The Last Outlaw *** (1936, Harry Carey Sr, Hoot Gibson, Tom Tyler, Henry B Walthall, Margaret Callahan) – Classic Movie Review 12,003

Harry Carey Sr.

Director Christy Cabanne’s 1936 RKO Radio Pictures black and white Western film The Last Outlaw stars Harry Carey Sr, Hoot Gibson, Tom Tyler, Henry B Walthall and Margaret Callahan.

The Last Outlaw is an intriguing, well-done minor Western with a story by Evelyn Campbell and John Ford, and with his regular actor and friend Harry Carey Sr as star, playing ex-con Dean Payton, a one-time notorious outlaw released after 25 years, who goes into heroic action with the sheriff (Henry B Walthall) who caught him when outlaw Al Goss (Tom Tyler) holds up his home town bank and snatches his daughter, Sally (Margaret Callahan).

Carey Sr, Gibson and Tyler reunite from Powdersmoke Range (1935).

It is a remake of The Last Outlaw (1919). Ford had co-written and directed the original 1919 silent short film The Last Outlaw of two reels, starring Edgar Jones, Lucille Hutton. But only the first reel survives.

Also in the cast are Ray Mayer, Harry Jans, Frank M Thomas, Russell Hopton, Frank Jenks, Maxine Jennings, Fred Scott, Stanley Blystone, Harry Woods, Ethel Wales, Fred Toones, C Montague Shaw, Joe Sawyer, Dennis O’Keefe, Ed Jones, Ben Hewlett, Harry Depp, Alan Curtis, and James P Burtis.

The Last Outlaw is directed by Christy Cabanne, runs 62 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Jack Townley and John Twist, is shot in black and white by Jack MacKenzie, is produced by Robert Sisk, is scored by Alberto Colombo and is designed by Van Nest Polglase.

RKO Radio Pictures previewed the film at 73 minutes, cut it to 68 minutes, and released as a standard programmer Western at 62 minutes. The UCLA Film Archives restored it to 72 minutes, which shows on Turner Classic Movies.

The cast are Harry Carey Sr as Dean Payton, Hoot Gibson as Chuck Wilson, Tom Tyler as Al Goss, Henry B Walthall as sheriff Cal Yates, Margaret Callahan as Sally Mason, Ray Mayer as Henchman, Harry Jans as Jess as Henchman, Frank M Thomas as Dr Charles Mason, Russell Hopton as Sheriff Arthur Billings, Frank Jenks as Deputy Tom, Harry Woods as Traffic Cop, Maxine Jennings as Billings’s Secretary, Ralph Byrd as Pilot, Fred Scott as Singing Movie Cowboy Larry Dixon, Stanley Blystone as Jailer, Alan Curtis as Driver, Harry Woods, Ethel Wales, Fred Toones, C Montague Shaw, Joe Sawyer, Dennis O’Keefe, Ed Jones, Ben Hewlett, Harry Depp, and James P Burtis.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,003

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