Last Of The Wild Horses
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Last of the Wild Horses'' is a 1948 American
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
film directed by Robert L. Lippert and starring
James Ellison James Ellison may refer to: * James O. Ellison (1929–2014), U.S. federal judge * James T. Ellison (1862–1920s), New York gangster *James Ellison (actor) (1910–1993), American film actor *James Ellison (footballer, born 1901) (1901–1958), En ...
, Mary Beth Hughes and
Jane Frazee Mary Jane Frehse (July 18, 1915 – September 6, 1985), was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Professional life Jane, age six, and her 12-year-old sister Ruth formed a singing vaudeville act known as The Frazee Sisters.Mystery Science Theater 3000''.


Plot

Duke Barnum, a rogue cowboy just outside of Jacksonville Oregon, appears to be planning to rob a stagecoach when he spots three men trying to catch a small horse thief. Not knowing the reason behind the chase and figuring the odds are unfair, he intervenes, stopping them in their tracks. After some banter, Duke tries to leave, but one of the three men, Hank, takes a shot at him. Duke shoots Hank in the arm, and upset at the attempted double cross, Duke forces the men off their horses, and makes them take off their boots, forcing them to walk back to their destination barefoot. It turns out the three men work for the Double C Ranch, and Duke has to stop by there to get his horse reshod. The ranch is owned by Charlie Cooper, a man who is running other local small ranchers out of business, but worse than that, he is depleting the herds of wild horses all around. The sheriff happens to be passing by looking for a suspicious man who looked like he wanted to rob a stagecoach before mysteriously disappearing. The three barefoot men arrive and tell the sheriff about the trouble Duke has caused them too. It's all enough for the sheriff to bring Duke into town for questioning. Fortunately for Duke, two of the townspeople, Remedy and Terry, come to Duke's aid and give false alibis until the sheriff agrees to let the two take Duke into their custody, where Duke is expected to be an additional hand on Remedy's ranch. Remedy is an older gentleman who claims to have a remedy for every ailment there is, and we see this in action when fellow ranch hand and
Comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...
character Curly complains of a toothache leading Remedy to go straight to a painful tooth extraction. Meanwhile at the Double C Ranch, Charlie Cooper's daughter Jane finally convinces him to not be so aggressive in obtaining horses from the wild. So he reluctantly agrees to leave the herds alone for a full year. But, Riley, an unscrupulous individual who has been taking over more responsibility for the Double C Ranch over the years, has no intention with complying with this new imposition. In fact, he stirs up trouble by having the Double C Ranch hands round up more horses and instructs them to leave a Double C
Branding iron A branding iron is used for branding, pressing a heated metal shape against an object or livestock with the intention of leaving an identifying mark. History The history of branding is very much tied to the history of using animals as a commodit ...
on the scene. When the other cowboys in the city question Charlie Cooper about this, he is puzzled and gets angry that he is accused of breaking his word. Riley stirs the pot even more by going to the sheriff and demanding that all the Double C guys under his control be made into deputies, reminding the sheriff that Cooper at the Double C is the one that gave him his job. So the Double C guys become deputies with the law on their side and they raid not only horses from the wild, but horses from smaller local ranches as well. Charlie Cooper finally finds out what his ranch hands are doing and confronts them, but Riley is able to choke Charlie to death with Duke Barnham's bandana. The sheriff arrests Duke for the murder and a sensational trial ensues that the entire town attends. Based on testimony from others, primarily Riley and his group of guys at the Double C Ranch, Duke is found guilty. But Terry gives him a gun and he's able to escape into hiding. Later, when Remedy gets his mail from the post office, the postman asks if he can drop a letter off at the Double C Ranch along the way. Remedy reads it and it's a blackmail letter to Riley from one of his fellow ranch hands, Hank, saying he needs more money or else he'll reveal who really killed Charlie Cooper. Right then Riley's horse approaches, and Remedy panics and drops the envelope from Hank. Riley recognizes the envelope on the ground and figures Remedy has a blackmail letter, so he shoots Remedy as Remedy is crossing a river on horseback, and then makes plans to deal with Hank. Somehow Remedy survives the attack and delivers the wet letter to Duke at his hideout. Duke tells Terry to give the letter to the sheriff and immediately goes on a search to find Riley. They have a brutal fight in a hayloft, and both take a nasty fall. In the epilogue, Remedy reveals to Duke that he has been taking a
correspondence course Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
by mail while he has been in recovery. He giggles with glee when a young woman arrives. He says his correspondence course was in art, and the course sent him a model. The film closes with comic relief character Curly saying, "I wonder how they got her in the mailbox?"


Cast

*
James Ellison James Ellison may refer to: * James O. Ellison (1929–2014), U.S. federal judge * James T. Ellison (1862–1920s), New York gangster *James Ellison (actor) (1910–1993), American film actor *James Ellison (footballer, born 1901) (1901–1958), En ...
as Duke Barnum * Mary Beth Hughes as Terry Williams *
Jane Frazee Mary Jane Frehse (July 18, 1915 – September 6, 1985), was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Professional life Jane, age six, and her 12-year-old sister Ruth formed a singing vaudeville act known as The Frazee Sisters.Douglass Dumbrille Douglass Rupert Dumbrille (October 13, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s. Life and career Douglass Dumbrille ( ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed ...
as Charlie Cooper (as Douglas Dumbrille) *
James Millican James Millican (February 17, 1911 – November 24, 1955) was an American actor with over 200 film appearances mostly in western movies. Millican was the son of Fred S. Millican, a circus owner, and Dorothy Millican. Millican was a clos ...
as Sheriff Steve Harrison *
Reed Hadley Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor. Early life Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...
as Riley Morgan *
Olin Howland Olin Ross Howland (February 10, 1886 – September 20, 1959) was an American film and theatre actor. Life and career Howland was born in Denver, Colorado, to Joby A. Howland, one of the youngest enlisted participants in the Civil War, an ...
as Remedy Williams (as Olin Howlin) *
William Haade William Haade (March 2, 1903 – November 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1937 and 1957. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California. Haade was a construction boss until ...
as Henchman Rocky Rockford *
Grady Sutton Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films. Early years Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sutton was raised ...
as Curly, the cook *
Stanley Andrews Stanley Andrews (born Stanley Martin Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first ...
as Rancher Pete Ferguson *
Rory Mallinson Charles Rory Mallinson (October 27, 1913 – March 26, 1976) was an American film and television actor. Career Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Mallinson began his acting career after signing a contract with Warner Brothers in 1945. That year he ha ...
as Henchman Hawk Davis


Production

The film was announced in June 1948. Filming took place in Jacksonville, Oregon, USA,
Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the M ...
, USA and Rogue River Valley, Oregon, USA.


Reception

The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it a "typical Western" with "some excellent outdoor vistas".


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Of The Wild Horses 1948 films 1948 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films shot in Oregon American Western (genre) films Lippert Pictures films Films scored by Albert Glasser 1940s English-language films 1940s American films