Le dernier train de Gun Hill

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.

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.

Top-notch western drama of a sheriff on a vengeance quest to track down the men who murdered his wife. Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn are excellent as erstwhile friends who are on opposite sides of the dilemma facing them. The film is as much a mystery as a western and several interesting characters intersect the main plot which plays out at the town's train station at the close. Douglas, always intense and edgy is matched by Quinn's stubborn refusal to make the right moral choice. Carolyn Jones and Earl Holliman head a good cast of supporting actors in the tense drama which increases as the plot angles play out. Beautiful western vistas add to a great classic story.

This movie took me by surprise as one of the more effective revenge capers I've seen in quite awhile. It's really much more than a simple revenge movie, but it opens with an offense so outrageous, one could never rest without seeing the scoundrel put to justice. That seems like a very unlikely prospect for most of the film's running length.

The central theme is the classic Western notion of one man representing pure good stubbornly standing fast against overwhelming odds. Last Train combines the brainy suspense of 3:10 to Yuma and the provocative paranoia of High Noon, with a healthy serving of melodrama.

Kirk Douglas may not be as prominent as John Wayne or Clint Eastwood but his work here equals their best. He is extremely grim and convincing as the mightily offended protagonist. Anthony Quinn maintains his usual formidable presence as the heavyweight opponent.

If you're exploring the great Westerns or just looking for a good suspense thriller, this one is excellent.

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