The Last Outpost

Ronald Reagan (the same) impersonates a Rebel so he can make peace with the Indians. That plot element gets a bit old after awhile. Thank God beautiful Rhonda Fleming is around to keep things interesting. Routine cavalry vs. Indians flick with the added ingredient of southern soldiers to spice things up.

"The Last Outpost" is a pretty mediocre Civil War western. Bruce Bennett is a Union officer out west, who finds himself beset by rampaging Apaches on one side and a Confederate guerrilla band led by his brother, Ronald Reagan, on the other side. Rhonda Fleming is the wife of a corrupt trader who's playing footsie with the Apaches. Competently acted, it moves along fairly slowly until almost the end of the picture, when there is a well-staged Indian attack on the town and a very exciting cavalry charge. Even though Fleming isn't called upon to do much more than stand around and look gorgeous, she does that quite well; she was born for Technicolor, and has seldom looked more beautiful. Reagan is a bit stiff in the lead, but not unbearably so, as he is more often than not. Overall not a bad western, but nothing particularly special.

This isn't one of those "researched" cavalry Westerns. This is just a fun fest. It's everything that is cool in a film. It is Raiders of the Lost Ark, only it's an old fashioned Western.

First, we have the "cool" Robin Hood style hero, this time in the guise of a Confederate officer, along with his cool merry men, particularly the affable Noah Beery.

Then we have his old sweetheart married to a sneaky bad guy.

Then we have the older brother as a more officious officer on the Union side. Naturally, they clash.

Then we have the noble native American chiefs. This is middle of the road in treatment of the Indian. The Indians are treated with great dignity and respect, and like most old Hollywood Westerns, they are never bad, but misled by evil white men.

However, as many note, this is almost like two different movies from the first two thirds to the last third. In the end, although the evil guys are a pair of white men, the Indians get the brunt of the assault.

The other major problem is that the main bad guy is killed almost immediately, and we're left without a villain, until a towns-person takes the role, but it looks like an afterthought, as though there was a contract dispute with an actor somewhere. It is a novel idea, but not dramatic, and certainly not Hollywood.

However, this is an Indiana Jones style adventure, filled with humor and pathos along the way. We know a few good men will die. We aren't sure who, but there are clues that give us good ideas.

This isn't a "look for reality" movie, nor does it pretend to be. It is a barroom brawl fun-house film, made to be cool. And it succeeds.

Vance Britton (Ronald Reagan) is the captain of a brigade of Confederate troops wreaking havoc on Union outposts . His brother Jeb (Bruce Bennett) is a Union officer sent to the Western frontier to take care of the Confederate problem . Despite their fighting on opposite sides during the Civil War, they have to set their differences aside in order to survive an Apache attack. Vance's former girlfriend (Rhonda Fleming) is also living in the territories with her new hubby (John Ridgeley) . All three converge when Indians assault a llttle town . They lived hard ... they fought hard ... they loved hard ... and they died hard !

Good will and integrity characterize the US soldiers from both sides : Condederacy and Union . Well produced by two notorious producers : William H Pine and William C Thomas , this was their most expensive production to date, mainly because of its cast of higher-paid stars. In the movie appears some known Indian chiefs , usually played by real Indian actors , such as Geronimo performed by John War Eagle , Cochise interpreted by Chief Yowlachie , Iron Eyes Cody plays Mangas Coloradas and Victorio is acted by Charles Brunner . The future President USA gives a passable acting as the brave Confederate hero . Reagan played all kinds of genres such as : The killers , Hellcats of the Navy , This is the Army , Desperate journey, The winning team , It's a great feeling . And Westerns such as : Tenesse's partner , Cattle Queen of Montana , Santa Fe trail . His greatest hits were : Santa Fe trail , Dark victory and King's row . Gorgeous Rhonda Fleming provides a lively performance , she played various Westerns as a stubborn woman , such as : A brothel's owner in ¨Tenesse's partner¨ , a póker player in ¨Gunfight at O.K. Corral¨ , an adventurer in ¨Pony Express¨ and as secondary in Abilene Town ; she had important roles in The Eagle and the Hawk , The Redhead and the Cowboy , Those Redheads from Seattle , Gun Glory , Bullwhip , Alias Jesse James and Backtrack . Decent support cast such as : Bill Williams Noah Beery Jr ,Peter Hansen ,Hugh Beaumont ,Lloyd Corrigan and flm debut of Burt Mustin.

The picture was effficiently produced but in medium Budget by William H. Pine and William C. Thomas, this were known in the industry as "The Dollar Bills" because they made movies so quickly and efficiently that their films seldom, if ever, lost money. The film was regularly directed by Lewis R Foster . He was a prolific composer, songwriter, author and director, educated at the University of California. He began his directorial and film-writing career in 1920. Joined Hal Roach Studios as a writer/gagman in 1923, the same year as director Leo McCarey.He also worked as a newspaperman in San Francisco. He joined ASCAP in 1960. Foster was the director who gave Stan Laurel the freedom to do things his way in films . Worked as a director at Universal Pictures from 1936-37, at Paramount Pictures from 1949-53. And directed a lots of films such as 1953 Tropic zone , 1953 Those Redheads from Seattle ,1950 The Eagle and the Hawk 1950 Captain China , 1949 Manhandled ,1949 El Paso , 1949 The Lucky Stiff ,1937 Armored Car , 1937 She's Dangerous , 1936 Love Letters of a Star . And for TV the successful series : El Zorro with Guy Williams

RELEASED IN 1951 and directed by Lewis R. Foster, "The Last Outpost" (re-released in 1962 as "Cavalry Charge") chronicles events in Arizona during the Civil War where two brothers, officers for the Confederacy and Union (Ronald Reagan and Bruce Bennett), have to settle their differences to protect the outpost/town of San Gil from an Indian attack. Rhonda Fleming plays the former's maybe babe.

The old-fashioned style of filmmaking takes a while to acclimate to if you're used to newer movies. It doesn't help that the talky, contrived story is so convoluted that it takes forever to become engrossed into the characters and events. But there are some highlights: It's great seeing Reagan when he was young; and curvy Fleming is jaw-dropping. The climax is action-packed, but with those eye-rolling stunt hits (i.e. someone gets shot or arrowed and throws his hands in the air in a melodramatic manner, falling to the ground).

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 29 minutes and was shot in Old Tucson and surrounding areas (e.g. Sierrita Mountains).

GRADE: C