A Revolta dos Apaches

The magical combination of the cool, yet tough handsome hero, Ronald Reagan, and the incredibly beautiful and seductive Rhonda Fleming makes a great foundation for a classic movie. Reagan and Fleming show a believable attraction to one another that lures the imagination of a starry love.

The Last Outpost has plenty of action and the right amount of romance to keep the tone warm. The saber fighting, flaming arrows and fists fights are exciting and fast paced. The characters are memorable and there are lots of catchy lines worth memorizing.

The Last Outpost is a classic movie that should be included in every movie connoisseur's library.

That's one of the several westerns that director Lewis R Foster made, besides THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK, PASSAGE WEST, EL PASO; DAKOTA INCIDENT, all excellent material, pulled by good directing, flawless casts, and this one makes no exception, despite a predictable scheme and ending too. But beware, back in 1935, Paramount Pictures also produced another LAST OUTPOST, taking place in Kurdistan, starring Cary Grant, and it seems to be no connection at all between those two. After all, it could have been a link, because the same studio was in the matter. But no...Anyway, this western is worth watching, providing an exciting, powerful finale.

Ronald Reagan's first starring western occurred in 1951 when he did this horse opera for the Pine-Thomas Paramount B picture unit. Reagan was always a good rider and would have loved to do more westerns in his career. But according to the Citadel Film series book on The Films of Ronald Reagan the real clincher for him okaying the Pine-Thomas deal was a chance to ride his own horse in the film. So Reagan's horse which was named Tarbaby got some screen immortality.

The Last Outpost casts Reagan and Bruce Bennett who are brothers and who have split their loyalties during the Civil War. Fate has brought them together in the west with Bennett taking command of a Federal outpost in Arizona territory to deal with a band of pesky Confederate raiders. Little does Bennett know that Reagan is commanding those raiders and little does Reagan know that the girl he left behind played by Rhonda Fleming is out west and unhappily married to trading post owner John Ridgely.

Ridgely gets killed early on in the film, but not before he sets in motion a plan whereby he will be legally allowed to sell whiskey and arms to the Apaches in exchange for them just taking out the men in gray. In fact Lloyd Corrigan has come east as a member of the government to implement said plan. Reagan refers to him as 'the expediter' and he's the kind of government bureaucrat Reagan would make fun of when he later got into politics.

Bennett is the solid dependable brother, but Reagan invests his part with a certain dash and rakish charm which if you didn't know better you would swear was coming from Errol Flynn. But the most interesting role came from actor Charles Evans playing Apache Chief Grey Cloud who is a disgraced former American general who left the army because his society wouldn't accept the Apache woman he married. Evans really makes his few scenes count and I wish we had seen more of him.

The Last Outpost is a solidly entertaining western with the cast giving fitted performances in the roles they are doing.

Vance Britton (Ronald Reagan) is the captain of a brigade of Confederate troops wreaking havoc on Union outposts . His brother Jeb (Bruce Bennett) is a Union officer sent to the Western frontier to take care of the Confederate problem . Despite their fighting on opposite sides during the Civil War, they have to set their differences aside in order to survive an Apache attack. Vance's former girlfriend (Rhonda Fleming) is also living in the territories with her new hubby (John Ridgeley) . All three converge when Indians assault a llttle town . They lived hard ... they fought hard ... they loved hard ... and they died hard !

Good will and integrity characterize the US soldiers from both sides : Condederacy and Union . Well produced by two notorious producers : William H Pine and William C Thomas , this was their most expensive production to date, mainly because of its cast of higher-paid stars. In the movie appears some known Indian chiefs , usually played by real Indian actors , such as Geronimo performed by John War Eagle , Cochise interpreted by Chief Yowlachie , Iron Eyes Cody plays Mangas Coloradas and Victorio is acted by Charles Brunner . The future President USA gives a passable acting as the brave Confederate hero . Reagan played all kinds of genres such as : The killers , Hellcats of the Navy , This is the Army , Desperate journey, The winning team , It's a great feeling . And Westerns such as : Tenesse's partner , Cattle Queen of Montana , Santa Fe trail . His greatest hits were : Santa Fe trail , Dark victory and King's row . Gorgeous Rhonda Fleming provides a lively performance , she played various Westerns as a stubborn woman , such as : A brothel's owner in ¨Tenesse's partner¨ , a póker player in ¨Gunfight at O.K. Corral¨ , an adventurer in ¨Pony Express¨ and as secondary in Abilene Town ; she had important roles in The Eagle and the Hawk , The Redhead and the Cowboy , Those Redheads from Seattle , Gun Glory , Bullwhip , Alias Jesse James and Backtrack . Decent support cast such as : Bill Williams Noah Beery Jr ,Peter Hansen ,Hugh Beaumont ,Lloyd Corrigan and flm debut of Burt Mustin.

The picture was effficiently produced but in medium Budget by William H. Pine and William C. Thomas, this were known in the industry as "The Dollar Bills" because they made movies so quickly and efficiently that their films seldom, if ever, lost money. The film was regularly directed by Lewis R Foster . He was a prolific composer, songwriter, author and director, educated at the University of California. He began his directorial and film-writing career in 1920. Joined Hal Roach Studios as a writer/gagman in 1923, the same year as director Leo McCarey.He also worked as a newspaperman in San Francisco. He joined ASCAP in 1960. Foster was the director who gave Stan Laurel the freedom to do things his way in films . Worked as a director at Universal Pictures from 1936-37, at Paramount Pictures from 1949-53. And directed a lots of films such as 1953 Tropic zone , 1953 Those Redheads from Seattle ,1950 The Eagle and the Hawk 1950 Captain China , 1949 Manhandled ,1949 El Paso , 1949 The Lucky Stiff ,1937 Armored Car , 1937 She's Dangerous , 1936 Love Letters of a Star . And for TV the successful series : El Zorro with Guy Williams

RELEASED IN 1951 and directed by Lewis R. Foster, "The Last Outpost" (re-released in 1962 as "Cavalry Charge") chronicles events in Arizona during the Civil War where two brothers, officers for the Confederacy and Union (Ronald Reagan and Bruce Bennett), have to settle their differences to protect the outpost/town of San Gil from an Indian attack. Rhonda Fleming plays the former's maybe babe.

The old-fashioned style of filmmaking takes a while to acclimate to if you're used to newer movies. It doesn't help that the talky, contrived story is so convoluted that it takes forever to become engrossed into the characters and events. But there are some highlights: It's great seeing Reagan when he was young; and curvy Fleming is jaw-dropping. The climax is action-packed, but with those eye-rolling stunt hits (i.e. someone gets shot or arrowed and throws his hands in the air in a melodramatic manner, falling to the ground).

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 29 minutes and was shot in Old Tucson and surrounding areas (e.g. Sierrita Mountains).

GRADE: C