El Perdido

You might know by now that I'm not the biggest western fan. I picked up The Last Sunset for the cast, expecting to groan at the end and complain about my wasted time. What I mistakenly judged to be a boring western turned out to be a very touching, well-acted drama! It just happened to take place in the land of cowboys and horses.

Kirk Douglas comes back into the life of old-flame Dorothy Malone, but it's been nearly twenty years since they've seen each other and she's moved on. She's married to Joseph Cotton and has a daughter, Carol Lynley, but the sparks still fly between her and her old beau. Rock Hudson shows up and lines up for Dorothy's attention-and that's just the beginning!

So often in love triangles, there are clear good and bad guys, and the characters are one-dimensional, so the audience can mentally check out and blindly root for the man in the white hat. Dalton Trumbo's script, based off of Howard Rigsby's novel, features wonderfully three-dimensional characters, each with strengths and weaknesses so the audience understands why Dorothy Malone can't make up her mind. It's a truly riveting story, sure to capture even more of your emotions when Carol Lynley enters the romantic arena. She and Kirk Douglas share a very different romance from Dorothy and Kirk; it's sweet, pure, and truly lovely, but is it sustainable? He's seen so much more of the world, and their scenes together are very moving. While everyone in the film gives great performances, Carol and Kirk steal the show. She's so incredibly sweet, and his unspoken emotions radiate off the screen. You might not find yourself reaching for your Kleenexes, but I certainly did! I won't spoil anything, but the last few scenes have stayed with me long after I watched them. I wish I could elaborate on how wonderful Kirk Douglas's performance is, but that would involve major spoilers. Just rent it; you'll be in for a real treat.

If you like your romances heavy with drama, or you like the idea of having to choose between Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson, or if you've ever seen beyond forever in someone's eyes, rent The Last Sunset! And if you invite me over for a movie night, I'll bring the tissues.

Enemies Bren O'Malley and Dana Stribling confront each other in Mexico, and are then hired by the Breckenridge family to help drive a herd of cattle north to Texas. The two men observe a truce which will last until they have crossed the Rio Grande, but at sunset on the first day back in Texas, there will be a reckoning. For one of them, it will be the last sunset.

Made in 1961, this film is a fine example of an art form that was dying - the 1950's western. John Wayne carried on making them for a few years more (and arguably up to "The Shootist"), but by 1964, three years after this picture, the Spaghetti Western had arrived, and the genre was transformed for ever. The 1950's in Europe and America was an era of social stability - some would say stagnation - and the western reflected the values of the rigid, disciplined society which produced it. Plots did not vary much, innovation not being something that audiences craved, and storylines turned on predictable devices like cattle stampedes, indians on the skyline, fast draws and a man doing what a man's got to do. This film happens to contain all of these stock ingredients.

Man's desire for woman is a theme running through the story in deftly-worked permutations. Dalton Trumbo's better than average script has older men lusting after younger women, men harbouring fantasies of lost love, bad guys leering at decent matrons, and much more. Belle is made a chattle in her husband's droving contract, and receives a new proposal of marriage under the flying buttresses of a Mexican church. In keeping with the film's symbolic structure, she reserves her response until the Rio Grande has been crossed (Mexico seems to preserve the Americans in aspic, preventing them from advancing their plans, just as the church architecture encloses Belle and her lover).

"The Last Sunset" is several cuts above the average western. Its plot situation, the pursuit of one man by another and the involvement of a ranching family, is neatly established at the outset with minimal dialogue. The immediate sexual electricity between O'Malley and Belle engages the viewer, and O'Malley's little comic touches convey his charm and 'open him up' for the viewer. Belle's inner conflict is quickly made plain for us, and O'Malley's behaviour (graciously allowing her to leave the barn) is psychologically interesting, suggesting that he is certain of her. We want to know more about these characters. Much is achieved with the merest of glances, as when Breckenridge tells O'Malley "everything that's mine is yours", and O'Malley darts a look at Belle, or the glance thrown by Stribling when he realises why O'Malley is taking the appalling risk of returning to Texas.

Expert editing by Michael Luciano enhances the effectiveness of the movie considerably. When O'Malley teaches the Julesburg Kid a lesson on horseback, elliptical cutting skilfully evokes the Kid's sense of dizziness and confusion. At the final shoot-out, the accelerating rapidity of the cuts increases the tension brilliantly. There is one small lapse at the start of the cattle drive - the pick-up shot of O'Malley fording the river (overcast sky) does not match the master shot (bright sunshine).

