Last night, someone brought up Delmer Daves’ The Last Wagon (1956), which made me think of Richard Widmark tied to the wagon wheel. It’s one of those movie images that has really stuck with me over the years — in a movie that’s tough and brutal and well-paced. All the stuff you want in a 50s Western. Oh, and it’s got Timothy Carey in it. Enough said.
Further proof that 1956 was the year for Westerns.
I saw the last wagon in 1959 aboard an Army ship going to Hawaii. Being born and bred in Arizona, I recognized Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon where the movie as filmed.
Oak Creek, where Tommy Retig was at danger in the water is actually called slide rock. I slid down it many times when I was a kid.
Neat movie and Richard Widmark has always been a favorite.
The Last Wagon has really grown on me recently. Of course, Widmark is always good.
Thanks for the info. And for stopping by.
Nice pic Toby.
Daves’ films always had a lot going for them, right up to the end that is. It was his one weak point as far as I can see. The Last Wagon is quite brilliant in places, and Widmark is in great form, but the ending doesn’t really work, does it?
The end does have a bit of a tacked-on, studio-mandated feel. I hope some further research will get to the bottom of what happened.
I tend to think of that kind of interference from the suits as a more modern phenomenon.
To me, one of the most fascinating things about old films is that they were created in an almost factory-type setting, yet they seem more personal than what we see today, when each film is pretty much an independent production.
Quite. I’ve no idea if this is really the case or not but many movies today seem to be betrothen to targeted marketing. What I mean is that when you go to see a movie these days there’s a virtual checklist of characters, situations, dialogue etc. that have been shoehorned in to catch the attention of the widest demographic possible. The net result is that most movies have a faceless, even soulless quality about them that just screams “production line” to me.
Amen!
That explains why I don’t have much interest in movies these days. Why should I — when there are so many cool old things waiting to be discovered?
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