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Last Train from Gun Hill

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Last Train from Gun Hill
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Sturges
Screenplay byJames Poe
Story by("Showdown")
Les Crutchfield
Produced byHal B. Wallis
StarringKirk Douglas
Anthony Quinn
CinematographyCharles B. Lang Jr.
Music byDimitri Tiomkin
Production
companies
Hal Wallis Productions
Bryna Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 29, 1959 (1959-07-29)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.5 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[1]

Last Train from Gun Hill is a 1959 Western in VistaVision and Technicolor, directed by John Sturges. It stars Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn and Earl Holliman. Douglas and Holliman had previously appeared together in Sturges' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), which used much of the same crew.

Plot

Two old friends, Matt Morgan (Kirk Douglas) and Craig Belden (Anthony Quinn), now find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Belden, a rich cattle baron, is the de facto ruler of the town of Gun Hill. Morgan is a U.S. Marshal living in another town with his Native American/Indian wife (played by Ziva Rodann) and young son, Petey.

Two young drunken cowboys rape and murder Morgan's wife while she is returning with their son from a visit to her father. The boy escapes on one of the killers' horses which bears a distinctive, fancy saddle.

Morgan sets off to find the killer. His one clue is the saddle, which he recognizes as belonging to Belden. Assuming it was stolen from his old friend, Morgan travels to the town of Gun Hill to pick up the trail, but once there he quickly realizes that Belden's son Rick (Earl Holliman) is the killer.

Belden refuses to turn over his son, forcing Morgan to go against the entire town. Morgan vows to capture Rick and get him on that night's last train from Gun Hill.

Morgan takes Rick prisoner, holding him at the hotel. Belden sends men to rescue his son, but Morgan manages to hold them off. In the meantime, Belden's former lover (Carolyn Jones) decides to help Morgan. She sneaks a shotgun to his hotel room. The second rapist, Lee, sets fire to the hotel to flush out Morgan.

Morgan presses the shotgun to Rick's chin on the way to the train depot, threatening to pull the trigger if anyone attempts to stop him. Lee tries to kill Morgan but shoots Rick instead. Morgan then kills Lee with the shotgun. As the train prepares to leave, a devastated Belden confronts Morgan in a final showdown and is gunned down.

Cast

Earl Holliman in a promotional photograph for the film

Filming locations

The movie was filmed in and around Old Tucson Studios outside of Tucson, Arizona, Sonoita, Arizona, as well as at Paramount Studios and their back lot in Los Angeles, California.

Comic book adaptation

See also

References

  1. ^ "1959: Probable Domestic Take", Variety, January 6, 1960 p 34
  2. ^ "Dell Four Color #1012". Grand Comics Database.
  3. ^ Dell Four Color #1012 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
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