The Last Frontier (1955 film)
The Last Frontier | |
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Directed by | Anthony Mann |
Produced by | William Fadiman |
Written by |
Philyp Yordan Russell S. Hughes |
Based on |
The Gilded Rooster 1947 novel by Richard Emery Roberts |
Starring |
Victor Mature Guy Madison Robert Preston Anne Bancroft James Whitmore |
Music by | Leigh Harline |
Cinematography | William Mellor |
Edited by | Al Clark |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | 1955 |
Running time | 98 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1 million (US)[1] |
The Last Frontier is a 1955 American Western directed by Anthony Mann and starring Victor Mature, Guy Madison, Robert Preston, and Anne Bancroft. The film is set during the American Civil War at an isolated army base at the far reaches of the American frontier, where the Indians still far outnumber the whites.
The Last Frontier was filmed in Technicolor and CinemaScope. On television, it has been shown retitled as Savage Wilderness.
Plot
Trapper Jed Cooper (Victor Mature) and his two best friends Gus (James Whitmore) and Mungo (Pat Hogan) are relieved of their possessions by some unfriendly Indians, so they seek shelter at a nearby army fort, commanded by Captain Riordan (Guy Madison). The captain recruits the three men as scouts. Also at the fort is Corrina Marston (Anne Bancroft), waiting for her missing husband, Colonel Frank Marston (Robert Preston).
Jed quickly falls in love with Mrs. Marston, sensing her ambivalence about her husband; when the colonel returns, he is revealed to be an unmitigated tyrant. Colonel Marston is driven to redeem himself after a disastrous battle at Shiloh, where over a thousand of his men were killed unnecessarily. Marston wants to attack the regional Indian chief, Red Cloud, believing this will restore his good name and return him to the battle back east. He ignores the fact that most of the men at the fort are raw recruits, hopelessly outnumbered and completely unprepared for the vicious fighting they will face with the Indians. Jed is faced with the decision of letting Marston go on with his mad scheme, or finding a way to do away with him.
Cast
- Victor Mature as Jed Cooper
- Guy Madison as Captain Glenn Riordan
- Robert Preston as Colonel Frank Marston
- James Whitmore as Gus
- Anne Bancroft as Corinna Marston
- Russell Collins as Captain Phil Clarke
- Peter Whitney as Sergeant Major Decker
- Pat Hogan as Mungo
See also
References
- ↑ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1956', Variety Weekly, January 2, 1957
External links
- The Last Frontier at the Internet Movie Database
- The Last Frontier at AllMovie
- The Last Frontier at the TCM Movie Database
- The Last Frontier at the American Film Institute Catalog
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