The Last Wagon
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Movie Reviews of The Last Wagon
Movie Review: Magnificent Western
Summary: 4 Stars
Delmer Daves made some great Westerns in the 'fifties of which the best known are probably Broken Arrow and the recently revamped 3.10 To Yuma .However for my money the BEST is the movie under consideration here,The Last Wagon .Were it not for a slightly anti-climactic and tacked on moralistic ending it would be flawless.
The opening crane shots alone are proof positive that we are in the hands of a cinematic genius -they are among the very best in cinema regardless of genre.Shot in a rugged part of Arizona the movie opens on a chase sequence as Comanche Todd (Widmark)is being pursued across inhospitable terrain by a trio of lawmen .They are hunting him down for murder -he killed their brothers .It emerges that he had strong motives for so doing -they killed his wife and two sons .Captured after a gruelling chase he is taken by his surviving tracker to join up with a small wagon train .Chained to a wheel his treatment by his captor is unrelentingly harsh but he does win a measure of support from some train members.
The train is attacked and virtually wiped out by Apaches and Todd along with a handful of others survives
He agrees to endeavour to lead the survivors to safety across hostile territory and handicapped by shortages of water ,food and ammunition.the party is also less than unanimous in the way it views Todd .Billy (Tommy Rettig)is an admirer -a teenager he comes to view Todd as a surrogate father .The women of the party are a mixed race woman Jolie (Susan Kohler)who is roundly abused by her snobbish and racist half sister Valinda(Stephanie Griffith).The other woman present is Jenny (Felicia Farr)who forms a strong emotional bond with Todd .The men are the hostile and belicose Ridge (Nick Adams)and the calmer Clint (Ray Stricklin)
It is a fraught journey with numerous encounters with Apaches and the odd snake not to mention a final brush with the cavalry
This is a very physical movie-Todd endures the kind of physical working over that befell James Stewart in the Anthony Mann pictures from the same era-at one point he is even crucified on a wheel .There is a genuine sense of hardsshsip conveyed here .
The journey is not simply to physical survival -it is journey which sees many of the characters revising their world view and growing as people as a result of their ordeal.It is a genuine masterpiece and its relative neglect is a cause of sadnees and sorrow.
Movie Review: Before 3:10 to Yuma
Summary: 4 Stars
Since Andrew Sarris relegated Delmer Daves to lightly likable back in the 60's, and to my mind underestimated him, Daves reputation has risen, albeit slowly, through the years. Mr. Daves, like Howard Hawks, worked in many genres, and had success in most of them. His direction of Bogart in Dark Passage turned noir on its head, without wholly sabotaging the genre. But it is in the Western that Mr. Daves found his greatest success. The list is impressive: Broken Arrow, Drum Beat, Jubal, 3:10 to Yuma, Cowboy, The Badlanders, and The Hanging Tree. (Some of these, alas, are still not on DVD.)
So it is good to see The Last Wagon finally get its DVD debut. Originally released in 1956, it stars the underrated Richard Widmark as a hunted man who befriends a wagon train in peril. Mr. Widmark, too, had made his name in noir, and his unpredictability (he played villains and heroes with equal ease) is used to great advantage by Mr. Daves, who carefully delineates the moral ambiguities in the character.
The film was shot in Arizona and few directors integrated landscapes into their films better than Mr. Daves. This is immediately obvious in this beautiful wide screen transfer, where the colors are vivid and forceful, and the vistas expansive in his famous crane shots. His ease with landscapes aside, fewer still directors presented women more fairly and courageously. Here Felicia Farr gives a luminous performance, as does the always provocative Susan Kohner.
The Last Wagon is a modest Western but not without intelligence. Mr. Daves himself was a Stanford graduate, and in this deceptively simple, although thoroughly compelling narrative, the themes that run through his best films are present here: prejudice, racism; brutality, and justice. And like John Ford, but unlike Howard Hawks, Mr. Daves extols the virtues of community and respect for other cultures. His films often come across as appeals for compassion and understanding; few directors managed to combine entertainment so effectively with such entreaties. Despite a rather hurried and contrived ending, The Last Wagon resonates with its own parched splendor, anticipating Mr. Daves masterpiece 3:10 to Yuma.
