The Last Frontier

Moviecut—The Last Frontier

A good-looking Anthony Mann cavalry western shot in Mexico, with the emphasis on personal tensions, but unusually starring a smiling, macho Victor Mature rather than a thoughtful James Stewart. Playing husband and wife are two stars then treading water. As the neurotic husband Robert Preston has just lost the moustache and wears a military crew cut in his final film role before hitting it big on Broadway in 'The Music Man'. As his wife, Anne Bancroft is also cast against type as a brittle blonde in a blouse rather than the exotic bloom she later matured into.

While this picture may be minor Anthony Mann, it's a very off-beat, well acted, western. Mature is the anti-thesis of Mann's uber-hero, the driven, edgy loner played to perfection by Jimmy Stewart. Mann plays to Mature's strengths by casting him as the uncivilized, passion driven scout given to bouts of raucous drunkenness. Robert Preston is very good as the obsessed, kill-crazy Colonel whose wife (Anne Bancroft) Mature covets He also slugs her! Wow! Savage Mature!

The casting of Mature as the "savage" and Robert Preston (NOT Preston Foster!!) as the crazed cavalry officer made this one very appealing. The story, pushing the envelope for it's time, has our hero attempting to steal a married woman. James Whitmore has a nice supporting role, and take it from me-the BEST westerns came out of the 50s!

The lovable mountain man has eyes on the captain's young wife, as he can tell she's not getting any with her stern husband. So one night as she's walking through the fort, he ambushes her behind some outdoor stairs, grabs her and drags her to a dark corner, viciously makes out with her despite her protests... and she gives in, making out with him ... by the way, they had never even spoken to each other before.. he takes her to his quarters in the fort and we see her lying on top of bearskin blankets with a strong suggestion that they just had sex. In the next scene, the lovable mountain man man, Jed Cooper, is enraged because after telling her that while on a two man scouting mission with her husband, the mean captain, he left him behind in a ditch to die, she is shocked and mortified. He responds by becoming instantly enraged and brutally backhands her across the face, sending her sprawling. Of course the next time she sees him, she wants him even more.

I enjoyed this western. Victor Mature played a good part. The scenery Is fantastic. I listened with headphones on because I discovered the soundtrack Is stereo- quite something for a western In 1955! Ann Bancroft looks nothing like she looked In the Graduate no where near as sexy! This western Is not run of the mill at all, most of the scenes are Inside a military fort or shot on location. Mature Is a trapper turned military scout trying to prevent a glory-mad Colonel from attacking the Indians as It would mean a massacre of the whole fort. Robert Preston plays the colonel who Is constantly at loggerheads with Mature. All in all a very entertaining western.

this is another good western,which i enjoyed.it's not an epic or anything,but it is good for what it is.it' about 3 fur trappers,led by a men named Jed,who is crude and uncivilized.Jed and his two friends find themselves as scouts for a fort that is the only thing standing between them and and Indian band,who resent the Americans on their land,and want to take it back.that's the gist of the story.what follows is action,excitement,even a bit of humour,and forbidden romance.one of Jed's friends,Gus,reminded me a lot of the character Quint(played by Robert Shaw)in the movie Jaws.they both have that crusty,gruff demeanor.anyway,if you're a western fan,you should find lots to like about this particular entry.i think it deserves a 7/10

More of an army drama set in the West vs. a Western this has solid direction and some good actors. Victor Mature is hammy but Guy Madison gives a stronger performance here than was usual for him, relaxed and assured. Robert Preston is the cruel commander who is revealed early on as a soulless martinet. He is married to a soft and startlingly blond Anne Bancroft who is good but whose role is incidental. The film makes some veiled and some pointed references to early pioneers disregard for the ways not only of the Indians but of trappers and others who had easily coexisted with them destroying their way of life as valueless merely because it was not the settlers way.