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.

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.

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.