomes a best-seller; not only locally, but all over the world. The tale gets a huge hype.

So when Graham is free again after a year in jail, and comes back into town (in disguise) for Amanda, he finds, to his surprise and growing amusement, some sort of "Graham Dorsey Disneyland" at the place, built around the book's tale. And Amanda's house has turned into a GD museum, visited by loads of tourists guided by Amanda who tells them "her story". He, too, enters, asking for a tour. He gets it; Amanda does not recognize him - not even when he takes his masquerade off: she simply does not believe him - she believes her book, and in her book, he is bigger, more beautiful, and better in any respect! (very funny scene)

Finally, he succeeds to make her believe him. But to his big surprise, Amanda does not want the real GD - she prefers to live for the legend! She tells him that formerly, it was a matter of just the two of them; but now it has become a matter of the feelings of all the world, which she would not hurt by destroying the myth. Even when he tries to apply force, she just steals his gun and demands that he leaves forever. He refuses. When she sees no more way to change his mind, she even shoots herself before his eyes.

On his following lonely odyssey, he meets the Graham & Amanda hype everywhere, ad nauseam: and whenever he gets up to protest against the lies, saying that HE is GD, he is laughed at, shouted down, or even threatened for his "fraud". Irony of fate: it is only in the end, when he is put in an asylum for his "lunacy", among the lunatics, that Graham finds people who believe him and accept him, and finds his peace of mind.

*********** END OF SPOILERS *******************

So this movie, though playing in a western milieu, is at its core a story of the fate of an unusual love. It is very unpretentious (far away from roaring schmaltz like "Gone with the wind" or "Titanic"; lightyears away from that big-mouthed, stylish soulless crap that we have to endure since the eighties), just a humble, bittersweet little (tragi)comedy with moments of the grotesque, about life's pleasures and grief, about becoming a culprit and becoming a victim; about the value and the cost of idealizing and true life. If it wouldn't be for Bronson and Ireland starring, you might call it a B-film. But Charles Bronson - surely not being the king of actors - delivers a very nice, humorous performance here in a very unbronsonesque role, together with his excelling real life wife Jill Ireland. It's a pity that the direction is wooden sometimes. And, fitting superbly to its old-fashioned style, the movie has a nice catchy melancholic little waltz as a theme song ("Hello and Goodbye"/Elmer Bernstein/Alan and Marilyn Bergman, sung by Ireland), dealing with the elusiveness of love.

Give it a chance! You will come out of it thoughtful, I guess; and about how many Hollywood films can you say that?

Valuation: I would spontaneously give it a good 7 out of 10 - but I spontaneously tend to judge relating to an IMDb average valuation of below 5, as it should be; but the actual average being near 7, it should get an 8 (though this is unfair to the comedy masterpieces like Lubitsch's "To be or not to be", or Chaplin's "Modern times"; or Tati's "Jour de fête" - those should have at least a 12, then! :-) )

Unreservedly Recommended.

[dcheng-7 · 8/10 · 30 November 2006]

I'm shocked to learn that only 17 comments were written in the IMDb so far. I've seen this movie 20 years ago and for a second time last week. I still feel this is a great movie.

Full of inspiration and transpiration, with excellent script and directing, not to mention the great performance by the 2 leading actor and actress, both exhibiting masterpiece achievements for their professionalism.

It was a low cost production, but great film doesn't necessarily cost much. It's a complete waste of movie resource that so little people had seen this masterpiece.

Probably Bronson's only comedy, I strongly and unreservedly recommend it to anyone!

To my unending surprise, I loved this movie and am searching all sources to find it and buy it.

[dodochris · 8/10 · 14 June 2006]

Charm is not a word you would associate Charles Bronson with, but he is chock full if it in this "romp." A group of bank robbers leave Charles Bronson at a widow's (Jill Ireland's) house because his horse goes lame. They vow to pick him up after the robbery in what they figure will be about three hours (thus the name of the movie). In those three hours Charles Bronson, after almost attacking Jill Ireland, decides to go for a sympathy play and has Jill Ireland, within 15 minutes making love to him to help him with his "impotency." While watching the movie, it makes you wonder how she held off for so long. If you want to see Charles Bronson half naked, with a physique of a man 20 years younger, making love - three times -- this is the movie for you. After he leaves, and is mistakenly thought killed, Jill Ireland writes a book about their three hour affair and the whole thing turns into a type of legend, which turns the town into a type of World's Fair exhibit. Charles Bronson ends up in jail for different reasons where he finds out that he has become a legend and of course ties to tell people that's he's that person, and if things weren't already crazy they get crazier. Charles Bronson is unrecognizable from the characters he played in practically all of his other movies. This movie shows his range as an actor and makes me sad he never got to display more of what he was actually capable of. Jill Ireland pulls off her character beautifully and also shows her range, something else we never got to see in her other movies. After thinking about the movie, I know why they did it. If you are channel surfing and see it, by all means watch it. I'm looking for it on DVD now. I want to buy it.

A great adult comedy Western

[skoyles · 14 September 2003]

"Some have a life time/Some just a Day..... Nothing's ever forever/ Forever's a lie..." So goes the theme of this excellent and memorable movie. Bronson shows his talent not only as an actor but as a comic. Jill Ireland also exceeds anything she did before or after. Her shock as she realizes Graham is telling the truth is alone worth the price of admission. Perhaps not for Bronson fans but rather for those of us who enjoyed "Cat Ballou", "Support your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter" and 'The Halleluia Trail". Adult comedy westerns come no better than this.

The strangest Bronson film ever

[helpless-dancer · 7/10 · 20 December 2009]

Never have I seen a Bronson flicker as bizarre as this gem. Here we have a outlaw who breezes into the life of a lonely, remote woman on the post civil war outback. Their relationship takes off like a ruptured duck, producing an outcome that only the likes of a taro card reader could predict. I loved the way this story played out as the action led from one stranger than fiction event to another. This led Bronson's character to lose the one thing more valuable to him than all the bank money he had ever desired and his lover to lose even more. This was a top notch Charles Bronson film, well written and played out, possibly the best thing I've seen him in yet. Thumbs up.

Agreeable and atttactive Western/ romance / comedy with the real life marriage, Bronson and Ireland

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 8 September 2018]

After spending 3 unforgettable hours with an outlaw called Graham Dorsey, Charles Bronson, whose band commits a bank hold-up thwarted by villagers , a beautiful young widow, Jill Ireland, turns her love story - Romeo and Juliet alike- into a worldwide notorious book with several prints and she builds the mediocre Graham Dorsey into a western hero. As the town celebrates :Welcome to Gladstone City where Buck Bowers gang met their end and the romance of Graham and Amanda began. As the noisy city receives a lot of tourists and visitors and showing : Starbuck Mansion tour twice daily , 3 dummies with a poster captioning : where they were hung. And to see Graham Dorsey's grave: he valued friendship more than life , sleep gently sweet prince.

This is a change of pace character for Bronson in a spoof of western legend . Strange is certainly the word for this comedy action fantasy romance tale . The plot is plain and simple as Bronson has a brief romance with his real wife Jill Ireland who , believing him dead, fictionalizes their lives in a series of succssesful books, when he turns alive, no one, including Jill believes that he is the actual Dorsey and he is gradually driven crazy. No sypnosis could convey the flavour of a movie that almost creates its own genre and even might have done so with other classic Hollywood actors . Bronson gives an acceptable acting as the two-fisted gunslinger , though Charles adventure buffs may well not know what to make of this one . This is one of a number of westerns that Bronson played during the mid, late 60s and early seventies, as the famous Once upon a time the west by Sergio Leone, Red sun by Terence Young , Chato by Michael Winner , Nevada Express by Tom Gries , Valdez by John Sturges and White Buffalo by JL Thompson. And being finely acompanied by Jill Ireland who is nice as the gorgeous and sympathetic widow. Supporting cast is good with brief interpretations from Douglas Fowley, Don Red Barry, Elmer Bernstein himself and Anne Ramsey.

Enjoyable and sensitive musical scoreby the classy maestro Elmer Bernstein. Adequate and appropriate production design by Robert Clatworthy, an expert designer who worked in Psycho, Ship of fools, Touch of evil, Guess who is coming to dinner, The incredible shrinking man, The parent trap, among others. The motion picture was weak but professionally directed by Frank D Gilroy. He was a craftsman who wrote and directed a few films such as The gig, Jinxed, Once in Paris, Desperate characters, The subject was roses , The gallant hours and Fastest gun alive. Rating :acceptable and passable 6/10

I'm surprised there is a region one DVD release of this...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 2 March 2017]

... because although it shows the great chemistry between Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland, real life husband and wife acting team until she was taken from us too soon by cancer, this Western love story is based upon Charles Bronson's character (Graham)being an attempted rapist, and being an actual rapist had his intended victim (Jill Ireland as widow Amanda) not been so (initially) clever.

Graham stays behind at Amanda's ranch after his horse gives out, having had premonitions that his gang will be caught during the bank robbery that was planned. You see, the whole idea of stopping at Amanda's was to find him a fresh horse, and when he finds one after she lies about having one, he just confirms the lie. So the gang rides out to rob the bank and pick Graham up later, and Graham proceeds to chase Amanda through the house attempting to rape her. She counters by saying that she knows he'll win in the end and rather than suffer her clothes being ripped apart and her being physically assaulted beyond the rape she just lays down passively like a corpse.

This is very unappealing to Graham, so he devises a tale of impotence to get Amanda's sympathy, it works, and they have a three hour love affair. But word comes back that Graham's premonitions were right. His gang was caught and will be hanged that afternoon. Amanda, considering Graham to be a gallant character - gosh she has a short memory - encourages him to ride into town and save them. Graham finally gives in and rides out, intending to only nap for awhile and then come back saying he failed.

But the posse finds him and gives chase anyways, and Graham forces a traveling dentist to change clothes and horses with him, causing the dentist to be shot and killed by the posse in Graham's place. Graham is not home free though, because he changed clothes with the wrong dentist - a quack dentist who is wanted by the law himself.

Amanda looks upon the dead man's clothes and faints, believing Graham dead and is at first ostracized for consorting with Graham, but then she first verbally speaks of their great love and is forgiven, then writes what turns out to be a best selling book about their three hour love affair, greatly embellishing Graham's character and appearance. The story even spawns a hit play, and the royalties from all of this make Amanda a rich woman.

Will Graham ever get back to Amanda again and how? And if he does will she even recognize him, since Amanda isn't actually lying because she has come to believe all of this legend herself? Watch and find out.

This is a western just full of clever ironies. It's rather a product of its time - the 1970s - when people would rather believe a pleasant lie than know the unvarnished truth, because they are pretty sure that unvarnished truth is going to be unpleasant.

Bronson makes Nice

[megavenganceman · 7/10 · 19 January 2004]

At the height of his stardom, Charles Bronson made this curious oddity. He stars as a bankrobber hiding out at a widow's residence and after a series of comical mishaps, fall in love with one another. This is probably Jill (Bronson's then real life wife) Ireland's best moment. She made a career doing a lot of second stringing in her husband's films but she comes into her own here in a believably sympathetic performance. As for Bronson, well he didn't do a lot of "cute" movies so it's nice to see him in something a little less nasty for a change. Also, he provides some impressive comic relief in his own inimitable, understated way. It is only hampered by some awfully wooden direction. Still, you could do a lot worse.

