TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

laurencefagan I watched this film on TV on TCM recently after reading the short synopsis and seeing the cast list....Glenn Ford, Angie Dickinson, Jack Elam, Royal Dano and Gary Merrill. A good, reliable line-up. It was a 1967 film as well, sandwiched between The Professionals (1966) and The Wild Bunch (1969), not to mention Butch & Sundance and True Grit, both from the same era. It had to be good. It wasn't...it was awful! The tired plot (ageing gunfighter trying to escape his past with a new young pistolero wanting to prove himself) has been done many times before, and better, but I thought the stellar cast might bring something new to the film...wrong! Poor old Glenn Ford looked his usual world-weary self a bit too much in this film and Jack Elam played his regular character that he's played many times down the years, which is OK if the movie's a good one...if it's not, it doesn't work for me. The most ridiculous waste of talent was the part Royal Dano played, not just an Indian, but a drunken one that wouldn't have been out of place in Blazing Saddles. On top of all that, the film actually looked horrible...it had none of the sharp, colourful camera work that the others I mentioned had, in fact it looked like a 'B' movie to me. The best thing about this film was Angie Dickinson who looked great throughout it. For me, Shane in 1953, set the standard for future westerns, and Rio Bravo ('59) and The Magnificent Seven ('60) kept up this standard with 'grown-up' scripts, good casts and attractive locations. For me, The Last Challenge had none of these ingredients. The only other western I've given a negative review is The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster (and again, a good cast)...bad, but not quite as bad as this one.

classicsoncall Even though the face to face showdown in the middle of a dusty street was more a product of Hollywood than the Old West, you know what was really incredible to me? Marshal Dan Blaine (Glenn Ford) gave up a 'notion' from girlfriend Lisa Denton (Angie Dickinson) in order to go fishing! What?? No way, or at the very least, couldn't he have found time to fit both activities in during the same day? Well, the theme here has been done in hundreds of Westerns, and for my money, the one that does it best is Gregory Peck's 1950 film "The Gunfighter". I'm talking about the young, hotshot gunslinger trying to make a name for himself by out-drawing the fastest gun with the best reputation in the territory. The twist here has the opposing gunmen, Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) and Marshal Blaine meeting up on the dusty trail as strangers, and sharing a meal and some camaraderie before their identities are revealed to each other. Once that's done, all bets are off as to McGuire's true intentions regarding the lawman.I liked Everett in this one, just a few years after appearing as Deputy Del Stark in the TV Western 'The Dakotas", an intelligently written series given the era. Come to think of it, another Dakotas alum appeared here too, Jack Elam as the underhanded trail bum who accepts Miss Denton's offer to take out McGuire before he even reaches town. That was another dynamic I haven't seen before, and made for a confrontational scene between her and the Marshal before the final showdown.Even though McGuire previewed his ability with a weapon during that rattlesnake scene, Blaine never wavered in his conviction that he could take out the undisciplined, young gunfighter. For a while, I thought the picture might have been setting us up for some conflicted resolution to the final face off, but when the time came, I was surprised how quick and efficient the whole thing went down. No wise guy dialog between the pair of gunfighters, just one man outdrawing the other in classic fashion. But this time, the traditional ride into the sunset occurred with the Marshal throwing away his gun into the opponent's coffin, and the girlfriend left to nurse a weary heart over a miscalculation that sealed her disappointment.

MartinHafer As a history teacher, I have a lot more knowledge about what the old west REALLY was like...and for the most part it was little like you see in westerns. In the case of this film, there is the famed fast- draw sheriff, young punks wanting to prove they are faster and the famed shootouts on main street...all stuff that really did not happen. Sure, it could have happened once or twice (anything is possible) but the west was a lot safer and civilized than you would imagine if you got your history from films! So, I knew going into "The Last Challenge" that the film was complete fiction...a myth of a west filmmakers WISHED had really been.When the film begins, yet another stupid punk comes into town to challenge the brave Marshall (Glenn Ford). Marshall Blaine blows the snot out of him and the immediate threat is gone. But of course there is another who is on his way to town to challenge the fast- draw sheriff. But something unusual happens--the pair meet on friendly terms while fishing and seem to like each other. Will that change anything or is one of them still destined to assume room temperature? This is a moderately enjoyable film with a finale that is, pretty much, a foregone conclusion. Not a bad movie...just not at all like the real west. Although a shootout between two guys is common in films, in reality lawmen were very happy to just shoot guys in the back or shotgun them or attack the thug with a group. The whole manly shootout to prove who is the fastest is just mythical.

Nazi_Fighter_David The western showdown is as ritualistic as a bullfight which, in many respects, it resembles... The end is as quick, clean and emotionless as the dispatch of a brave fighting bull by the matador... The outcome is usually as predictable but the clash is a heightened moment of suspense that is as exciting as anything the cinema has ever produced...Richard Thorpe, a reliable director of all genre, and one of MGM's most prolific filmmaker since 1935 directed and produced 'The Last Challenge'/'The Pistolero of Red River.'Wanting a particular personal style, Thorpe never directed a great motion picture, but had a consistently acceptable batting average as a director of fine, unpretentious entertainment ranging from drama and polished adventure to comedy, musicals and westerns...With a beautiful body and a timeless loveliness of a face, Angie Dickinson looks great in her black gown... She again figures effectively as the young lady, in love, who wants to stop the shootout... The movie has a Marshal (Glenn Ford) with a reputation as a legendary wild gunfighter, heading for a showdown with a dangerous good-looking challenger Chad Everett...The John Sherry-Robert Emmett Ginna screenplay features Gary Merrill as a bushy-brow 'Five Card Stud' player, and Jack Elam as the hired killer with an evil leer...