Cristi_Ciopron
A western with Esther Ralston, Scott, MacLane, Crabbe, Gail Patrick, N. Beery, Shirley Temple, some of these players had yet to wait for their heyday, others had it already, while others yet were just about to taste it; an embellished B with a storyline of feud and rustling, in the coarse style of the Bs, with more violence and less silliness (perhaps none at all, in fact this makes much of the movie's quality), not really a drama, but well directed, let's say an inspired B style, crafty but undoubtedly B, better than other feud and rustling '30s movies, but still one of those, and the feminine cast seems surprising, the actresses transcend the almost mediocre movie. The script is worth an epic. There's an awareness of the cast's league, and the direction gives the players the chance to act, mostly the actresses, but also N. Beery the older. A cowpoke talks about his mother's profession, a boy rescues dogs, Beery stops J. La Rue's hand. Consequently, the action is eventful, rich and lively.Esther Ralston makes a memorable role, as the churlish girl. In her movies, she sometimes seemed a bit dolt. Her hot-blooded performance is enjoyable.Muriel Kirkland leaves a good impression.MacLane doesn't promise anything worthy.Scott was obviously above the league of Crabbe or of La Rue, but not that much.
MartinHafer
"To the Last Man" is an interesting film--partly because of a couple uncredited performances and partly because it is a very gritty sort of film. As far as the uncredited roles go, you'll see Shirley Temple just before she became a mega-star as well as a tiny appearance by John Carradine.The film begins just after the Civil War. As a man returns to his wife in the hills of Kentucky, you see his father-in-law being murdered by a neighbor. The killing is all part of a long-standing feud (like the infamous Hatfield and McCoy feud) but instead of killing the perpetrator, the war vet has announced he's seen enough killing and takes the case to court. His family at first is upset he didn't kill the killer, but in the long run it was the logical thing to do. However, the murderer is NOT logical and vows to renew the feud after his 15 year sentence is complete. Now this guy is super-serious--and even after his enemy leaves Kentucky and moves to Nevada, he and his clan move west just so they can get their revenge!! But, instead of just shooting them, the ex-con plans on ruining their ranch--with the help of his best prison buddy. However, there is a monkey wrench in this plan--his daughter is about to fall in love with one of the enemy (Randolph Scott)! How's all this insanity going to end?! While the plot isn't all that remarkable, the film works because the film is very gritty and unsentimental. You'll see a lot of Pre-Code style violence--and this actually helps the film to be both realistic and creates a strong impact--especially during the big showdown at the end. Bold and gritty--and worth seeing.
weezeralfalfa
My title quote is from incredulous brooding Jed Colby(Noah Beery) when told he had to serve a 15 year prison sentence for the shooting of Grandpa Spelvin, of the Hayden clan, whom the KY backwoods Colbys had been feuding with for generations.In one of his earliest westerns, the film is near half over before we get our first glimpse of hero Randolph Scott, in the guise of Lynn Hayden, a young member of the Hayden clan, who have moved from KY to NV to escape the vendetta war with Colby clan. Randy has spent the last 16 years staying with Granny in KY, because she refused to move with the others...Although only 60 min long(down from the claimed 70 min.), this film seems longer, as quite a bit of action and quite a few characters are packed in. It's a remake of the silent version, based on a Zane Grey novel, and is directed by Henry Hathaway.Thanks largely to the fiendish scheming of his nemesis, Jim Daggs(Jack La Rue), Randy does end up the last man alive among the two feuding clans. Scheming Jim, Jed's former prison mate and a supposed ally of the Colby clan, almost ended up with all of the Hayden's cattle and horses, and his supposed partner's spunky daughter, Ellen, to boot. But half dead Randy takes his place at the last min., as he and Ellen wed to symbolically end the feud for good.Jack La Rue would make a career out of playing darkly handsome, but fiendish villains, whom audiences loved to hate...Buster Crabbe, a favorite of the females in the audience, was also on hand, playing Randy's brother Bill. Buster dismisses Ellen as poor white trash, with a roving eye. But, Randy has a different take, despite her contradictory attitude toward him, especially when she learns he is a Hayden. Randy leaves a package on a rock near where he last saw her. She kicks it down the hill unopened until it lands in her campfire. Then, she changes her mind and opens it to find a beautiful dress. Later, she declared to her disapproving father that it would be her wedding dress.Another key protagonist-antagonist pair is Jed Colby and Mark Hayden(Egon Brechers) who, after the shooting death of Grandpa, represent the head male of each clan. It was Mark who spearheaded the successful prosecution of Jed for the murder of his father-in-law. After released from prison, Jed led the Colby clan to NV to take revenge on the Haydens, by initially rustling their cattle, bit by bit, hopefully provoking them into a fatal ambush. In contrast to the younger Haydens, Mark wants to avoid resuming the murderous feud, by having Jed convicted of cattle rustling. But, a concerted attack by the Colbys on the Hayden's main house, and the killing of son Bill cause him to make the fatal decision to go after Jed by himself. The resulting horseback chase of the Colbys by the Haydens gives Jim(La Rue)his successful chance to bury nearly all of both clans with a massive dynamite-induced rock avalanche.Eugenie Besserer plays Granny, who exits early in the film because she refuses to move to NV. This would be Eugenie's last film, as she died the next year.Barton MacLane has a minor role as the husband of Ann Hayden, sister of Bill and Lynn, played by Gail Patrick, and the father of a daughter, played by a very young Shirley Temple. He had a substantial film career, usually playing tough guys, often villainous. Gail also had a substantial film and TV career, most often playing antagonists of or a supporting role to the leading lady. However, she would play Randy's leading lady in the upcoming "Wagon Wheels", one of the early epic film representations of an immigrant train across the West. Like Randy, she was southern-bred, well educated, relatively tall and thin, good looking, with a patrician demeanor.Although a decade older than Gail, Esther Ralston plays the romantic lead as the neglected, dirt -poor, emotionally fragile, tomboy wild child of Jed. She had been a star beauty in the silent era, but mostly had supporting roles in the early talkie period. Noah Berry, who specialized in playing villains, was the brother of the more famous Wallace Beery.Only 3 years later, the subject of KY backwoods feuding clans would again be dramatized on film, in "On the trail of the lonesome Pine", with far superior production values, even being shot in gorgeous color, a very rare privilege at the time. Both were produced by Paramount and both were mostly shot around Bear Lake,CA. It would again explore the pluses and minuses of various possible ways of ending or minimizing such feuds(other than by La Rue's apocalyptic solution). These still have relevancy today, as criminal gangs in the US have replaced the backwoods feuds....Fuzzy Knight played a subsidiary character in both films, providing the limited music.This film is currently part of a DVD package of some of Randy's lesser known, mostly early, westerns. The camera work was generally good, if the filming technology and acting were rather primitive, by later standards. At times, both clans seemed to swell with unexplained extras.