O'Malley's song, "Pretty Girl In The Yellow Dress", runs through the film as a motif. It is a central symbol, because O'Malley's idealistic and doomed vision of Belle is transferred to Missy when she dons the dress - "a new smell to follow".

Admirable though it is, the film does have some weak points. Would Breckenridge REALLY accept O'Malley's second precondition? Would the wily O'Malley REALLY shoot the indian so rashly? The grassy bank on which O'Malley and Missy recline is patently a studio fabrication, bearing no resemblance to the parched earth of the location shots. Stribling's final comment on the derringer is clumsy overkill. We all got the point.

Good use is made of locations, especially old Spanish architecture like the crumbling aqueduct. The brick arches seem to be enveloping the Americans, just as their lives are stalled by being here in Mexico. Attractively-shot silhouettes adorn the dust-storm sequence, particularly during the quicksand episode. Once back in Texas, O'Malley is emblematically shut in by corral fences, a man left with nowhere to go. The film's great punchline, delivered by Belle on the verandah, is truly shocking.

Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson, O'Malley and Stribling respectively, appear above the title (Douglas's own production company, named after his mother, financed the picture). Douglas is appealing and charismatic in one of his many 'generous-hearted bad guy' roles. Hudson is perfectly adequate in the straight-down-the-line part of Stribling, and looks terrific. The character of Belle, with her internal contradictions and the aura of having been buffeted by life, calls for an actress with both beauty and intelligence. Dorothy Malone is ideal in the role. Carol Lynley does very well as Missy, making a great transition from gawky kid to radiant woman. If Joseph Cotten fails to shine, it must be said that the part of Breckenridge is a dreary one. Neville Brand and Jack Elam turn in stock performances: as jobbing bad guys throughout the 1950's and early 60's, they must hardly ever have needed to shave.

Verdict - Interesting western with powerful denouement.

Major portions of this movie were filmed on my grandfather's ranch "La Presa" in Aguascalientes, Mexico. My family and the locals still remember the excitement of hosting Hollywood stars and a film crew in such an unlikely place. Throughout the film the actors make factually correct references to the local villages and towns. And although most of these people only viewed the movie once (during its initial run in 1961) they remember the plot and the excitement of hearing the names of their villages uttered by stars on the big screen. And while Aguascalientes cannot claim to be a cult destination a la "Giant" (Rock Hudson again), they remain proud of their footnote in film history.

I personally recall the loud arguments my father (living in the USA at the time) would have with his cousin Salvador, who swore that Rock Hudson had been seen in town with the local (and few) homosexuals. In 1961, my father believed that it was impossible for Rock to be anything but the All-American (straight) male image he projected on the screen. My dad laughs about it now.

As always an incredible performance by Kirk Douglas as an outlaw/ drifter on a quest to meet his great love. He's being chased by a Texas lawman played by Rock Hudson. Despite the venue, horses, cattle drive and Mexicans this isn't really a western IMHO. It's a love story draped with western gear. Jack Elam & Neville Brand are essentially wasted. Joseph Cotten as the husband of Douglas' lost love is a sympathetic drunk who gets the kind of back draw justice you might in a Mexican bar. Carol Lynley is beautiful as Dorothy Malone's daughter and Kirk's replacement love interest. The tale feels like it has Biblical elements to it on it's most important level. Ultimately it's worth watching for Kirk's performance whether angry, charming or in love. The crime of which he is accused is clearly just a plot device to get everybody together. I just kept wondering how hot it must be dressed in black in Mexico on a cattle drive?

An unpretentious Western told in an honest, straightforward manner.

Robert Aldrich does a very controlled job directing a story straddling the Texas Mexico border, a story told at a steady pace but rarely reaching memorable highs. The film has many elements of the classic Western including a chase, cattle drive and gunfight but it also tries to add some melodramatic, pure story based elements - though one major plot point was so well signposted, it might as well have been included in the opening credits.

Kirk Douglas, as Brendan O'Malley, provides the barely controlled dynamism at the centre of the film. Unfortunately, not all parts of the film are to this standard. Rock Hudson has difficulties with the role of the upstanding sheriff. A strong supporting cast, from Joseph Cotton to Jack Elam, provides a wide, interesting range of characters.

Overall, a solid if unspectacular film, recommended for Western and Kirk Douglas fans. 6.75.