Der letzte Zug von Gun Hill

John Sturges a number of the best movies ever made - The Great Escape, The Gunfight at O.K. Corral, the Magnificent Seven, and here is a great movie he made that doesn't get mentioned with the all-time greats as it should.

Kirk Douglas is outstanding as the uncompromising sheriff on a mission of revenge when his Native American wife is killed by the spoiled son of a lifelong friend. Anthony Quinn is excellent as the hardbitten rancher who respects Douglas' character more than anybody (and whose life he saved in their youth), but who behaves one as a protective father, and two as a man who is rich and powerful, and used to getting what he wants. Carolyn Jones is also great as a woman caught in the middle of the two men.

No cop-outs, no easily resolutions. Just a great movie with a great cast.

Last Train from Gun Hill has the star power to help back up a storyline that is, on the surface, seemingly too straightforward: a Marshall (Kirk Douglas) finds that his wife has been killed. When he finds out that it is the son of a cattle baron (Anthony Quinn), despite his old friendship with the baron, he decides to bring the son to justice, holding him by gunpoint in the town hotel until the train comes to take them off to jail- while the baron has his men outside with their guns poised. There's a touchy element to who the son (played as a snidely little kid in Earl Holliman) killed, which was that the Marshall's wife was a Native American. But more impressive in the script, and through John Sturges's steadfast professionalism, is how there's the tension between law and the personal, the immediate draw of a gun draw to solve anything, and the bitterness of real vengeance (watch Douglas's Marshall tell Rick about how he'll be the only one to hear his own brain cry out as he hangs dying, perfectly acted).

Although it's likely that Douglas and Sturges were in or made better westerns, this is the kind of work that doesn't age in much a way that cheapens the questions poised or the invigorating style. It's a fairly violent film too, with a couple of deaths by the train tracks at night all the more effective from the taunting build-up and the pay-off in one shotgun fired off, and always the threat much more tension-filled than the result. Granted, when a big fire ends up happening, it looks very much like it's on a sound-stage and without a whole lot of suspense (save for the typical but strong 'who will get the gun first' moment between the Marshall and Rick in the bedroom), but it's the ambiance of the characters, the dread over this dangerous mix of volatile father and townsman- a better than average Quinn without being too hammy- and a good man driven to vengeance in bad-ass Douglas, and the determined woman (Carolyn Jones) that makes it so compelling. There's even a slight feeling of unpredictability in the situation- in a town where reputation trumps what is good and decent, but also where emotions run high as can be, the stakes are high for chance.

By the very end it feels like it should be more formulaic, and there are bits where the dialog does come off as brawny ol' western genre jargon (look simply at some of the quotes on the IMDb page as example). But if you happen to come across it on TV one Sunday afternoon, as I did, it's worth the time to sit and get absorbed by a well done star vehicle.

Some say Rio Bravo, some the Searchers, some Shane for some reason. Everyone has an opinion about what the greatest 'classic' western (before the '60s when Leone and Peckinpah broke the old myths) is. I would have said High Noon for a while ago. Then I was home last evening, at a very cold and snowy winter day. I thought to look at a movie from TV and didn't care much what they were showing. It happened to be this masterpiece. And I was awe-struck.

The story tells about a sheriff (Kirk Douglas), whose Indian wife and a mother to his child is raped and murdered. He goes on to find the men who did it to the town of Gun Hill and finds out that the other of the men is the son of his old friend (Anthony Quinn). He has in time become the most powerful man of Gun Hill and won't let his son to be taken to the court for his actions.

This is a quite daring one for a fifties western. There's some blood and nudity here. And most of all, the sides aren't black and white, but rather shades of gray. The movie's most potent message is that you can't take a life, even a criminal, because there will be people who were close to him and his death will hurt them worse. Every life is valuable.

Kirk Douglas is good in the lead role. He bottles most of his emotions in, as probably anyone in his situation would. Better is Anthony Quinn, who essentially has to decide between his son and his best friend. He portrays anger, fear, anxiety and hopelessness great.

This became my favorite classic western. it's not Once Upon a Time in the West, but I loved to see so mature themes in such an old movie. It looks great too, they had wonderful set builders then.

***** The Best Part: The showdown at the Gun Hill railway station

I just saw this film recently on cable and was reminded of how well made it was. I'm a fan of the late director John Sturges' work and I own both "The Magnificent Seven" & "The Great Escape" on DVD. "Last Train from Gun Hill" does'nt get the same mention along with the well deserved recognition of these other films of the director. I'd rank it among the best classic westerns of the 50's & 60's period of great Hollywood movies. The story benefits from starring two great actors in Kirk Douglas and the late Anthony Quinn. Earl Holliman showed great promise in an early role as the spoiled rotten son of Mr. Belden. I'm surprised that he did not become a bigger star as a character actor throughout his career. And the late Carolyn Jones turned in a strong performance too as Linda. Definitely up there in the same ranking of great classic westerns and one of the best efforts of John Sturges. I will buy this DVD as well to add to my movie library! Lorenzo the tbirdman

A snot nosed punk, after raping and murdering a marshall's wife, is trailed home by the vengeful lawman. The entire town of Gun Hill refuses to aid the marshall in any way due to fear of, or loyalty to, the rapist's father who controls the whole town. A standoff ensues in the form of a 'waiting war'; waiting on the 9 o'clock train out of town: the marshall either dead or with his prisoner, himself the victim of his overindulgent yet brutal father. Excellent western with loads of blazing 6 guns and hot lead.