The greatest movie ever!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A tired man dressed black finds your old lover to redeem for left her in the past,this man is Bren o'Malley played by Kirk Douglas and the woman is Belle played by Dorothy Malone who already married and has a young girl named Missy and now lives in somewhere in Mexico with a drunk husband,now O'Malley is chased by Dana Stribling who seeks for revenge and he planned to bring back to be tried in Texas....a long journey back showing to O'Malley that Belle is another person and no longer loves him,so has something between Missy and him which he cann't explain,maybe for she looks like a young girl in yellow dress which he left behind...all this under the Santelmo's fire....Forggoten classic from Robert Aldrich!!!Resume: First watch: 2007 / How many: 2 / Source: Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 8

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.

There was a time, particularly during the 1950s, when Americans (including me) were addicted to Westerns. We'd watch just about any Western that came along. Our love of Westerns faded as the 1960s rolled in, and today a Western is a relatively rare commodity. Now I will watch only the exceptional Western. I'm saying this is one of the great Westerns, but it is a cut above the average Western, and it is unique enough to earn some extra points there. It isn't as good as "Rio Bravo" or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence", but it's pretty darned good.So what is different about it? Two things, really. First that you have a bounty hunter taking in a murderer...but along they way they cooperate to bring a herd of cattle from Mexico to Texas. But more importantly -- although it sure surprised me when it fell into my lap -- it has undertones about potential incest. Yes, you read that right. Some may have guessed it. I didn't. And when it appeared, I was just a little stunned.But I'll let you discover all the twists and turns here. Instead, I'll focus on the cast.Rock Hudson is the nominal lead here over Kirk Douglas...and yes, Douglas does play the sort of "bad guy". Both are very good here, though I'd give the edge here to Douglas. I've never been able to quite decide on how good an actress Dorothy Malone was; here she does rather nicely as the love interest, particularly of Hudson. In his prime, Joseph Cotten was a better actor than either Hudson or Douglas. His role here is rather small, but pivotal. I kinda hated seeing him relegated to such a small role. Carol Lynley...well, nothing very special here from her. Worth mentioning is a small character role for dependable Regis Toomey.Some have criticized the shadows in the last scene. I probably wouldn't have thought of it if it hadn't been mentioned. But yes, it was sloppy film-making to see noon-time shadows at sunset.Great, no. Very good, however. Worth watching...once.

The Last Sunset is directed by Robert Aldrich and adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Rigsby's novel Sundown at Crazy Horse. It stars Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotton and Carol Lynley. In support are Jack Elam, Neville Brand & James Westmoreland. The music score is by Ernest Gold, with contributions from Dimitri Tiomkin & Tomás Méndez, and Ernest Laszlo is the cinematographer. It's shot in Eastman Color by Pathe, with the locations for the shoot being Aguascalientes & Distrito Federal in Mexico.Brendan O'Malley (Douglas) is on the run and drifts into Mexico where he arrives at the home of old flame Belle Breckenridge (Malone). She resides with her drunkard husband John (Cotton) and her daughter Melissa, they are in preparation for a cattle drive to Texas. Hot on O'Malley's heels is lawman Dana Stribling (Hudson) who has a very personal reason for getting him back for justice to be served. Making an uneasy agreement, both men join the Breckenridge's on the drive. As they near Texas the tensions start to mount, not least because Stribling is starting to court Belle and O'Malley is increasingly drawn by her daughter Missy.Lyrical, contemplative and evocative, three words you wouldn't readily associate with the director of Ulzana's Raid, The Longest Yard and The Dirty Dozen. Yet all three words are very fitting for this underseen Robert Aldrich movie. Although containing many of the basic elements that made up the American Western film's of the 50s, The Last Sunset has a very intriguing screenplay by Trumbo from which to flourish. The story is crammed full of sexual neurosis, yearnings, regret, hate, revenge and forbidden love. If that all sounds very "Greek Tragedy" then that's probably about right, as is the film being likened to a Western done by Douglas Sirk. It is melodramatic, but it does have moments of levity and up tempo action sequences, too. It's a very rounded picture, with very well formed characters, characters very well brought to life by the mostly on form cast. All played out amongst some gorgeous scenic panorama's that Aldrich and Laszlo have managed to make seem as poetic observers to the unfolding drama.Some of it's odd, and the film is far from flawless (Cotten is poor, Elam & Brand underused), but the little irks are easily forgiven when judging the film as a whole. Lyrical, contemplative and evocative: indeed. 8/10