source: Count Three and Pray

A quiet, character-driven western with an interesting religious element and Joanne Woodwood cute as a button in her debut as a feisty tomboy wearing trousers far too big for her who takes pride in her ability to "skin a squirrel with her teeth". Saturnine menace is meanwhile supplied by Raymond Burr as a very heavy heavy.

Post-Civil War southerner--who left his small town for battle with the reputation of a brawler and a womanizer--returns home a changed man; he has heard God's calling, and intends to build a church from scratch and be its self-appointed parson. Rather offbeat, entertaining, if modest western drama from screenwriter Herb Meadow (adapting his short story, "Calico Pony") offers a strong starring role for Van Heflin. Focused and determined, but not above a little unorthodox behavior, Heflin's Luke Fargo is a charming, thoroughly-realized creation: a man who wants to preach but isn't even sure how to begin a prayer. The film has lightly humorous character bits, also a ready-made villain in Raymond Burr (whose determination to trip Fargo up at every juncture is never made quite clear). Joanne Woodward debuts as a scruffy, orphaned tomboy; she's miscast, and is used mostly for comic relief, but she manages to make a connection with the audience--and with Heflin, although their final walk together (however subtly presented) is a bit tough to swallow. Not a big, rousing western, though completely unpretentious and engaging on a minor level. **1/2 from ****

Count Three and Pray is directed by George Sherman and written by Herb Meadow. It stars Van Heflin, Joanne Woodward, Raymond Burr, Phillip Carey and Allison Hayes. A CinemaScope/Technicolor production, music is by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey. At first glance it appears to be a film about a bad man finding his faith and coming good in the face of adversity, but there are many more strings to this particular bow. Even if it never quite reaches greatness. Story has Heflin as Luke Fargo, a man who before the Civil War was something of a hell raiser, he loved women, he loved to drink, and he loved to fight. While serving in the war he was emotionally scarred by what he witnessed at The Battle of Vicksburg, he decided then that a change in his life trajectory was required. The bite here is that Fargo, a Southerner, fought for the North because that was the political side he believed in. So upon returning to his Southern hometown, he's persona non grata, a major problem since he wants to spread the gospel and cast off his previous sins. His efforts are further complicated when he locates himself to the derelict - ramshackle - church and parsonage, to find living there is a feisty orphan girl called Lissy (Woodward), a sharpshooting tomboy with fire in her belly. Right from the off we find Fargo having to reach back to his hellfire club days, forced to brawl when confronted with outright hostility that's being instigated by self appointed town leader Yancey Huggins (Burr on splendidly nasty form). Oh there is plenty of God fearing folk in the town who desperately want to have the church up and running again, they want to give Luke a chance, but there's the constant feeling that a leopard never changes its spots, something that is further compounded by the attention Luke receives from the town "madam" (Jean Willes). While the fact that Luke is living under the same roof as young Lissy sets tongues a wagging, unhealthily so. Luke valiantly ploughs on, but his unorthodox methods are sure to be used against him... As the relationship between Lissy and himself develops, you sense quite early on how things are going to pan out, but the by-play between Heflin and Woodward is great viewing. Initially you would be forgiven for thinking that Woodward's character is going to be greatly annoying, but Woodward quickly dispels those fears to deliver a quite wonderful portrayal of a wastrel who is unaware she herself needs guidance. Heflin also is great value, a real mixed bag of emotions, lurching from tough to vulnerable with consummate ease. We could have done with a bit more of Burr's villainy up front and center, while Hayes' (yummy!) treacherous femme comes off as under written, but the main characterisations are strong enough to support the thematics. Nicely photographed around the Agoura Hills area of California by ace lensman Guffey, it's a pleasing production visually. Aurally the musical score provided by Duning has the requisite sedate and bluster moments, though fans of the original Star Trek TV show may find themselves suddenly whisked off on the Enterprise, Duning would clearly rework his score here for Kirk and Spock's adventures. Woodward playing a gal 7 years younger than she actually was asks us for some leeway, while the ending is to my mind a stretch too far, but this is an enjoyable experience for Heflin and Woodward fans. There's good action with knuckles (on a Sunday no less!) and horse racing, and plenty of breezy humour as well, making this a picture that's not quite a hidden gem, but definitely worthy of consideration by the Oater loving crowd. 7/10

