The Last Frontier (1955)

Not my favourite Anthony Mann Western. The plot concerns a group of trappers who sign up as scouts at a frontier army fort (Victor Mature playing the main character out of the three). The fort is commanded by an unsuccessful but egotistical Colonel (Robert Preston) who hopes to advances his flagging military career with a risky attack on some nearby Indians.

The most interesting part of the film is the villain of the piece, the Colonel, who is obviously disappointed to be sent out west when the real action is in the civil war, and seems to be driven by the idea that a single “against the odds” dramatic victory will make his name.

However, in my mind Mature’s trapper is the least successful part of the film (which is a shame, as the main character). His motivation for working with the cavalry seems sketchy, and especially his motivation for wanting to enlist as a solider (rather than a civilian scout). He is advised against this by a friendly captain (Guy Madison) who is obviously right on the issue. However the least convincing part of the film is his romance with the Colonel’s wife (Ann Bancroft). It’s easy to see why relations between the Colonel and wife are strained, but the romance with Mature never really makes sense or is justified. Mature just ends up coming across as sleazy (borderline rape-y) which plays badly for the modern viewer, but also doesn’t seem like it was ever a convincing characterisation.

It definitely isn’t terrible – it’s well-made and watchable. But it seems to miss the mark on the “flawed hero”-character that Mann managed so well in his films with James Stewart.