Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fantastic!

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Brendan O'Malley (Kirk Douglas) arrives at a small Mexican ranch owned by John Breckenridge (Joseph Cotten) ready to work a cattle drive to Texas. Brendan's actual goal is to get back his former love John's wife Belle (Dorothy Malone). Belle and John have 15 year old daughter Missy (Carol Lynley). Sheriff Dana Stribling (Rock Hudson) has a warrant for Brendan's arrest from Texas for his brother-in-law's murder. He joins the cattle drive intent on arresting him upon crossing the Rio Grande.There are lots of crazy stuff going on in this movie. Kirk Douglas is choking out a dog with his bare hands. There is Carol Lynley with her puppy love that is awkward with possible incest. It's not something hidden and seems obvious with that possibility from the very start. Brendan should do better arithmetic. I'm fine with all the cowboy soaps but the Greek tragedy incest bothered me a bit too much.

"The Last Sunset" (1961) rates in the top 30-40% among Hollywood's Westerns. The No.1 reason is Kirk Douglas' altogether credible, nuanced acting as the villain you both love to hate and almost love. Douglas' Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley is a man who practically makes black grey. This is all the more surprising when one catches the ongoing, disturbing incestuous subtext between the O'Malley character and his daughter/lover. The No.2 reason that makes "The Last Sunset" a good film is the sulfurous Dorothy Malone. Her powerful, on screen sexuality is thoroughly charismatic and satisfying – without the need to show off feminine flesh or unduly flirt. The film's directing is surprisingly mundane. Joseph Cotten's character of John Breckinbridge shows that Cotten at this stage in his career couldn't act his way out of the paper bag his bad booze comes in. While Rock Hudson is his usual big, lumpy self. He's a statue that talks and "no rock" -- to paraphrase both James Dean & Doris Day on this embarrassingly awful actor. In spite of the film's standard cattle drive story, ordinary setting, and almost ordinary story line – it rises above its limitations, carried there on the artful shoulders of two fine actors (K. Douglas and D. Malone); and, not forgetting, a use of photography that lingers just a satisfying moment too long on their disturbing, penetrating features.

Last Sunset, The (1961) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Extremely bizarre melodrama hidden under the Western genre features a great cast but not much else. A Sheriff (Rock Hudson) is pursuing the man (Kirk Douglas) who killed his brother in law but Douglas ends up in a cattle drive for a man (Joseph Cotten) who is now married to Douglas' old love (Dorothy Malone). The Sheriff eventually enters the cattle drive the keep his eye on Douglas but soon he too falls for the woman. This is the type of film that should be shown on a woman's channel because it's really nothing more than a soap opera taking place in a western setting. The film really doesn't have too much going for it outside some very strange moments and its wonderful cast. Hudson sleepwalks through his role but even this remains somewhat entertaining. Douglas is good but nothing great while Malone is good in her role. Cotten steals the show as the drunk who fought in the Civil War. This film tries to throw just about everything into the mix and that includes drunken Mexicans, crazy Civil War vets, savage Indians and some good old fashioned incest. Half way through the film Douglas starts pimping on a new woman and it turns out to be his daughter! This leads to a pretty big laugh but the majority of the film is simply by the numbers and it runs way too long since we know where it's headed.

A great movie, and a Dalton Trumbo script to boot. Hey, how'd that happen? Famed Commie lover DT gets real screen credit? Maybe that's why nobody's seen this film. The sets, settings, cinematography and acting are first-rate. This may even be the first of Joseph Cotten's long run of disreputable former Confederate officer (or is that redundant?) roles. Starring Kirk Douglas, the best action adventure actor in the history of Hollywood, Rock Hudson, one of Hollywood's greatest actors (he made you believe he was a macho hetero man, didn't he?), Dorothy Malone, perhaps not the best built but undeniably one of its most super hot and sexiest actresses and Carol Lynley, one of Hollywoods best but terribly underrated actresses, this film is a treat. Plot twists; personality realignments; changing loyalties; unexpected (and quite adult) plot changes; and an ending you can't see coming until the end.Add this to some cinematography that is totally wasted on a TV screen and really demands a VistaVision screen, and you've got a real Western.The opening scene includes a vista shot that CAN NOT be properly appreciated on a TV screen, be warned.I don't know why this film is so sparely known - but as a Western movie enthusiast, I didn't see it until 2008 myself. It is QUITE a movie - see it!