Gunsmoke: The Last Apache

This was Gunsmoke Lite. Watered down Hollywood tripe. John Meston and Andy. McLaglen must have been spinning in their graves when this garbage came out.

I only give it a 5 because of Jim Arness.

James Arness and Richard Kiley and Michael Learned back on a Gunsmole setting is all you need if you are a fan - and, beyond that, if you miss Westerns, this is a strong walk down memory lane. Watch, soak it in and enjoy if you are a Gunsmole fan.

Cspaced1 - you took the words right out of my mouth: "I liked this movie." Not a classic, but it has enough adventure and emotion to draw you in and hold you to the end.

Unlike Cspaced1, I do remember the Gunsmoke series. I sat and watched the original, half-hour series with my father and my brother, and I found this movie to be a good use for the character of Matt Dillion. The story line is vintage Gunsmoke. It has its quiet moments and its violent moments; it has joy and it has sadness.

As nice as the picture is, I found the writers succumbing to today's tendency for some senseless violence. In the opening scenes of the movie, Matt goes to pick up a letter, and in the process he kills two men who clearly needed killing. But these killings didn't contribute anything to the story. They just hung there. Dillion could have just as easily picked up his letter and left. I find it somewhat disturbing that writers feel they have to do this.

The only thing I found left unsaid in the end is what Matt did after he parted from Wolf. Did he return to his daughter, or did he ride off. The viewer is left hanging in this regard.

This made for television movie has retired Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) picking up a letter from old flame Mike Yardner (Michael Learned.) This is accompanied with old footage between Matt and her.

Mike has something important to tell him, the paternity of her daughter Beth. However before Matt gets there, the ranch has been attacked by a renegade Indian called Wolf. He has taken Beth captive.

Now Matt learns that he had a daughter with Mike and she has been abducted. To help free her, Matt wants to exchange Beth for the two sons of Geronimo. They are held in jail by General Nelson Miles. A man of dubious honour.

Having never watched the long lasting television series. This television movie seemed to be a long line of television shows resurrected as TV movies. I recall something similar with The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man and even The Return of Elliot Ness.

There is a sense of revisionism about this with the treatment of Indians. General Miles is painted as a monster. Although Wolf is played by a non Native Indian actor.

At least Matt Dillon has something substantial here, some high stakes with him trying to retrieve his daughter.

I didn't see all of this one, but the mix of old and new footage is a good device. The ending was pretty satisfying, and the update on the government's shameful subsequent treatment of the Apache (business as usual) lent a responsible note to the production.

When I first saw Joe Lara as Wolf, I thought-- ah, this is one of those white-guy-raised-by-Indians-and doesn't-belong-in-either-world things. Nope. He's an Apache. A blue-eyed Apache with wavy brown hair and white features. At least they could have dyed his hair and given him brown contacts. Evidently the producers couldn't credit the public with enough taste to find Wolf appealing unless he was a standard-issue Handsome Hunk. A sad loss to some qualified Indian actor, and a sad loss to the viewer, for it definitely compromises credibility.

The year before Gunsmoke: The Last Apache, Lara first played Tarzan-- the white guy who makes good in Africa. Sadly, Joe Lara was killed in a plane crash in 2021. He did a lot of good work, and one can't fault his acting-- but one can fault casting him in an inappropriate role.