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Rating:  - must have
This is a Western as it should be. In mine opinion, everyone who has a library of Western DVD's should have it; it is superb. A good story with no unnecessary shooting and nearly no unneccesary violance. The story is at all times suspensefull and the end is both satisfying and original.The actors are generally good (on a scale of 1-10 I would rate them 8).There are four exeptions who rate a 9 - Comance Tod, the youngest boy and his sister, and the hysterical and spoiled girl. There are three with lower ratings: the dark haired young adult boy (rating:7), the blond young adult boy who unnecessari shot the rattlesnake (rating:6), and the sheriff (he was completely and without any reason unhumanely cruel (rating:4)
Rating:  - One the most exciting Westerns!
After he is chained to a wagon train for killing three brothers in revenge for his wife's death, Comanche Todd (Richard Widmark), a ruthless and condemned murderer, leads a wagon train to safety through Indian territory... It is an intense drama because the six survivors of the apache attack must put their trust in the Comanche-killer to bring them out of the wilderness..
As in "Broken Arrow," "Drum Beat," "3:l0 to Yuma," and "The Hanging Tree," Delmer Daves gives us in "The Last Wagon" a study of his characters as individuals and as representatives of virtues, vices, and other abstract qualities... Daves tries to paint the West as a perfect artist proving himself a talented director of the Western movies...
Filmed in Technicolor and CinemaScope, the picture has plenty of action, good exterior photography including splendid picturesque shots of the "Canyon of Death", the rocks, plains and rivers...
Felicia Farr gives a sweet performance as the girl in love... Tommy Rettig is the most effective member of the cast, sincere in his emotional feelings and highly amusing...
Rating: - The Last Wagon keeps going
the Last Wagon is one of those movies that keeps growing on you every time you watch it......and I have watched it many times.
It involves a white man raised by Indians after his family is killed by warring Indians. Richard Widmark stars a Comanche Todd, a man who is seeking revenge on the men who killed his wife and children. When he has killed them, he is thrown into a wagon train of people heading west.
While several of the camp's young people are swimming, the camp is raided and all of them are killed. Widmark, who is tied to a wagon wheel, is thrown over a cliff, but is still alive. When the young people come back from swimming, they find their families and friends murdered, but discover Todd. They save him and he leads them out of the Indian territory and to safety, eventually, but not before many hair-raising episodes.
Supporting Widmark in the cast are Felcia Farr (Mrs. Jack Lemmon), Tommy Rettig, just around Lassie time, and a young Nick Adams, among others.
Director Delmer Daves has done an excellent job with the actors and the wonderful locales.
Widmark is at his roughest and finest in this Western and the movie gives us an insight into the trails that Indians faced, not only in those times, but today as well. The movie moves well and has plenty of action for those of us who are into this genre. It is a must for all in the family. See it for yourself and you'll know what I mean.
Rating: - " A BOY'S LIFE"
This film defined its audience and caters to it throughout. When it was made, westerns were at the peak of their popularity and the bulge of that bell curve was adolescent boys. Although Richard Widmark is the star, I think the focal point of the movie is filtered through the character of Billy played by Tommy Rettig. In the mid 50's, there was no more recognizable young TV star than Tommy Rettig who played Jeff on "Lassie". "Lassie" was on every Sunday early evening when every kid in America was home tuning in. They might laugh at "Leave it to Beaver" and think Wally was sorta cool, but openly or secretly, everyone wanted to be Jeff and live on a farm with a dog that was smarter than your math teacher.
Richard Widmark's character is the kind of father figure a 10 year old American boy growing up in the 50's would envision, right down to the rather ludicrous name "Commanche Todd". At this juncture, it was cool to have lived with Indians and learned the ways of the wilderness but still have blonde hair and blue eyes.Even cooler, to teach these things to a young fatherless boy who happens to have an unattached beautiful sister.
If this all sounds contrived, you'd be wrong. Delmer Daves is an accomplished director who keeps this movie interesting and somehow fresh throughout. I, or perhaps the 10 year old within, totally bought in to the plot and appreciated the whole movie like I'd been to a Saturday matinee. And one of the key elements of this film is probably the most outstanding color photography I've ever seen. In order to provide an experience that TV couldn't offer and ween people away from shows like "Lassie", studios filmed some productions in Cinemascope. This is one of the best of the bunch. With rich saturated Technicolor and the most photogenic Arizona locations you"ve ever seen, the overall widescreen effect is astounding-even on a 27 inch TV. I'm a big fan of Monument Valley and the Anthony Mann high country, but my first reaction to "The Last Wagon" was that this is the most beautiful western I've ever seen.
Rating: - enjoy the old times
this is one of those cool westerns I used to spend my time watching on saturday matinees back when i was a kid in Argentina, and í'm starting my collection now that I earn my own money.Of course I got this one and after all this years i enjoyed it like I did the first time. Please Big corps and distributors take out on DvD more titles like RUN OF THE ARROW, A THUNDER OF DRUMS, ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO, ULZANA'S RAID (Uncut version Please), etc. And you'll make a man and his kids very happy. I'm tired of too much special effects, let's get back for a while to real landscapes and real people jeje.
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