THE LAST SUNSET
DIRECTED BY ROBERT ALDRICH
PRODUCED BY KIRK DOUGLAS
BRYNAPOD S.A.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Plot Summary
Brendan O'Malley arrives at the Mexican home of old flame Belle Breckenridge
to find her married to a drunkard getting ready for a cattle drive to Texas.
Hot on O'Malley's heels is lawman Dana Stribling who has a personal reason
for getting him back into his jurisdiction.
Both men join Breckenridge and his wife on the drive.
As they near Texas tensions mount, not least because Stribling
is starting to court Belle and O'Malley
is increasingly drawn by her daughter Missy.
Written by Jeremy Perkins
Cast
Rock Hudson ... Dana Stribling
Kirk Douglas ... Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley
Dorothy Malone ... Belle Breckenridge
Joseph Cotten ... John Breckenridge
Carol Lynley Carol Lynley ... Melissa 'Missy' Breckenridge
Neville Brand ...
Frank Hobbs
Regis Toomey ... Milton Wing
James Westmoreland ... Julesburg Kid (as Rad Fulton)
Adam Williams ... Calverton
Jack Elam ... Ed Hobbs
John Shay ... Bowman
and many more...
Directed
Robert Aldrich
Writing Credits
Howard Rigsby ... (novel)
Dalton Trumbo ... (screenplay)
Produced
Eugene Frenke ... producer
Edward Lewis ... producer
Kirk Douglas ... executive producer (uncredited)
Music
Ernest Gold
Cinematography
Ernest Laszlo ... director of photography
Trivia
Lauren Bacall was offered the role of Belle Breckinridge
but found the subject matter to be rather offensive.
Filming of the cattle drive proved problematic as the bulls would frequently be seen mounting the cows.
Although Joseph Cotten brought all his own food and water from the States to the shoot in Mexico,
it was to no avail. He was the first of the film crew to get sick.
Robert Aldrich did not enjoy his experience making the film as he felt that the screenplay
wasn't in the best shape it could be.
Unfortunately, they had to run with what they had as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo
was busy working on Otto Preminger's Exodus (1960) at the time.
Rock Hudson drew unstinting praise from Robert Aldrich who was enormously impressed
with his lack of ego and sheer professionalism.
Kirk Douglas optioned the property for his production company Byrna
and was in the midst of supervising the editing of _Spartacus_
when he got an impassioned letter from Robert Aldrich, lobbying for the job of director.
Kirk Douglas' relationship with Robert Aldrich got off to a rocky start
as the director arrived in Mexico with five other writers
who were all working on his upcoming projects.
Douglas was incensed that Aldrich's full attention was not directed towards The Last Sunset (1961)
so insisted that the writers be dispatched back to Hollywood.
The relationship between the two men remained cool after that.
Among some of the more ludicrous titles that Universal proposed for the film were
"The Magnificent Two", "The Majestic Brutes", "Seething Guns",
"The Fuel and the Fire", "Two to Make Hate", "Death is My Middle Name"
and "Appointment with a Dead Sun".
This movie had a major influence on Sergio Leone, who worked with Aldrich the following year
on " Sodom & Gomorrah"
Kirk Douglas and Robert Aldrich originally wanted Ava Gardner for the Dorothy Malone part.
Carol Lynley's next project which premiered a couple of weeks later
was as Alison McKenzie in 'Return to Peyton Place'.
Dorothy Malone signed up for 'Peyton Place' the TV series (1964)
as Constance McKenzie but this time her daughter Alison was played by Mia Farrow.
Goofs
Anachronisms
Two of the dresses worn by Missy (the yellow one and the floral one in town) have zippers up the back.
Continuity
The depth of of the quicksand on Stribling's horse varies between shots.
The final gunfight is supposed to take place near sunset,
but the shadows indicate an actual time of near noon.
During the final shoot-out, not only do the shadows change from long to short to non-existent,
the cloud cover varies from full cover, to a few clouds and then to not a cloud in the sky.
Errors in geography
This film takes place from Mexico to Texas. There are Joshua trees in the film
and Joshua trees are indigenous to the Mohave Desert region
of California, Arizona and Nevada only. There are none in Texas.
Miscellaneous
When the Yaqui Indians turn up the second time, as the first Yaqui rider pulls his horse up,
arrows can be seen falling from his quiver onto the the ground to his right (screen left).
Filming Locations
Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico
Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico