From Noon Till Three (1976)

Synopsis (spoilers): An outfit of bank robbers stops at an isolated mansion to request a horse, since one of theirs got wounded. The mansion's owner, a widow, says she hasn't got any, and when they hear noise coming from the stable, it's up to one of the guys to go there and check. He goes and finds out that the lady lied, but he gives her cover. Thus, being one horse short, one of the guys must stay behind while the others go and rob the bank. The same guy - Graham Dorsey - who went to check for the horse is the one who stays. The explanation for his lie is that he had a nightmare about the upcoming heist wherein they all ended up dead, so he figures he'd rather not go. While in the house with the widow, he seduces her by telling that he has been impotent since his wife died, and is thinking of killing himself. After an afternoon of lovemaking, they receive news from the town saying his partners have been captured and will be executed that afternoon. The widow urges him to go and rescue his friends, which he is not willing to do, so he pretends to accept the suggestion and just leaves. He runs into his persecutors but manages to shun them. He meets a traveling dentist and forces him to trade clothes with him and to give him his carriage. He stops to ask for information to an old woman, who goes inside and returns with a shotgun pointed at Dorsey. The police is called and he is arrested. The dentist happened to be a crook who took people's gold teeth and replaced them with inferior ones. Dorsey is sentenced to one year in prison. Meanwhile, back in town, the real dentist was shot by the sheriff's posse and, as he was wearing the widow's late husband's clothes, he is brought to her, who faints at the sight of him (she never sees his face so she thinks it is Dorsey). The town people surmise that she had an affair with the bandit, and she receives everybody's reprobation. She decides to make a public speech in front of everyone saying she loved Dorsey and is not ashamed of that. People are touched by her attitude and flock to her house to apologize for their behavior. A writer is brought along who offers to write her love story, to which she agrees. The book is a huge success, and she becomes famous, her mansion even becoming a tourist attraction. Meanwhile, Dorsey is released from prison and decides to go back to see his one-day lover. She did not recognize him at first, saying Dorsey was much taller and handsomer than the man standing in front of her. He only convinces her when he shows her his penis. She refuses to resume their relationship, saying that she now has an image to preserve, and even offers him money to keep the pretense that Dorsey is dead. Dorsey refuses and she kills herself. Dorsey flees the house and everywhere he goes he suffers people's mockery and disbelief regarding his identity. He engages in a fight with an ardent admirer of the literary Dorsey, whom he contradicts by stating that the real Dorsey (i.e. himself) was a coward and a liar. He is arrested and taken to a madhouse where he is welcomed by one of the inmates and finally accepted as Graham Dorsey.

Appraisal: A fable about how legends tend to overshadow reality. It is interesting, albeit more in a literary sense (it's based on a novel) than in a cinematic one; it is not particularly well directed, and in fact I did not see any sign of a director's hand in it. The film's biggest shortcoming is probably that the fame acquired by the characters doesn't seem very likely -- their story is not that appealing; another implausibility is the widow not recognizing Dorsey upon his return -- in one year, neither he nor her memory of him may have changed that much. But, given that it's intended as a sort of philosophical reflection about fame and the fabrication of heroes and other myths, these details are just means to an end and thus perhaps not of crucial importance.

Rating: 51