The Last Posse

Yes folks, this superb little western - posse western, a genre within the genre - is produced by the same man who will work several years later with Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott on the same kind of stuff. Short, small budgets but so great ideas, with nothing really expected, nothing predictable and pulled by strong performances, and the whole without any f...heroes; only terrific characterd=s study. Look for instance Broderick Crawford in one of his best roles, an aging sheriff, his most poignant, terrific ones. And with this western, director Alfred Werker, proves once more - before DEVIL'S CANYON, THREE HOURS TO KILL, CANYON CROSSROADS, AT GUNPOINT, REBEL IN TOWN - that he was nearly at the level of a Budd Boetticher in terms of budget-quality ratio.

Its a Western and honors the theme quite well. It has familiar faces, horses, drinking, fighting, saloon activity, bank robbery, little town, scenery and a woman or two or three to make the connection to the audience. What I liked the best was the story. Realize that there must have been millions of stories having to do with settling in the West during the start-up period. All remain remarkable and unique some succeeding and many failing. Here we are introduced to a town that made it through the rough period and it looks like they have a future or do they? Let the story tell it. Also look forward to what I consider a decent ending if only for this reason. It leaves quite a bit to the viewers imagination as to what happened after the end credits. The questions are obvious and I don't want to spoil it for you. It is interesting to note that a rancher made over 100,000.00 in this movie selling cattle (beef) to the a middleman who sells it to the end users. This was in high demand at the time and a person could get wealthy running cattle if they could get past all the hardships including but no limited to: Rustling, drought, death, weather, illness, and huge logistics problems. If one navigated successfully, you made a fortune and did it again and again giving jobs to many and helping a town grow as well as yourself and your holdings. Much wealth early on was generated this way and handed down. Of course people in the cities had to have beef and they ate tons of it. They still do. Today, the prices are outrageously high for this city boy who lives in CA. I wonder if it is cheaper where they raise them? I bet it is. Enjoy a good sandwich and tasty drink while watching this and a decent snack after that. Oh and special mention to Broderick Crawford who I liked who played in Highway Patrol always speaking in his car microphone 2150 by...LOL

The Last Posse is directed by Alfred L. Werker and co-written by Seymour Bennett, Connie Bennett and Kenneth Gamet. It stars Broderick Crawford, Charles Bickford, John Derek and Wanda Hendrix. Primary location used for the shoot is Lone Pine, Alabama Hills, California, with Burnett Guffey on photography duties. Out of Columbia Pictures, story tells of how a returning posse on the trail of outlaw robbers, return to Roswell, New Mexico, minus their leader and with their accompanying sheriff critically wounded.

Much better than its B movie origins, The Last Posse is strong in characterisations, visually smart and being structured as it is, primarily in flashback, also getting a bit of unusual intrigue tossed into the Oatmeal. It's also very well acted, with Crawford and Bickford making for a nice gruff opposing pair, and the support cast is filled with solid performers like Henry Hull, Warner Anderson and Skip Homeier. Director Werker (He Walked By Night) does a good job of keeping the story nicely paced, dotting the plot with some well staged action along the way, and the finale, thankfully not telegraphed, doesn't disappoint at all. But in the main it's the writing and Guffey's photography that lifts it above average. The various members of the posse are either troubled or driven by motive, making for a good psychological mix, and this in turn is well realised by Guffey's crisp black and white photography of the Lone Pine, Alabama Hills landscapes. The numerous boulders and odd shaped rocks impose on the characters and the desert flats make a grim stage for the unfolding story.

Easily recommended to the Western movie fan. 7/10

Broderick Crawford gives one of his usual solid performances playing a worn-out alcoholic sheriff struggling through life. The storyline keeps the viewer interested and the chase through New Mexico takes us into great scenery. The actions scenes aren't particularly convincing though but the film does good service to the Western genre by clearly defining the Bad guys from the Good guys. Very watchable.

This film is not just your ordinary Western mainly because the film starts out with flashbacks from the very beginning to the end. Broderick Crawford, (Sheriff John Frazer) is a burned out sheriff who was well respected and decided to hit the bottle and drift off to retirement. Charles Pickford, (Sampson Drune) plays the role of a cattle baron who is ruthless and cruel and treats other cattlemen poorly and cheats them out of their money when they are facing hard luck and about to lose their ranches. John Derek, (Jed Clayton) is a son to Sampson and thinks the world of his father, however, Sheriff Frazer knows some very dark secrets about Sampson and the two have no use for each other. Wanda Hendrix, (Deborah) is a young gal who is very interested in Jed Clayton and has hopes to settling down with him someday. Sampson Drune is robbed of a Hundred and Five Thousand dollars and a posse is organized and even Sheriff Frazer manages to ride along with them. Charles Pickford gave a great supporting role along with John Derek.