Most movies garner your interest in the beginning. You are intrigued and wonder how things will work out. That is the easy part. The difficult part is how to solve the puzzle, put the pieces together in an entertaining and clever way. Therefore, the conclusions of most movies fall apart. "Count Three and Pray" reversed this. The first half-hour was maddening slow, boring, clichéd and predictable. It was also unrealistic as would-be preacher Heflin went about building a church building and congregation from scratch -- what with no money, friends and a hostile community. I was ready to fast-forward to the end, but didn't. The last half-hour was marvelous, though. It moved along quickly. The problems and solutions were unexpected and clever. It was heart-warming, believable and even somewhat religious. Gave me a good feeling. I recommend this to single adults and entire families.

Awful, miserable film probably remembered as it was Joanne Woodward's first motion picture. This colossal bomb deals with a post-Civil war gentleman returning home to the south. He finds utter contempt from the people living there as he fought on the side of the north. What else should he expect- a ticker-tape parade? Van Heflin is our turncoat and along the way, having survived Vicksburg, he has gotten religion and plans to be a preacher. The heavy in the film is none other than Raymond Burr who does everything in his power to thwart the goals of Luke Fargo (Heflin) even if it means burning down the church or spreading horrendous gossip about Heflin and his sudden 18 year old charge, Lissy, played nicely by Woodward. Throughout the film,she appeared to be a tom-boy like character, who Heflin tries to tame. The problem with the film is that every time Burr strikes at Heflin, there is really no excitement. Even at the end, Burr just drives his horse and buggy away. A Gunfight At The OK Corral like ending was needed here.

I sat through this mess only last night, on TCM. Crass and maudlin are kind words compared to what I could say about this movie. The characters are so archetypal so as to be laughable, and this is not in any way a comedy. There's the town bad guy in a black shirt, his indolent posse of ne'er do wells, and the hooker with a heart of gold. It's really too bad, considering the level of talent available to the production. Van Heflin is seriously miscast as a man who prior to his religious conversion was supposedly a brawler and serial lady killer. Well, that's only half right, as he gets into two fistfights only 30 minutes into the movie. In fact the fighting becomes really tedious very quickly, and seems to exist only because the writers couldn't come up with anything original and just wanted to increase the action. Don't get me started on the bickering between Heflin's and Joanne Woodward's characters. Woodward is adorable, but shrill. And her haircut is so anachronistic that I began to wonder if Vidal Sassoon got his start during Reconstruction.

This movie has some of the best dialog I have heard. Joanne Woodward is exceptional in her sassy, contentious character. She steals every scene she appears in. Van Heflin was always good and Raymond Burr I still dislike. A good story and a difficult subject, dealt with in a light hearted but serious way. Just, well done!

Herb Meadows wrote the original story "The Calico Pony" that this movie was based on, and this was its shooting title. Van Heflin was great as Luke Fargo, Joanne Woodward in her film debut is okay, but a bit tiresome and "Methody" in her performance. She does a nice job but is not as appealing as a Debbie Reynolds-Tammy backwoods type. The supporting cast including Raymond Burr, Jean Willes, and Kathryn Givney are terrific. Best of all is Allison Hayes as the rich girl gone bad. Her performance is amazing and seems slightly truncated so that she could get NO audience sympathy. Some of her dialog is delivered over closeups of Woodward. No other female character is allowed to be sympathetic at all, even Nancy Kulp as made shrewish and mean to Woodward's benefit. This makes the story suffer - but Heflin, Burr, and Hayes make it a very interesting nearly-forgotten movie.

This picture is a great intro to Joanne Woodward with good dialog and solid performances by all. Van Heflin is perfect as the repentant womanizer and Raymond Burr is always a good heavy. I think Joanne W. is wonderful as the feisty young woman. As a tomboy, seeing the movie in my youth, I related to her character. Everyone's transformations and adjustments to life after the Civil War are believable. The only thing that is bothersome are the stagy sets. The rendition of the hymn "Holy, Holy,Holy" is a good American standard of the times. One of my favorite films but not seen enough on TV. Wish a DVD of it would be included in JW's classic collection with "Three Faces of Eve" and the "Long Hot Summer".