Oddball telling of the sort-of frontier in Oregon territory. Beautiful scenery can't make up for ludicrous story with sometimes silly Victor Mature character. Definitely the least of Anthony Mann's very fine westerns.
Let it be unsaid: insignificance is the locus of true increpation.
According to this move the Union lost the battle of Shiloh.
shareHey Dying,
I like most western films, but I have to agree with you about the story being ludicrous and Mature's character being described as silly at times. Like I said, I like westerns, but this just did not seem to have the look and feel of what a western should be.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile
Not that bad a Western, though I agree that Mature's character was a bit silly at times, to the point of embarassment. And the ending - the very last scenes - was completely unrealistic in more ways than one.
The fort looked good, but was too small to accomodate the 140 soldiers, about 20 women (apparently) and horses.
Mature did OK, but Robert Preston had a strong screen presence.
Preston always is great. And Mature was acting as directed, a total lighthearted free spirit.
shareThe fort in The Last Frontier is definitely not one of the "usual suspects" among movie forts like the fort at Corriganville or the Kanab Movie Fort.
It is also seen in The Seventh Cavalry and The Guns of Fort Petticoat.
The distinctive feature of this movie fort is the split level parade ground.
I don't know where it was built.
Most movie forts are far too small to hold their garrisons. Maybe the movie forts have several levels of basements underground, lit by kerosene lamps (kerosene made from petroleum was becoming available in the 1860s) for stables and barracks, accessed by stairs and ramps inside the buildings.
That's a goofy theory, but a bit more plausible than using Tardis technology to make the buildings bigger on the inside than on the outside!