A wonderful love story with a twist

[elmer_klump · 10/10 · 29 November 2006]

This is my favorite Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland movie. Great writing, directing, photography, and film editing. The casting was perfect. Douglas V Fowley was perfect as the bank robber gang leader. The way Jill is seduced and falls in love with Bronson is fantastic. But alas their love was not destined to last. This is Jill's best and Bronson showed his versatility in a different kind of role. I had hoped that when Bronson returned to her from prison, their love would have reignited and they would have lived happily ever after. But life is not like that. At least they had those beautiful hours From noon till three. I know you will enjoy this movie. I could see it over and over.

Atypical Bronson fare.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 4 August 1999]

Amusing western-comedy, with Charles Bronson in one of his most atypical roles. The film is an interesting curio; I don't remember seeing something similar. A minor work, but well worthwhile.

Oddball Bronson flick

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 22 February 2019]

FROM NOON TILL THREE is one of the oddest Charles Bronson films out there, a relationship drama in which our hero plays a bank robber who holes up at the home of a rich widow and begins a relationship with her. The widow is played by the ubiquitous Jill Ireland, who does well in a complex, multi-layered role. The film itself is a comedy through and through, slightly queasy at times - a film never dates well when sexual violence is played or laughs - but becoming quite amusing in the second half when the intentions become clear.

Bronson in a lighter key works, but does not feed blood lust.

[Oldguypo8 · 8/10 · 8 January 2006]

If you seek killer Bronson, he isn't home. But if you are willing to watch Bronson doing lighter work and be on screen with his wife in a mildly funny satire, enjoy. From first meeting to keeper of the legend, this is a Jill Ireland vehicle. It satirizes Bronson's previous work which grew out of the dime novel creation of the American West. We watch the Bronson character lose control of his real life because a widow creates a better outlaw than he was. Enjoy this for the satire on every level including the score and the songs.

It is a refreshing change of pace compared to the blood beast Bronson had to feed in many action movies. Now that it is being broadcast, watch it with the idea that Bill Hickok and Bill Cody played on stage for money and that dime novelist Ned Buntline gave out those Buntline specials to the men he wrote about. I suspect most of you will at least chuckle at the world caught up in the legend of a third rate bank robber ensnared by a woman he seduced. And the end is better satire than real life Emmett Dalton going to Hollywood to help make movies about the Dalton gang robbing Coffeyville. For an adult audience, this is far better entertainment than Over the Hill Gang slapstick. Give it a try.

A romantic legend

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 17 August 2016]

Charles Bronson has the good fortune of having his horse step into a chuck hole and it having to be destroyed. Good luck because he was a member of Douglas Fowley's gang on the way to rob a bank. The gang parks him with romantic widow Jill Ireland and they have a romantic idyll of sorts From Noon Till Three.

Ireland, a widow who is well fixed did not have much romance in her life while her much older husband was alive and none after he died. She's full of all kinds of notions of true love and Bronson comes along admirably suited to fulfill those notions. But the romantic idyll they create soon overwhelms them.

Bronson and Ireland as real life husband and wife certainly loved working together. They certainly have a familiarity that translates well on screen. When Bronson is her "guest" for those hours you're never quite sure if he's pitching a line to this obviously love starved widow. After a while you don't care and are rooting for him to hit a home run.

Fowley and the rest meet a sad end, but Bronson and Ireland create their own story. I can't say much more, but From Noon To Three is a great tribute to the John Ford maxim from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Print the legend they certainly did.

From Snooze Kill Thee

[osloj · 3/10 · 24 August 2016]

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*Plot and ending analyzed*

From Noon Til Three is a pretty lousy movie. Not only is the acting not up to par, the script isn't that convincing. It seems like a cross between a comedy and a play, with disastrous results. Charles Bronson is annoying to watch, since he's a wooden actor, and if he's not in constant action, then he'll wear you down really quick. He's not likable at all here, switching his clothes with an innocent dentist, who later gets shot by the posse who was after him (Charles Bronson).

Jill Ireland is his love interest. Jill Ireland is wooden as well. She sleeps with him right off the bat, why, I'm still trying to figure that one out. Probably because in real life they were married and Bronski put it in the contract that she had to be in every movie that he did. Unfortunately. They have three hours before his gang comes back so they spend their time in bed, or near a pond, or in a parlor. Sounds about as much fun as having sand poured over your head.

Jill Ireland thinks he gets shot and a book is written about their love romance, which becomes famous. Charles Bronson was actually put into prison for a year and when he comes back, no one believes it's him. That's pretty much it. It's not believable at all and makes for a long viewing because of the tedious scenes.

Charles Bronson was better in Breakheart Pass (1975), Chato's Land (1972), or The Magnificent Seven (1960).

You are probably better off rewatching those movies again, or just rereading Elmore Leonard's Western books, or chopping firewood for the next cold season.

Engaging, engrossing little film that ALMOST makes it...

[Poseidon-3 · 12 January 2006]

In a departure from the rugged, action-oriented films normally associated with Bronson, this small western fairy tale has a great deal going for it. Bronson and his gang are headed into a town to rob its bank when circumstances cause him to have to stay behind at a nearby house. The house, a huge mansion filled with expensive furnishings, is owned by a starchy young widow (Ireland) who reluctantly allows Bronson to spend three hours waiting while his gang obtains the loot. What begins with reticence and adversarial qualities soon blossoms into a charming and unrestricted relationship between the two. They wind up sharing an afternoon of romance, humor, conversation and comfort. Unfortunately, the hold-up goes wrong and Bronson must ride out and leave Ireland behind. When he fails to return, she turns her loss into gold by penning a wildly successful (and exaggerated) novel based on their afternoon. This couple (who appeared in more than a dozen films together) strikes a wonderful chord here with each of them getting a chance to show off their personalities and talents. Bronson is craggy, but charming, and sports an impressive physique in their waterhole scene. His dry humor fits this role perfectly. Ireland, so often used as female furniture in their other films, gets one of her greatest parts here. She's allowed to go from a dour, reserved woman to a radiant, ebullient girl. She also shows a flair for comedy, something she didn't get to do often enough. The chemistry between the two is remarkable and the film could have been (and may even still have been) quite a valentine to their long relationship. Unfortunately, when the story could have stopped and been content as a winning, rewarding fantasy, it goes on (and on) with several endings heaped upon each other until a great deal of the charm is spent in an attempt to create irony and black humor. The ending will be unsatisfying for more than a few viewers. Still, not even the wrong-headed denouement can erase all the pleasure of the first hour or so of the film. The movie isn't devoid of action, but its primary focus is on the relationship of Bronson and Ireland. A waltz, heard many times throughout the film, is sweetly sung over the closing credits by Ireland. It's a delightful capsule showcasing these folks and it deserves to be more widely seen, in spite of its few flaws.

Wow, a wild film!

[ThomasColquith · 6/10 · 16 November 2021]

I am somewhat shocked by "From Noon Till Three". I had never seen this film until today and I had no idea what to expect except that I always want to like Charles Bronson films but I often have a tough time doing so as they are mostly too dour and violent. But "From Noon Till Three" did not fit into the typical Bronson mold. It was not excessively violent nor sad, at least until the end. I had really hoped for a happy ending but be forewarned that this story's ending is well unique.

This film shows that a man can't always live up to his legend; that there's a difference between men and myth, reality and fantasy, and some people prefer one over the other. This film also features nice cinematography and good music with one ditty sung by Jill Ireland herself. She does a nice job playing a stoic beauty who is perhaps overly romantic. Also I must say once again that this film is ultimately a fantasy or fairy tale, not to be taken too seriously, but as stated be forewarned that it doesn't have the happiest of endings.

Though the real life famous couple of Ireland and Bronson surely did know a thing or two about fame and its effects, on both the stars and the fans, so were in a qualified position to spin this interesting yarn which may actually say a great deal about fame, myth, and legend and how various persons view it and value it. So all in all, I will rate this unique western a 6/10.

Bronson goes all Jean Genet

[jaibo · 7/10 · 1 June 2013]

This odd Charles Bronson comedy western comes on like Support Your Local Gunfighter but turns out to be a strange, Jean Genet-tinged meditation on illusion, erotic games-playing, social construction and mythologizing. Bronson plays Graham, a two-bit outlaw who dreams that his gang's up-coming bank-job is doomed. On the way to town he loses his horse and the gang stop off at the ranch of a wealthy widow, Amanda (Jill Ireland); he engineers to stay at the ranch whilst the others go off to rob the bank.

There follows a strange, BDSM-ish and role-playing erotic encounter between Graham and Amanda. The film makes it clear that they are immediately sexually attracted but they have a protracted session of pretence in which he plays the part of a mean outlaw and she the prim lady in mourning. He attempts to ravish her but, crucially, can see that her resistance is a socially restrained charade. To facilitate her acquiescence, he pretends to be impotent and she pretends to help him to a cure. Through these games, which include a fair amount of rough and tumble play-fighting, the two manage to reach a place where their desires can be fulfilled. They spend an idyllic three hours together until Graham learns that the bank raid has gone wrong and his fellow robbers have been arrested. Amanda, determined to create him as the man of her dreams, insists that he goes to town to rescue them. Determined to feed her fantasy, Graham affects to ride into town but contrives to fake his own death by exchanging clothes with an itinerant dentist. The dead body (face hidden) is shown to Amanda, who (wearing a Jezebel-like red dress she'd put on to eroticise her time with Graham) faints when the posse brings the outlaw's corpse to the door. Graham is arrested for the dentist's misdemeanours and ends up with a year in gaol.

So far, the film has been pretty much contained within the enclosed space of Amanda's home, a kind of faux-European mansion in the middle of nowhere. Now the action opens up, with Amanda riding to town to be humiliated and scorned by the townsfolk as a scarlet woman, condemned for sharing illicit hours with an outlaw. Graham and Amanda's encounter suggests that a strange exchange takes place when an outlaw makes love to a respectable member of society – he has to give up his outlaw status and she has to take on a mark of sin. But now the plot turns again, as Amanda gives a rousing speech to the crowd in which she affirms that she loved Graham for the 3 hours they spent together and it redeemed her life. The townsfolk love this and a passing writer offers to turn her story into a book.

The book about Graham and Amanda's encounter, romanticized and embellished, becomes a bestseller with spin-off song and other merchandise. When Graham is released from prison, he returns to the town in disguise to discover that it has turned itself into a theme-park, a memorial to the now mythic defeat of Graham's gang and the love of the outlaw and the lady. There are even tours to Amanda's mansion, which Graham takes. When he reveals himself to his love, she is none too pleased to see him. She'd remembered him and written him as taller and better looking! His meagre dream of escaping into a mediocre life of banking and marriage holds no appeal to Amanda, who wishes to uphold the myth for its worldwide audience of fans. Rather than give up the myth, Amanda kills herself, her real flesh disappearing to be replaced entirely by her legend.

Where does this leave the real Graham? Of course, no one believes him when he tells them who he is – not even people who used to know him. They have all bought into the myth and the reality is no longer viable currency. Graham descends into a pitiful drunkenness. In ironic scenes, he interrupts songs and plays about his own life, only to be rejected by the audience. Finally he is left in a lunatic asylum – where, in a bitter twist, the delusional accept him for who he really is.

From Noon Till Three tells an ambitious story of American mythologizing (reminiscent of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) but daringly combines it with a meditation on how the erotic is built on a fantasy which supplants the real. It is here the film resembles the plays of Jean Genet – the whole of society becomes grounded in an erotic fantasy and woe-betide anyone who can't live up to it. Entire lives become mere dressing up and pretence.

