Review: The Last Hunt

The story (set in the 1880s) of an uneasy alliance between two very different buffalo hunters, one a psychotic Indian-hater (Robert Taylor), the other (Stewart Granger- yup, Mr. Romantic Swashbuckler himself), dour but far more sympathetic. Lloyd Nolan is a drunken veteran skinner, Debra Paget is a sensitive young Indian woman whom Taylor takes for his own, though she much prefers the company of the more even-tempered (if somewhat glum) Granger. Russ Tamblyn is somewhat miscast as Granger’s half-Irish, half-Indian (!) skinner pal, whom the disagreeable Taylor takes an instant and intense disliking to.

Tough, extremely bleak 1956 Richard Brooks (who made such excellent and diverse films as “The Professionals”, “Elmer Gantry”, “In Cold Blood”, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, and others) film might well be called a ‘psycho western’, boasting Taylor’s finest, most complex and most cold-blooded performance ever. He’s shockingly good here, reaching depths of acting ability I never thought the usually lightweight (a euphemistic term, believe me) ‘star’ even had. Granger (an actor I prefer to Taylor, but not by a huge margin) is OK too, offering a pretty good American accent in particular. And it’s interesting to see these usually lightweight, romantic leads taking on such grim-faced, western material for a change. Also, Nolan is colourful in support. Hell, even Tamblyn gets less annoying and less distractingly anachronistic after a while.

Buffalo massacre scene (really footage of a practice of thinning the herd to keep the numbers in line with the land available) is extraordinary stuff, and the film has interesting things to say about heroism and violence. I was really pleasantly surprised by this one, the ending is a most memorable one too. Worth hunting down…so to speak (I know, bad pun, but I had to do it!), this is a terrific B-movie. Taylor really is astonishing in this.

Rating: B