The Last Wagon (1956 film)

Plot

Sheriff Bull Harper (George Mathews) is taking "Comanche" Todd (Richard Widmark), a white man who has lived most of his life among the Indians, to be tried for the murder of Harper's three brothers. The pair join a wagon train led by Colonel Normand (Douglas Kennedy). Harper's brutal treatment of Todd causes friction with some members of the wagon train. When the sheriff beats a lad for giving Todd a pipe to smoke, Todd takes advantage of the distraction to kill his tormentor with a dropped axe.

Then, while some of the young people sneak away for a late night swim, the Apaches kill everyone else. Todd miraculously survives a fall when the wagon to which he is tied is thrown off a cliff. The Apaches are gathering to avenge the massacre of their own women and children by the whites. It is up to Todd to lead the six other survivors to safety, despite the distrust of some of them. Along the way, he and Jenny (Felicia Farr) fall in love.

Despite saving a small U.S. cavalry detachment from an ambush, Todd is recognized and brought to trial. He reveals that all four Harpers raped and murdered his Comanche wife and killed his two young boys. General Howard takes pity on him and places him in the permanent "custody" of Jenny.

Trivia

Tommy Rettig, who plays Jenny's younger brother Billy, is re-united with Widmark. He played Widmark's son in the 1950 film noir Panic in the Streets.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in Sedona, AZ, at the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon, and mostly along Schnebly Hill Road. Director Delmer Daves described the difficulty of finding a pristine location for the film, as his previous western, Broken Arrow (1950), had popularized the region.

The film has some jarring continuity errors. During the last third of the film, Tommy Rettig's hair goes from being long and fair with a fringe, to being short back and sides and dark and brushed back, and then back again on two occasions, once in the same scene.

It was shot in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope.