The Last Hunt *** (1956, Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Debra Paget, Lloyd Nolan, Russ Tamblyn) – Classic Movie Review 8973

Writer-director Richard Brooks’s hard-hitting Western saga 1956 The Last Hunt stars Robert Taylor, cast effectively against type, as the sadistic buffalo-killer Charles ‘Charley’ Gilson in 1883 South Dakota.

Stewart Granger plays his conscience-riddled buffalo hunter partner Sandy McKenzie, who has had enough of hunting and killing.

Debra Paget also stars as the young Indian woman who provides light romantic relief while the two men are on a collision course over her after Charley kills an Indian raiding party and captures the young Indian woman for himself.

The complex novel (by Milton Lott) on which the film is based has been simplified for the screen in Brooks’s screenplay and the support acting is only so-so. But the film’s power is undeniable and its ecological message is still relevant today.

The excellent CinemaScope and Eastmancolor photography by Russell Harlan gives the film an epic feel and it is beautifully shot between 27 June 1955 and 10 September 1955 on location in South Dakota at Badlands National Park, Custer State Park and Sylvan Lake.

The film’s final confrontation is tremendously powerful.

Also in the cast are Lloyd Nolan, Russ Tamblyn, Constance Ford, Joe DeSantis, Ainslie Pryor, Terry Wilson, Ralph Moody, Fred Graham and Dan White.

The Last Hunt is directed by Richard Brooks, runs 103 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Richard Brooks, based on a novel by Milton Lott, is shot in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor by Russell Harlan, is produced by Dore Schary, is scored  by Daniele Amfitheatrof and is designed by Merrill Pye.

Granger and Brooks disliked each other because Brooks married Granger’s ex-wife, Jean Simmons.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8973

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