''The Last Stagecoach West'' is a 1957 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
Joseph Kane
Jasper Joseph Inman Kane (March 19, 1894, San Diego – August 25, 1975, Santa Monica, California) was an American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on Western f ...
and starring
Jim Davis,
Mary Castle
Mary Ann Castle, ''née'' Mary Ann Noblett, (January 22, 1931 – April 29, 1998) was an American actress. She appeared in the films '' When the Redskins Rode'' in 1951, ''Three Steps to the Gallows'' in 1953 and '' Gunsmoke'' in 1953. In 1954 ...
,
Victor Jory
Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...
and
Lee Van Cleef
Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...
. The film's
art direction was by
Ralph Oberg.
In the early 1950s
Republic Pictures decided to begin producing television shows and filmed a pilot for what became ''Stories of the Century''. A few years later that pilot was reedited, and released as ''The Last Stagecoach West'', which differs greatly from the syndicated television series.
Plot
Rand McCord, owner of a local stage line, has to race his stage against the railroad, with the winner being awarded a government shipping contract. When McCord’s driver, Steve, loses to the railroad's locomotive McCord decides to take up ranching, and offers Steve a job. Soon afterwards Steve reunites with a friend who rode with him as part of
Quantrill’s Raiders.
After a series of train robberies railroad detective Bill Cameron is sent to investigate, but the local telegraph operator intercepts a message about his coming, and shares it with the outlaws. Cameron arrives and rides out to speak with McCord, who is familiar with the area. He is near the ranch when he mets McCord’s daughter, Louise, and while the two are talking an outlaw gang begins firing at Cameron. The two escape uninjured. Cameron is impressed with Louise’s courage and tells her that he is a railroad detective.
Cameron becomes suspicious of Steve, and when cattle are rustled the detective tells the sheriff the stolen cattle may be sold to a construction boss buying beef to feed his work crew. Cameron is able to sneak up on the rustlers, but a masked rider causes a diversion, and the outlaws escape.
The outlaw gang try to rob a train while it is stopped for fuel. The masked rider is wounded, but is able to escape to the McCord ranch. The rider is Rand McCord and, before he dies, he confesses to his daughter that he organized the outlaws to steal from the railroad what he thought had been stolen from him.
At the end of the film Bill Cameron and Louise McCord marry.
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Cast
* Jim Davis as Bill Cameron
* Mary Castle
Mary Ann Castle, ''née'' Mary Ann Noblett, (January 22, 1931 – April 29, 1998) was an American actress. She appeared in the films '' When the Redskins Rode'' in 1951, ''Three Steps to the Gallows'' in 1953 and '' Gunsmoke'' in 1953. In 1954 ...
as Louise McCord
* Victor Jory
Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...
as Rand McCord
* Lee Van Cleef
Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...
as Steve Margolies
* Grant Withers
Granville Gustavus Withers (January 17, 1905 – March 27, 1959) was an American film actor who acted under the screen name Grant Withers. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into sound films, establishing himself with a lis ...
as Jack Fergus
* Roy Barcroft
Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for Re ...
as Park Ketchum
* John Anderson as Angus MacKendrick
* Glenn Strange as Sheriff
* Francis McDonald
Francis McDonald (August 22, 1891 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor whose career spanned 52 years.
Early years
Born on August 22, 1891, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, McDonald was the son of John Francis McDonald and Catherine Ashlu ...
as Old Man Colter
* Willis Bouchey
Willis Ben Bouchey (May 24, 1907 – September 27, 1977) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 150 films and television shows. He was born in Vernon, Michigan, but raised by his mother and stepfather in Washington state.
...
as George Bryceson
* Lewis Martin as Ben Hardy
* Tristram Coffin as Gibson
* Percy Helton
Percy Alfred Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was one of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood of the 1950s.
Career
A Manhattan native, Helton began acting ...
as Telegrapher
See also
* List of American films of 1957
A list of American films released in 1957. ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-B
C-H
I-N
O-Q
R-T
U-Z
See also
* 1957 in the United States
References
External links
1957 filmsat the Interne ...
References
External links
*
1957 films
1957 Western (genre) films
1950s historical films
American Western (genre) films
Films directed by Joseph Kane
Films set in the 19th century
Films set in Utah
Republic Pictures films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films
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