From the 1950s: The Last Wagon

1956 Western

From 20th Century Fox

Directed by Delmer Daves

Starring

Richard Widmark

Felicia Farr

Susan Kohner

Tommy Rettig

Stephanie Griffin

Nick Adams

Ray Stricklyn

Carl Benton Reid

George Mathews

Douglas Kennedy

James Drury

Ken Clark

This was the fifth of Delmer Daves's nine westerns made during the 1950s and the second of his four westerns we are focusing on this month. It was a very popular film with the public while critics' reviews were all over the place.  It is known for its deft writing, suspense and an outstanding Richard Widmark performance.

It opens excitingly enough in 1873 Arizona Territory.  We watch a man enter a creek for some water when Widmark on the other side shoots him dead.  Widmark, on foot, is then chased by a sheriff and a deputy through the mountainous countryside.  He manages to kill the deputy but is then caught by the sheriff who puts a rope around him and drags him until they come across a wagon train.

Due to being in Apache country, the sheriff (Mathews) asks the leader of the wagon train

(Kennedy) why he doesn't have a cavalry escort.  The answer is because there are some serious Apache wars in progress some 30 miles north and all soldiers were needed there.

Perhaps as a point of interest these are the same wars referred to in the previous review on Broken Arrow. At the end of this movie, there is a scene featuring a General Howard, played here by Carl Benton Reid, and the same character is played by Basil Ruysdael in the former film.  Not coincidentally, both movies were filmed in Sedona, Arizona.

Kennedy and two fellows passengers, Farr and Rettig, playing a sister and her kid brother, particularly object to the cruelty the sheriff displays with Widmark, who is chained to a wagon wheel and deprived of food and water.  The sheriff plans to take his prisoner to Tucson to be hanged but says he wants him nearly dead by the time they get there. 

We find that Widmark was raised by Comanches and considers himself one of them.  He married an Apache teenager and she gave him two sons.  They were tortured and murdered by four brothers, two of whom are the ones he has killed on screen, while a third was killed before the story begins.  The fourth brother, oddly enough, is the sheriff.

Mathews roughs up Rettig for giving Widmark some food and water which enrages Kennedy who takes the sheriff to task.  Kennedy insists Widmark's restraints be loosened some and he be allowed to eat and drink.

Kennedy has two daughters, half sisters, one (Kohner) the daughter of Kennedy's second wife, an Indian woman.  She is also sympathetic to Widmark's plight.  But her white sister (Griffin) hates Widmark, hates her sister and seemingly hates life.  We, the audience, don't like her and she provides a lot of the drama.

We also don't like Adams, a wise-ass, troubled passenger who wants to kill Widmark.  Less troubling is Stricklyn, a teenager traveling with his widowed mother and young sister.  When he offers a smoke to Widmark, Mathews goes ballistic and beats him.  Kennedy gets into a scuffle with Mathews and when the latter ends up on the ground near Widmark, he  grabs a nearby axe and ends the life of his tormentor.  Kennedy plans to keep Widmark chained and see to it that he is turned over to the authorities.

Later in the middle of the night, Adams, Kohner, Griffin and Rettig decide to go swimming some distance away, planning to return by early morning before their fellow passengers awaken.  When Farr discovers her young brother gone, Widmark says they went swimming and she and Stricklyn go after them.

In the morning the six of them return and find everyone has been murdered by the Apaches, except for Widmark, who, still chained to the wagon, has been sent over a cliff.  Miraculously he has survived.

After the slaughter, it is apparent to everyone, including the two who hate him, that he's the only chance of survival.  Widmark is unchained and soon sneaks up on an Indian camp, discovering about 300 Apaches ready to go on the warpath.

Widmark assigns everyone tasks to perform, including getting one wagon travel-ready, and advises they must navigate through the Valley of Death, a heavily-patrolled Indian area. He doesn't give much hope of survival but advises they will sleep during the day and travel at night.

Adams, who has the only gun, thinks he's running the show and Griffin, after getting snake-bit, screams hysterically and runs all over the place.  Widmark slaps her into sensibility.  Then Adams shoots the snake alerting the Indians.  Widmark threatens to kill both of them if they continue to act up.

The journey through the Valley of Death is suspenseful.  There are a couple of skirmishes as a few Indians catch up but fortunately the seven of them manage to stay out of the path of the larger party.  Widmark and Farr manage to fall in love along the way.  Rettig also loves Widmark and backs him up at every opportunity.

As things look to be reaching a life-threatening stage, a small troop of eight soldiers reach the travelers and shortly thereafter eight more.  Everyone realizes 23 people will not be able to hold off 300 Apaches.  At the same time, the soldier in charge (Drury) discovers that Widmark is wanted for murder and says if they survive he must stand trial.

The soldiers also have a wagon and they have explosives which they place in both wagons and as the 300 Indians finally make their charge, the explosives go off, kill the closest Indians and send the others galloping away.

The final courtroom scene is one in which I have mixed feelings.  Widmark makes a compelling case as a frontiersman away from any law except Apache law which would allow him to kill the men who killed his family.  But the presiding colonel is not so sure until Farr stands up and gives an impassioned speech followed by Rettig who probably cinched the deal.  It is emotional and heartfelt but also just a little too pat and corny.

Sister and brother, Farr and Rettig

Widmark, Farr and Rettig say goodbye to the others and ride off into the beautiful Sedona sunset.

I always found this film to be character driven with plenty of action and it's B designation I would probably up to a B+.  Director Daves loved the westerns he made in the 50s and as much as I shared his love of them, The Last Wagon isn't quite as acclaimed as the other three being discussed this month.

Don't let that last comment sway you into thinking I didn't like the film.  Hell, I loved it... as entertaining as B westerns get.  Daves, John Wayne's favorite scribe, James Edward Grant, and Gwen Bagni (who also wrote the novel) gathered to pound out the screenplay and I thought they succeeded admirably.

The acting of Widmark (especially), Rettig and Mathews commanded by attention.  Widmark has always been a great favorite of mine.  He was an excellent cowboy star and a most compelling noir actor as well.  No wonder I liked him.  The three actresses didn't particularly impress me.  They are the only three members of the cast, by the way, still alive today.  The Last Wagon is the only movie Griffin made. 

Apparently all the friction among the characters didn't spill over onto the actors.  Daves tended to have happy sets... actors usually enjoyed working with him.  Even the often cantankerous Widmark was at his best.  Some of that may have had something to do with his friendship with young Rettig and perhaps wanting to set an example.  This was their third film together.  They played father and son in both 1950's Panic in the Streets and 1955's The Cobweb.

And of course there is Wilfrid Cline's stunning photography of beautiful Sedona. I incredibly loved being in this city where I spent many happy times because my mother lived there for years.  The city served as one of the western movie capitals... so many westerns were filmed among those red rocks.

For years there was a big western set and when it was torn down and replaced with a housing tract, all the streets were named after western movies.  My God, I should move there. The ones I remember are Johnny Guitar Street, Broken Arrow Way and Last Wagon Drive.

Here's the trailer:

Next posting:

Daves's most adult western