The film is prevented by being great by the often pedestrian direction of its author, Frank Gilroy. There is a little visual flare in some shots but too often things feel like a television movie, lacking visual and cinematic poetry. This is a shame, because there are odd times when the sets are emphasised as just that – theatrical sets – and the theme of the film feels visualised appropriately. The opening – an deserted Western set onto which the outlaws ride to meet their doom in what turns out to be Graham's dream – is perfection and suggests that these characters lives are themselves dreams acted out in an entirely constructed society, where only sex and death are real. To Gilroy's credit as a director, he does get extraordinary performances from Ireland (the right mix of minx, coquette, prim and maniac) and Bronson, who stretches himself as never before and inhabits his series of disguises with aplomb, whilst never losing sight of the character's reality as a rather grubby nobody.

Gets More Bizarre as the Story Progresses

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 20 January 2021]

This film begins with five outlaws riding in the country intent on robbing the bank at a small town called Gladstone City. However, a problem arises when the horse carrying one of the outlaws named "Graham Dorsey" (Charles Bronson) comes up lame. As a result the group continue on their way with him riding double until they get to a large mansion an hour or so from the town. When they inquire about buying a horse a woman by the name of "Amanda Starbuck" (Jill Ireland) tells them that she has none on the property. Doubting her response Graham checks the barn and then returns with the news that the noise they heard coming from it was a just a cow. So the group decides to leave Graham with the woman there at the house with the intention of robbing the bank and returning in a few hours. Wasting no time both Graham and Amanda soon become intimately acquainted but events soon spiral out-of-control immediately afterward. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a very strange film which gets more bizarre as the story progresses. And while I didn't care too much for the ending I must admit that it was still an enjoyable Western-Comedy and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

A Mix of Emotions

[therandomtalker · 6/10 · 20 November 2006]

I saw this movie just yesterday and fell in-love with it. It seems like a serious western but then the humor plays in and you would never know it was a love story. Near the end you don't know how to react the plot was so unexpected. I loved to twist and turns its a movie i wouldn't mind seeing more than once just for the excitement. I highly recommend it. One minute you expect bank robberies and shootings but you find yourself watching two people fall in-love. Its ironic how in the beginning of the movie he's fooling her to love him then the next he's fooled himself. You want them to live together but she lets the fantasy of their love get in the way of it. This movie shows that you can't have love through lies only through honesty. And i think that this has helped me to know how to live the rest of my life.

From Noon Till Three - a Bronson & Ireland gem

[craigsa · 9/10 · 19 January 2006]

The first time I saw this movie (about 1984) I watched it because there didn't seem to be anything else on local TV (I didn't have cable yet). I had never heard of it before, but wow! Talk about a sleeper! I couldn't believe that I had never heard of a movie this good!

It was a pleasant surprise for me, as I have not been all that fond of Bronson movies. Instead of Mr. Tough Guy, Bronson actually plays a part that shows real heart.

And Jill Ireland stole the show with her charming portrayal of the wealthy widow who accepted ol' Charlie into her life for three hours. Her on screen presence was captivating.

If you have never seen From Noon Till Three, I suggest you do so soon. It will put a smile on your face that will last for hours. Like all good movies it should be seen without commercial interruption. So get yourself a copy and enjoy!

Great Ideas, Not Great Execution

[curtis-8 · 7/10 · 13 November 2006]

I'm giving this movie a high score because I love Bronson and because I love the ideas it explores. I have to admit, though, that while I really enjoy the movie, I enjoy it in spite of some pretty clunky film-making. There's a reason why Writer-Director Frank D Gilroy has only directed seven films in thirty years--he kinda sucks at it. Even though Gilroy's ideas about celebrity and the vast grey area between legends and lies are wonderful and thought-provoking, his way of handling dialog and actors is painful. How such a potentially lively story could be made so leaden is beyond me. The only time the movie hits the right notes is during the opening sequences with the outlaws. The rest of the film can't decide if it's "The Shakiest Gun in the West," "Harold and Maude on the Range" or an amateur stage play. Except for Bronson, the actors always sound like they're reading their lines for the first time. If only, IF ONLY a REAL filmmaker had been given this same script! Imagine what Altman or Michael Ritchie or Robert Aldrich could have done with this very same screenplay! If nothing else, I think all three--even Altman--would have picked up the freakin' pace.

