O Pistoleiro do Rio Vermelho

With elements of the TV western Gunsmoke and the film High Noon in it, The Last Challenge is a worthy addition to the western genre. All the players involved have done westerns before and look very comfortable in their roles.

Glenn Ford is the town marshal and the fastest draw in these here parts and when you're the former, it sure helps if you're the latter. He's got a gal pal in Angie Dickinson who's a combination of Miss Kitty and oddly enough Grace Kelly in High Noon. Because oddly enough a confident young gun hand played by Chad Everett has come to town and he's got Angie worried.

Let's just say that Angie makes a move that Kitty would never even contemplate insofar as Matt Dillon was concerned. It costs her big time.

The western as an adult theme arrived in this film because we have a scene with Glenn and Angie sleeping in a big double bed. We never got to Ms. Kitty's bedroom in Gunsmoke and a scene of a man and woman in the same bed was something never contemplated in the past. Not even that very married couple Roy Rogers and Dale Evans would have heard of such a thing.

What happens with Glenn and Chad. You have to watch the film to find out. But I will say you'll see an ending very much influenced by High Noon.

This Western deals with an aging ex-gunslinger (Glenn Ford) become marshal and challenged to a duel by a rough young (Chad Everett). He is searching for peace and quiet but unable to avoid his reputation and the showdown-challenges it invites .

This is a mature , humourless Hollywood Western with Ford as the gunman turned sheriff attempting and inevitably failing to runaway from his past . It carries a surprising feeling of authenticity for a Western of this twilight period . The filmmaker is good at staging some action sequences , however is slow-moving and developed with dry sense of entertainment . The picture is produced in medium budget by Metro Goldwyn Mayer where the director Richard Thorpe spent 33 years in the same studio and he was to become the longest-servicing filmmaker in their story . In time he became known as the studio's ¨one take¨ because of his rapid shooting schedules . The flick relies heavily on tiring relationship between Glenn Ford and Angie Dickinson who plays a Saloon owner , formerly call-girl . There are good supporting portrayals from Gary Merrill as tough cardsharp , Royal Dano as drunk Indian chief and Jack Elam in his usual role as outlaw .

The picture is professionally directed by Richard Thorpe , though with no originality . Richard liked making escapist movies and many of them have rousing action scenes , handled with great confidence . He directed lesser Western and thrillers when he moved into features in 1924 and did little of note before joining MGM in 1935 . Thorpe made routine studio fare until 1950s when he was given more major assignment . He then made various big-budget productions financed by Pando S Bergman among his best known films are all the MGM Tarzans following his arrival at the studio in 1935 and a series of swashbuckling adventures in the early 1950s featuring Robert Taylor , the most successful of these were three swashbucklers made in England as ¨Knights of Round Table , Ivanhoe and Quentin Durward¨ . Thorpe was an expert on all kind of genres as Western as ¨Vengeance valley , Wild horse , Under Montana skies and Last challenge¨ but his specialty resulted to be adventures as ¨Prisoner of Zenda , The prodigal , Challenge to Lassie , Malaya , Tarzan's secret treasure ,Tarzan escapes , Tarzan finds a son¨ and Musicals as ¨Fun in Acapulco , Rainbow over Broadway , The prince student¨ and his biggest money-maker to date was ¨The great Caruso¨ and his last big box-office hit was ¨Presley' Jailhouse Rock¨ . He also worked briefly in television before retiring in 1968 , his last film was ¨The last challenge', also titled ¨The Pistolero of Red River ¨.

The basic premise of this movie is quite simple: a young man with no particular talent but a quick draw (Chad Everett) wants to feel important by out drawing the fastest draw around -- an experienced marshall played by Glenn Ford. As the movie progresses, a bond of mutual affection develops between the young gunfighter and the old marshall. The marshall tries every way he can to avoid the inevitable gunfight which he know he will win. This movie is essentially about relationships and the differences between youth and maturity rather than just another gunfight. It's one of my top ten westerns.

Loved the cast. Loved the non-politically correct nature of the script. Especially in the modern era, this movie plays as refreshing and fun. It doesn't bow to any pressure concerning treatment of women or Indians. Delivering complex three dimensional leads and delivers a conclusion out of the box. Absolutely wonderful.

Glenn ford, chad everett in a very late western. Angie dickinson, a couple years before police woman. Blaine was a bad boy gone straight, now he's the marshall. Young buck mcguire wants to challenge him, but doesn't want to kill the town marshall. They will meet again. Angie's hairdo's get bigger and sillier as the tale goes on. Some beautiful scenery of arizona. More secrets come out. Final showdown. It's okay. Directed by richard thorpe. His very last film. Based on the novel by john sherry. This seems to be his only work made into film.