Duelo de Titãs

Don't miss the beginning of this film. Not only is it essential to the whole picture, but it is also a great example of how a filmmaker can show a brutal crime without showing the details on-screen. In the opening, a brutal rape and murder occur; director John Sturges and the performers relay very effectively what happens, it's the horror in your mind.

Kirk Douglas stars, and he is riveting. My favorite of Mr. Douglas' scenes is when he describes a hanging to Earl Holliman - it's an "award-worthy" performance; but won none or few, no doubt. The others all perform amicably, too. After Douglas goes to Gun Hill, he sees old friend Anthony Quinn… watch how Douglas and Mr. Quinn play their first scene and you'll see how good these two actors are.

You always have to suspend disbelief in film watching, and a western is a little different. Westerns have their own world, which you accept, or don't. I could not really accept Mr. Quinn and Earl Holliman as father and son, at first. I think it could have been helped if Quinn had done something different with his hair; he never seemed concerned about thinning or gray hair, so I can't fathom the hair… it made him look younger than usual. After the movie went on, I decided to just accept that like I accept the rules you accept when you watch a western.

Besides, Quinn and Holliman are far to good to replace. Then, add Carolyn Jones... Now, I figured, at first, she would have the standard "look pretty and kiss the hero" role -- but, that was not so; actually, she was given a real good part and had a chance to perform a meaningful acting role. Ms. Jones showed she should have been given more good film roles.

So many westerns try build this suspense -- "Last Train from Gun Hill" should have you shaking in your cowboy boots.

********* Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) John Sturges ~ Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman

"Last Train From Gun Hill" never received the praise it was due coming as it did between two more famous John Sturges westerns, "Gunfight At the O.K. Corral" (1957) and "the Magnificent Seven" (1960). It is nonetheless a classic in its own right. It has a strong cast headed by Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn and holds your attention from start to finish.

Two cowboys, Rick Beldon (Earl Holliman) and Lee Smithers (Brian G. Hutton) are on their way home from a few days of fun and games when a buckboard carrying an attractive young Indian squaw (Zora Rodann) and her young son Petey (Lars Henderson). The men taunt the young woman until she horse whips Rick, laying open a deep cut on his face. The men become angered and chase the woman until they catch her and rape her, accidentally killing her in the process. Her son escapes, steals Rick's horse and rides to town to tell his father, who happens to be town marshal Matt Morgan (Douglas).

Morgan distraught over his wife's horrible death, recognizes the saddle on Rick's horse as that of an old friend Craig Beldon (Quinn). Beldon is now a wealthy rancher who controls most of the town of Gun Hill. Morgan takes the train to Gun Hill where he meets Beldon's mistress Linda (Carolyn Jones). He then goes to Beldon's ranch in search of his wife's killers. At first Beldon offers his help until he realizes that the guilty party is his son Rick.

Morgan vows that he will take Rick and Lee back for trial on, you guessed it, the last train from Gun Hill. Beldon swears that Morgan will never take his son and makes plans to stop Morgan. Morgan manages to capture Rick and......

As in other Sturges westerns there is plenty of action, excellent photography and solid direction all leading up to a climatic gunfight.

Also in the cast are Brad Dexter and Bing Russell as Beldon's top henchmen and Walter Sande as the town sheriff. Sharp eyed western fans will also spot veterans Glenn Strange, Dabbs Greer, Charlie Stevens, Billy Benedict, John Anderson and Ty Hardin in small featured roles.

A great western.

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.

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.

John Sturges a number of the best movies ever made - The Great Escape, The Gunfight at O.K. Corral, the Magnificent Seven, and here is a great movie he made that doesn't get mentioned with the all-time greats as it should.

Kirk Douglas is outstanding as the uncompromising sheriff on a mission of revenge when his Native American wife is killed by the spoiled son of a lifelong friend. Anthony Quinn is excellent as the hardbitten rancher who respects Douglas' character more than anybody (and whose life he saved in their youth), but who behaves one as a protective father, and two as a man who is rich and powerful, and used to getting what he wants. Carolyn Jones is also great as a woman caught in the middle of the two men.

No cop-outs, no easily resolutions. Just a great movie with a great cast.