Even having said all that, I still enjoy the film every time I see it, for Bronson and for the inventiveness of the plot. But I could never bring myself to say it was actually a good movie. However (and this is something my wife, who happily watches one soul-draining "makeover" show after another, will never understand) this is a film that at least TRIED to be something special. Gilroy was TRYING to hit a high mark. He failed to even come close, of course, but he did try! And that's more than 95% of today's cookie-cutter copycat movies and TV shows even attempt! I can appreciate that.

this could be for you

[christopher-underwood · 2/10 · 27 September 2015]

I'm always up for something that little bit different but I wasn't prepared for this. I must have sat mouth agape as my eyes glazed over as it dawned upon me this was not exactly to my taste. If you like Jill Ireland and are keen to see Bronson as a romantic lothario, this could be for you but I just found it so unbelievable that it could ever have got made.

I note, however, that this has a considerable following, so for some this whimsical tale of inherent silliness is most appealing and I worry for them. I'm fairly certain that anyone used to checking out my own peculiar taste in films will find this the most amazing waste of time.

Overlooked and under-appreciated.

[brefane · 8/10 · 14 April 2007]

If you liked A Big Hand for the Little Lady(1966), then this small, under-appreciated gem is for you, and the less you know about it, the better. It is a vehicle for Ireland who has never been better, and it's the best film that she and her husband Charles Bronson made together. Their relationship which suggests the Taming of the Shrew is one of the most convincingly romantic pairings I've ever seen. Ireland, a widow, is a western version of Norma Desmond or Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, and virtually everything she says is a lie. The title refers to the 3 hours Bronson spends with her in her isolated Victorian mansion. The film is a comedy, a western, a romance,and a satire on myth-making and celebrity, and it succeeds on all levels. Overlooked when released, writer/director, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright, Frank Gilroy deserves praise for this fine western comedy. It's smarter, more romantic, and more sophisticated than Cat Ballou, True Grit, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Skin Game, The Ballad of Cable Hogue etc.... It all works beautifully and the ending is satisfying and surprising. Bronson in a change of pace is very good indeed. Don't miss this film. Definitely deserves a DVD release.

Bronson And Ireland Surprise

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 15 November 2017]

This movie is certainly a surprise. The films made by Charles Bronson and his wife, Jill Ireland, usually revolve around a tough-guy personna, played by Bronson. "From Noon Till Three" is a romantic comedy.

Bronson plays Graham, a bank robber who is no tough guy. In fact, he is an unlikely romantic. When he meets Amanda (Ireland), sparks fly and they spend three hours together. Circumstances separate them for a year. When he comes back to her, he finds that much has changed.

The final act is a big twist that elevates the film above the ordinary.

Also elevating is the song that comes to represent their relationship, written by Elmer Bernstein, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. How's that for a pedigree? In fact, the song is quite charming.

This film is so far afield of what Bronson usually does it feels like a breath of fresh air. And Ms. Ireland gets to spread her wings as a thespian. She also sings their theme beautifully. It is too bad they didn't produce more films outside the action genre.

Immensely Stupid but Totally Entertaining

[arfdawg-1 · 5/10 · 26 May 2023]

This movie is idiotic. It's a trite comedy that gives you douche chills it's so sappy.

But somehow, you are drawn into the kookiness and can't stop watching.

One of the characters (from the beginningof the movie) has a very questionable screen name (look it up) but then this movie was made in the 70's.

It's one of the weirdest movies you will ever see. Definitely even weirder than the last. Death Wish movie -- and that was a weird one.

It's sort of sad that Bronson is nearly forgotten these days. He made a bunch of great movies. This one is memorable for other reasons. See it for yourself. It's completely bizarre. Especailly the ending.