TO THE LAST MAN
DIRECTED BY HENRY HATHAWAY
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Plot Summary
In Kentucky just after the Civil War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for 15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry.
Written by Maurice VanAuken
Cast
Randolph Scott ... Lynn Hayden
Esther Ralston ... Ellen Colby
Jack La Rue ... Jim Daggs
Buster Crabbe ... Bill Hayden
Barton MacLane ... Neil Stanley
Noah Beery ... Jed Colby
Gail Patrick ... Ann Hayden Stanley
Egon Brecher ... Mark Hayden
Muriel Kirkland ... Molly Hayden
Fuzzy Knight ... Jeff Morley
James Eagles ... Eli Bruce (as James C. Eagles)
Eugenie Besserer ... Granny Spelvin
Harlan Knight ... Grandpa Chet Spelvin
Jay Ward ... Lynn Hayden - as a Child
John Carradine ... Pete Garon (uncredited)
Shirley Temple ... Mary Stanley (uncredited)
and many more...
Directed
Henry Hathaway
Writing Credits
Zane Grey ... (story)
Jack Cunningham ... (screenplay)
Produced
Harold Hurley ... producer (uncredited)
Cinematography
Ben F. Reynolds ... (as Ben Reynolds)
Trivia
During a scene that called for Shirley Temple to hold a tea party in a barn, a mule in the barn began eating the sugar cubes on the table. Director Henry Hathaway recalled, "Shirley was irritated and tried to shoo him away. Then this mule got irritated. He turned around, and with his two back legs he hauled off at her with a kick. Shirley ducked and he missed, but instead of stopping or running away, she strode over and kicked the mule back."
This is one of 20 Zane Grey stories, filmed by Paramount in the 1930s,
which they sold to Favorite Films for re-release, circa 1950-1952. The failure of Paramount, the original copyright holder, to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.
Shirley Temple later chose Delmar Watson to play Peter in Heidi (1937) because she had worked with him in this film.
When re-released nationally in 1950 by Favorite Films, this film was often shown in tandem with the re-release of Man of the Forest (1933).
Although this film was re-released theatrically under its original title, it was re-titled 'Law of Vengeance' when it was sold to television, most likely to protect the theatrical re-release which was still in progress in many territories. In Detroit it was first telecast Friday 2 October 1953 on WXYZ (Channel 7), in New York City, Friday 22 January 1954 on WCBS (Channel 2), and in Los Angeles, Saturday 22 July 1954 on KNBH (Channel 4). In San Francisco, it first hit the airwaves Saturday 30 April 1955 on KPIX (Channel 5).
The landslide sequence includes a lot of archive footage from the silent version, To the Last Man (1923), filmed ten years earlier.
The 20 Zane Grey stories sold by Paramount to Favorite Films for theatrical re-release, and then to Unity Television Corporation for television broadcast are as follows: The Light of Western Stars/Winning the West (1930), Fighting Caravans/Blazing Arrows (1931), Heritage of the Desert/When the West Was Young (1932), The Mysterious Rider/The Fighting Phantom (1933), The Thundering Herd/Buffalo Stampede (1933), Man of the Forest/Challenge of the Frontier (1933), To the Last Man/Law of Vengeance (1933), Wagon Wheels/Caravans West (1934), Rocky Mountain Mystery/The Fighting Westerner (1935), Drift Fence/Texas Desperadoes (1936), Desert Gold/Desert Storm (1936), The Arizona Raiders/Bad Men of Arizona (1936), Arizona Mahoney/Arizona Thunderbolt (1936), Forlorn River/River of Destiny (1937), Thunder Trail/Thunder Pass (1937), Born to the West/Hell Town (1937), The Mysterious Rider/Mark of the Avenger (1938), Heritage of the Desert/Heritage of the Plains (1939), Knights of the Range/Bad Men of Nevada (1940), and The Light of Western Stars/Border Renegade (1940).
Restored in 2014 by the Museum of Modern Art. Paramount had donated the original 35mm negative to the museum years earlier, minus one reel; that missing reel was sourced from a 16mm print for the restoration.
Crazy Credits
The opening credits feature the names and titles on printer-press paper, and subtitles name the actors and their roles when they first appear.
Goofs
Anachronisms
Around the 47 to 48 minute mark when Ellen Colby goes to kick the package that Lynn Haden has left on the rock you can see a car on the valley floor (actually filmed in Big Bear Lake, CA). It appears to be a Model T type. The time this story takes place is approximately 20 years after the end of the Civil War which would be around 1885. Such style of a vehicle was not invented yet and certainly few if any vehicles were in the "Nevada" hills on during that time.
Filming Locations
Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Cedar Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Mesa, Arizona, USA