Movie Review: " A BOY'S LIFE"
Summary: 4 Stars
This film defined its audience and caters to it throughout. When it was made, westerns were at the peak of their popularity and the bulge of that bell curve was adolescent boys. Although Richard Widmark is the star, I think the focal point of the movie is filtered through the character of Billy played by Tommy Rettig. In the mid 50's, there was no more recognizable young TV star than Tommy Rettig who played Jeff on "Lassie". "Lassie" was on every Sunday early evening when every kid in America was home tuning in. They might laugh at "Leave it to Beaver" and think Wally was sorta cool, but openly or secretly, everyone wanted to be Jeff and live on a farm with a dog that was smarter than your math teacher.
Richard Widmark's character is the kind of father figure a 10 year old American boy growing up in the 50's would envision, right down to the rather ludicrous name "Commanche Todd". At this juncture, it was cool to have lived with Indians and learned the ways of the wilderness but still have blonde hair and blue eyes.Even cooler, to teach these things to a young fatherless boy who happens to have an unattached beautiful sister.
If this all sounds contrived, you'd be wrong. Delmer Daves is an accomplished director who keeps this movie interesting and somehow fresh throughout. I, or perhaps the 10 year old within, totally bought in to the plot and appreciated the whole movie like I'd been to a Saturday matinee. And one of the key elements of this film is probably the most outstanding color photography I've ever seen. In order to provide an experience that TV couldn't offer and ween people away from shows like "Lassie", studios filmed some productions in Cinemascope. This is one of the best of the bunch. With rich saturated Technicolor and the most photogenic Arizona locations you"ve ever seen, the overall widescreen effect is astounding-even on a 27 inch TV. I'm a big fan of Monument Valley and the Anthony Mann high country, but my first reaction to "The Last Wagon" was that this is the most beautiful western I've ever seen.
Movie Review: Exciting overlooked Survival Western is a Great Adventure!
Summary: 4 Stars
The Last Wagon(1955) is a familiar plot. An adventure leads a group of greenhorns through dangerous territory, teaching them survival and self respect along the way.
This is such a well acted and directed piece though, that it hardly matters if we've already been there.
Widmark plays a white man raised by Comanches who is being dragged across backwoods by a sadistic Sheriff(George Matthews), until they come across a Wagon Train.
Widmark slays the Sheriff and is locked up by the Wagon Party. That night, the Apaches massacre the entire party, except for a group of youths who escaped to go swimming. Widmark is found at the bottom of a ravine, is hoisted up and from there on in, fights to get the kids out of hostile territory.
Widmark is great in the lead role. Hard edged and believable in the Action scenes, as well as being sensitive and wise as he teaches the kids how to survive against the odds. It's a very, underrated performance in his career.
The rest of the cast is notable, all the kids performing adequately. Each one going through a believable transformation by film's end. Felicia Farr stands out as Widmark's love interest. Likeable and lovely and able to understand the darkness that drives Widmark's "Commanche Todd" character to such extremes.
The location shooting is effective and among the best of the mid-fifties Westerns. There's a genuine loveliness to the desert surroundings as there is a sense of impending doom. Delmer Daves handles the proceeding nicely and gives the film a good, brisk pace that keeps the film moving along. It's the kind of film that many a modern picture could profit by:intelligent, adventurous, and hopeful. There's also a good message there, if you look for it.
In other words, this has all the ingrediants for a solid Western.
Movie Review: Better than expected
Summary: 4 Stars
Richard Widmark is Comanche Todd, a white man who was raised by the Comanche. He's captured by a sheriff who accuses Todd of murdering three brothers. As the sheriff takes him into custody, they come across a wagon train of families. The families initially welcome the sheriff and Todd; however, they later turn on Todd, not realizing that they will later have to put their trust in the man as they try to escape an attack from warring Apaches. The plot of "The Last Wagon" is fairly typical of 1950s westerns, with holes big enough through which to drive the titular wagon. Fortunately, there are enough quirks in the movie to keep it interesting.
Richard Widmark does a nice job with his ambiguous character, although he seems to be emulating John Wayne at times. Susan Kohner ("Imitation of Life") makes one of her rare movie appearances as a half-Indian, half-white young woman; her performance is believable and quite touching. Tommy Rettig also gets a few laughs as the prerequisite of 1950s westerns - the young boy who worships our protagonist. Some scenes are horribly hokey and unbelievable, such as some silliness involving a night-time swim party, but the movie generally stays on track. "The Last Wagon" was filmed largely on location near Sedona, Arizona, which gives it a more realistic feel. Director Delmer Daves' earlier western, "Broken Arrow," had helped popularize the area, and the movie really benefits from the beautiful scenery. "The Last Wagon" is a pretty enjoyable 1950s western that manages to avoid most clichés of the genre. It's clearly a second-tier western but still enjoyable.