The Last Sunset (1961)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Very well executed

Did you people see the same film I saw?

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A tired man dressed black finds your old lover to redeem for left her in the past,this man is Bren o'Malley played by Kirk Douglas and the woman is Belle played by Dorothy Malone who already married and has a young girl named Missy and now lives in somewhere in Mexico with a drunk husband,now O'Malley is chased by Dana Stribling who seeks for revenge and he planned to bring back to be tried in Texas....a long journey back showing to O'Malley that Belle is another person and no longer loves him,so has something between Missy and him which he cann't explain,maybe for she looks like a young girl in yellow dress which he left behind...all this under the Santelmo's fire....Forggoten classic from Robert Aldrich!!!Resume: First watch: 2007 / How many: 2 / Source: Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 8

A lawman (Hudson) and an outlaw (Douglas) join a trail drive where they meet rivalry, romance and danger.Looks like Douglas' production company Brynaprod was aiming for an epic western on the order of Red River (1948). In terms of cinematic sweep and star-studded cast, they got it. The trail herd and surrounding vistas suggest a grand scale western. The problem is the rest of the film fails to equal that impressive dimension.Now director Aldrich can do epic westerns better than most, as his estimable Vera Cruz (1954) shows. Here, however, he's saddled with four marquee performers, each of whom requires screen time equal to his or her status. That means the pacing gets disrupted by lengthy cameo scenes, especially the drawn-out romantic scenes. Thus the film tends to lumber rather than unfold. Then too, scripter Trumbo can do screenplays with the best. Here, however, he's faced with the same problem and what we get is a meandering story, more contrived than most. The four main adults perform well enough; however, an 18-year old Lynley, even if she does bring in a younger audience, appears distinctly out of place on a trail drive, especially since she looks and acts like a malt shop refugee.It also looks like the main force behind the on-screen results is Douglas himself. Hudson may get top billing, but the dramatics belong to O'Malley (Douglas). All in all, the movie boils down to a showcase for Douglas' many moods, including that overblown repose-in-death scene, lacking only a violin accompaniment. Also looks to me like most any Hollywood actor could have handled Hudson's rather one- dimensional role as the straight shooting Stribling. It's a rather odd career choice for Hudson then at the peak of his box-office. (And what's with wasting such first-rate baddies as Brand and Elam, who may build up the supporting cast, but get little dialog or screen time. Ditto for the abandoned Regis Toomey, except I'm not sure who he's supposed to be.)Moreover, I'm still puzzled over how the script's one interesting idea, the incest angle, is supposed to play out. Specifically, why is there a romantic haystack scene (Douglas & Lynley) following O'Malley's discovery about Missy. Now, one way of looking at that scene is to view O' Malley as in a predicament. On one hand, he's been "intimate" with Missy, while on the other, he's likely her father. His predicament is that he can't tell her the facts since it might well ruin her life. At the same time, he doesn't want to hurt her feelings by suddenly ending the romance. So he tries to ease out of the relationship in the haystack scene. That may help her situation, but he's left with the grim knowledge for which there's only one solution, which he takes, thus providing motivation for throwing the shootout.I don't know if this is what Trumbo had in mind. After all, I may have missed something. But it is one interpretation for an otherwise puzzling scene.The movie does have one unusual and really riveting scene. The courtly John Breckenridge (Cotton) is challenged by saloon room thugs to drop his pants in order to show a war wound and avoid a shootout. It's humiliating for the southern gentleman, to say the least, and is unlike any other saloon dust-up that I've seen. Too bad that Cotten, a fine actor and character here, drops out so soon. Nonetheless, considering all the talent involved, the film adds up to a disappointing two hours of lumbering horse opera. Frankly, I'm not surprised this was Brynaprod's final production.(In passing—I can't help noticing that the Colorado-born Trumbo works two obscure Colorado towns into his script— Breckenridge and Julesburg. Such, I guess, are perquisites of screen writing.)

Director Aldrich must have known what he was doing... he produced AND directed Bette Davis in two pictures after making The Last Sunset! Kirk Douglas, Joseph Cotton, and Rock Hudson were all seasoned actors by the time this film was made. To a certain extent, this is a typical western, with the usual cattle drive, the fist-fights and gunfights, run-ins with the Indians, even Mariachi music, which was quite good. Through-out the film, you can feel the tension between Stribling (Hudson) and O'Malley (Douglas). Also along are a woman and her daughter (Dorothy Malone, Carol Lynley), adding more excitement to the mix. When three more suspicious characters join up to help on the drive, there is even more tension and mystery. We are told right off that Stribling has a warrant to bring in O'Malley, so we know to expect a showdown at some point. and when it DOES come, there are some surprises. I think its the strong talent that sets this western above the many others. This is part of the 2006 Rock Hudson DVD Collection from Universal, which also contains Has Anybody Seen my Gal, A Very Special Favor, Golden Blade, Spiral Road.

Last Sunset, The (1961) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Extremely bizarre melodrama hidden under the Western genre features a great cast but not much else. A Sheriff (Rock Hudson) is pursuing the man (Kirk Douglas) who killed his brother in law but Douglas ends up in a cattle drive for a man (Joseph Cotten) who is now married to Douglas' old love (Dorothy Malone). The Sheriff eventually enters the cattle drive the keep his eye on Douglas but soon he too falls for the woman. This is the type of film that should be shown on a woman's channel because it's really nothing more than a soap opera taking place in a western setting. The film really doesn't have too much going for it outside some very strange moments and its wonderful cast. Hudson sleepwalks through his role but even this remains somewhat entertaining. Douglas is good but nothing great while Malone is good in her role. Cotten steals the show as the drunk who fought in the Civil War. This film tries to throw just about everything into the mix and that includes drunken Mexicans, crazy Civil War vets, savage Indians and some good old fashioned incest. Half way through the film Douglas starts pimping on a new woman and it turns out to be his daughter! This leads to a pretty big laugh but the majority of the film is simply by the numbers and it runs way too long since we know where it's headed.