Wed 7 Mar 2012
A Western Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: THE LAST SUNSET (1961).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[5] Comments
THE LAST SUNSET. Universal Pictures, 1961. Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten, Carol Lynley, Neville Brand, Regis Toomey, Jack Elam. Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, based on the book Sundown at Crazy Horse, by Howard Rigsby. Director: Robert Aldrich.
If you’re ever looking for something terse and violent in a Western, you may find it in Sundown at Crazy Horse (1957), by Vechel Howard (aka Howard Rigsby). Like most Gold Medals, it’s a fast, fun read, and Howard has a gift for conveying information with intriguing detail that notches this way above average.
He knows the gritty details of moving cows around, and he can put them across without getting his foot tangled in the stirrup. He also shows a subtle gift for characterization that eludes many more successful writers — insert names here.
In 1961 screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo added a layer of Greek Tragedy to this simple tale, and Robert Aldrich filmed it as The Last Sunset, with Rock Hudson as the lawman, Kirk Douglas the good/bad guy, Dorothy Malone the woman they both want, plus Jack Elam and Neville Brand as a pair of perfectly-cast owlhoots.
They should have known better than to complicate a story whose chief asset was simplicity, as the movie slows up some, but it’s sustained by Aldrich’s flair for the perverse and westerns don’t get much kinkier than this.
March 8th, 2012 at 5:37 am
Sundown at Crazy Horse sounds like my kind of western. I’ll look for it. Thanks.
March 8th, 2012 at 10:35 am
This film does not work well for the reasons stated. Overlong and heavy best describe the problems, but Rock Hudson is extremely effective, possibly one of his best performances. Douglas and Malone also work more than well. Carole Lynley and Joseph Cotten not so good. I write this with the Cotten of a few years earlier being a favorite. Clearly his good work is in the past.
March 8th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
I don’t know either the book or the movie, but I have the book, and luckily it’s where I can find it. It’s a Gold Medal paperback, so even without Dan’s review, it has to be good. I just haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ll add it to my TBR pile.
The movie is included in a box set of Rock Hudson films on DVD, and even with the only so-so recommendations, I’m intrigued. It might be worth watching. We, as they say, shall see.
March 13th, 2012 at 8:49 am
I’m a Rigsby fan, so I’d be presold, as well. That he’d publish under pseuds should’ve occurred to me, but didn’t.
March 13th, 2012 at 9:33 am
I viewed and reviewed this one a while ago. I thought the performances were fine, but the script made the story heavy-handed, the ending especially. Any film with Jack Elam gets extra points from me, too. Thanks for the good review and for acknowledging the source material.